Ashma Solar Calendar

The Ashma Solar Calendar (Asahri: أشمة), also called the Aldaari Solar Calendar or just the Aldaari Calendar is a solar calendar used in Aldaar, which consists of six months with one intercalary day every four years, with each new year beginning on March 20th of the Common Era calendar. The first year is dated from 1610 CE, the year Suleiman Abd'ildarra took control over Aldaar, although the calendar was in use long before then. The Ashma Calendar is also nominally considered among the oldest calendars in continual use, although it has undergone many drastic changes over several millennia.

Years after the start of the calendar do not have any specific notation, but years before 0 are denoted with 'AN,' from the Asahri phrase "Ajad Nuu'alaalahiiya," or "The Era Without Divinity."

History

In Aldaari prehistory, the Ashma calendar was a seasonal calendar, with no specific dates or years in existence, and only describing the various different climate patterns in the Anabat desert. In around 2500 BCE, trading communities developed a solar calendar based around the tropical year, spanning between each autumnal equinox with 366 days each divided into 18 hours, further cut into quarters for 72 'minutes' in each day.

In the early 16th century, increased contact with foreign traders led many Aldaaris, especially in the burgeoning cities of Mukarras and Sayaduun, to refine their calendar, changing from 366 days (6 months of 61 days) to 360 days (6 months of 60 days) of 24 hours each, adding in 4-6 intercalary days each year in order to line up properly with the equinox. In addition, mechanical clocks allowed for the precise measurement of minutes and seconds, leading Aldaaris to implement a system using 60 seconds per minute and 60 minutes per hour.

The most recent revision to the Ashma calendar was in 1931, when the Western Gondwanan Economic Company-instated corporatocracies jointly decided to further standardize the calendar by making it 365 days with a single intercalary day every fourth year. In addition, each year would start on the same date of the Common Era calendar, March 20th. Despite this being part of a larger-long term plan to subdue Aldaari culture, it was actually widely supported by most of the population and was seen as a generally beneficial reform, especially because WEGEC decided to keep the 6-month system, deciding it was beneficial to understand the rapidly changing seasons of the Anabat.

Months

The Ashma calendar is comprised of 6 months, the first month having 60 days and the remainder having 61. Intercalary days are added to the first month every fourth year for a leap year with 6 months of 61 days each. It is worth noting that the Ashma leap year, while technically overlapping with the Gregorian leap year, takes place mostly in the Gregorian year prior, with 413 (March 2023-March 2024) being the most recent Ashma leap year, overlapping with February 29th, 2024.

Each month of the Ashma calendar translates to a traditional Aldaari season, describing the temperature and weather typical for each period. However, direct translations of the names of these seasons are unknown, and so are frequently translated as describing the season they represent.

Month	Common Era calendar dates	Leap year dates	Asahri name	Asahri script	Staynish meaning
1	March 20th - May 18th	March 20th - May 19th	Zuhraan	زحراً	Harvest season, cooler and humid, blooming season
2	May 19th - July 18th	May 20th - July 19th	'Aiiknaar	أيكنار	Temperate and dry season, season of plant death
3	July 19th - September 17th	July 20th - September 18th	Suviinahaal	صفينهال	Cold(est) and dry season, season of droughts
4	September 18th - November 17th	September 19th - November 18th	Nayatabriidsu	نيتبريدس	Warm and dry season, season of sandstorms
5	November 18th - January 17th	November 19th - January 18th	Qamaata	قماتة	Planting season, hot and humid, season of new life
6	January 18th - March 19th	January 19th - March 19th	Dabaab	دباب	Hot and rainy season, season of thunderstorms

Weekdays

The week in the Ashma calendar officially begins on Tuesday and ends on Monday, with some interpretations of Dawrani religious teachings describing Monday as a day of rest; however, in practice, the work week in Aldaar tends to match with the week of the Gregorian calendar, with the weekend being Saturday and Sunday instead of Sunday and Monday. Recent efforts to shorten the work week in Aldaar often combine the two together, proposing days off on all three days.

Asahri Name	Asahri Script	Day of the Week
Yaatiin	ياتين	Tuesday
Rahnam	رعنم	Wednesday
Askiiz	أسكيز	Thursday
Ayuunay	أيوني	Friday
Baterazam	بتعرزم	Saturday
Shuruq	شرق	Sunday
Arzaalnay	أرزالني	Monday