364
“ More than any astronomical aspect, the 364-day year is characterized by its numerical harmony. In fact the best definition for the year is neither a ‘solar’ nor ‘luni-solar’ year but rather a seven-based (septenary) schematic year. This definition gives the best account for most manifestations of this sectarian reckoning. The year ideally begins in the spring equinox. It is divided symmetrically into a hierarchical order of time periods, the hierarchical dimension emphasized quite strongly in the textual sources (1 En 82:9–20; Jub 6:29–31; 4Q328, 4Q329). The sources underline the division of the year into 52 weeks and hence into 4 quarters of 13 weeks or 91 days each. The quarters are sometimes designated by the term tequfah, ‘season, period’ or maybe more accurately ‘solstice, equinox’. ” “ The fourfold division of the year, most probably borrowed from the Mesopotamian pattern, was well absorbed in Jewish tradition, as it is attested not only in the sectarian 364-day cal...
