7.10 The months
7 · Numerals — counting, dates, "the second one" · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
Assyrian uses the traditional names (shared with the old Syriac/Babylonian calendar). All masculine:
| month | Assyrian |
|---|---|
| January | kanun-kharaya |
| February | eshvat |
| March | adar |
| April | nisan |
| May | yar |
| June | khziran |
| July | tamuz |
| August | tabbakh |
| September | ilul |
| October | chiri-kamaya |
| November | chiri-kharaya |
| December | kanun-kamaya |
A pattern worth spotting (and it ties straight back to the ordinals above): two month-names come in "first / latter" pairs using the very words kamaya "first" and kharaya "latter/last":
- chiri-kamaya (Oct) = "first Chiri" / chiri-kharaya (Nov) = "latter Chiri"
- kanun-kamaya (Dec) = "first Kanun" / kanun-kharaya (Jan) = "latter Kanun"
So four of the twelve months are just two base names (chiri, kanun) split into a "first" and a "latter" half of the year. Recognize kamaya / kharaya and those four sort themselves out.
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