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Calendars, Leap Year and Ancient Egypt

The new and unique Tesfa Calendar is coming out from the printers soon!

Calendar Cover page, Mequat Mariam at dawn

It runs from Sep 2023 – Aug 2024 (ie Ethiopian Year 2016) is now in its 17th year and is ready!  And since the 2014 edition it is printed on recycled paper!!!

The Tesfa Calendar is available again this year, with all the Ethiopian dates set into the western calendar so you can see what is coming up. Weaving the many saints days, annual festivals, fasting periods, Islamic holidays and various curiosities, and even the full moon dates has been a labour of love for 17 years now! Conscious of the environment for the 3rd year, we are printing this on recycled paper.

January page of the hanging calendar

January page of the calendar

The calendar has stunning photos that will make you want to get out of Addis, or fly over from where ever you have the calendar and see this beautiful country. The photos are taken from the Tesfa Community treks across the north of the country (the Agenda has photos from other additional places too).

 

The calendar comes in 2 versions:

  • Traditional hanging calendar, great in your kitchen or office -(29cm across ands 53cm down)- 12 months with 13 photos. 500birr donation
  • The Agenda or Diary format:- (approx 21cm x 15cm) in portrait format, has 1 week to a page and so 53 pages (52.14 weeks a year) – running from Monday to Sunday on one side on easy to write on paper, and with a photo to match on opposite page. 600 birr donation

    A page from the Agenda / diary

    A page from the Agenda / diary

We ask the donation to help support the Tesfa communities who have guesthouses around the country hosting visitors enabling them to walk through their beautiful landscapes.

Leap Years in the Ethiopian Calendar:

The Ethiopian calendar names the years in a 4 year procession, after the Evangelists- so this current year (2015) is a Lukas year and the coming year 2016 is a Yohannes year. At the end of a Lukas year there is an extra day in Pagumay – making it a 6 day ‘month’ which works like the 29th February in the western calendar. The effect for the coming 5 months is to knock the dates in the 2 calendars out of sync. So New Year in the Ethiopian Calendar will fall on 12th September in a Yohannes year (2016), Meskal on the 28th September, Gena (Ethiopian Christmas) – now that is more complicated – In Lalibela it shifts to the 8th January, but elsewhere in Ethiopia it remains on the 7th January (which means its on 28 Tahsas instead of the usual 29 Tahsas) – more on that later in the year! And the big one – Timkat will be on the 20 January. And around then of course all the big saints days such as Tsion Mariam are also going to shift – in this case from 30 November to 1 December. With the leap day on 29 February 2024 all the dates re-sync!  Confused?, then get your copy of this calendar or the Agenda.

The Origins of the Ethiopian Calendar:

As is so much in Ethiopian culture, the origin if the Ethiopian Calendar is shrouded in the mists of time. However it is very much the same as the ancient solar Coptic calendar from Egypt, which is the oldest in history.  It is believed that the famous Imhotep, the supreme official of King Djoser C.2670 B.C. played a part in the development of this calendar.

Nile flood waters at Giza

Nile flood waters at Giza by the Pyramids

Going further back the ancient Egyptians used a civil calendar based on a solar year that consisted of 365 days, without making any adjustment for the additional quarter of a day each year. Each year had 12 months and the heliacal rising of Sirius coincided with the highest point of river Nile flood at Memphis marking the first day of the year. The new year of the ancient Egyptians started on Meskerem 1 which is the date is an Ethiopian new year (which also signals the end of Noah’s flood). I’ve always enjoyed the fact that the Kremt rains in Ethiopia are what causes the Nile to flood, and marks the New year in Egypt – which became the New Year for Ethiopia too.

This ancient Egyptian Coptic solar calendar consisted of 12 x 30-day months with five extra festival days at the end of the year. This is the same concept as the Ethiopian Calendar -13 months, 12 of 30 days each and then Pagumay at the end of the year of 5

Deacons in Lalibela using Sistrum during a festival

or 6 days depending whether the year is a leap year or not. The new year starts on 11 September in the Gregorian Calendar (G.C.) or on the 12th in (Gregorian) Leap Years. The Coptic Leap Year follows the same rules as the Gregorian so that the extra month always has 6 days in a Gregorian Leap Year.

The connection between ancient Egypt and Ethiopia is unclear as the extent of territory connected to geographical names such as Nubia and Kush is debatable. However the calendar and artefacts such as the Sistrum have crossed between ancient Egypt and Ethiopia so it would seem that there was a significant cultural contact.

Get your copy of this Tesfa Calendar or Diary /Agenda and see all the upcoming dates for yourself.

To order your calendar contact Tesfa Tours 011 124 5178 / 092 349 0495, or email calendar@tesfatours.com

Our office is at Kebena, but other places around town will have copies too – contact us for more details.

 

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Tesfa Ethiopian Calendar 2014 (EC) ready

Tesfa Tours Calendar

 

 

 

 

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Tesfa Tours Calendar

 

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The Tesfa Calendar is ready!

 

The new and unique Tesfa Calendar –

runs from Sep 2020 – Aug 2021 (ie Ethiopian Year 2013) is now in its 14th year and is ready!

This calendar is unique in that it details the Ethiopia dates, holidays, saints days, fasts, Islamic holidays and more on to a western calendar month format. This goes along side stunning photos that will make you want to get out of Addis, or fly over from where ever you have the calendar and see this beautiful country. The photos are taken from the Tesfa Community treks across the north of the country (the Agenda has photos from other additional places too).

 The Tesfa Agenda – 1 week to a page

The calendar comes in 3 versions:

Traditional hanging calendar (29.5cm across and 51cm opened hanging down) – 12 months with 13 photos. Donation 250birr.
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Desktop version to fit on your desk (approx 20cm x 17cm) – same

The Hanging Calendar

pages – with photos facing back and dates forward. We ask 150 birr donation for these calendars.

The Agenda (approx 21cm x 15cm) in portrait format, has 1 week to a page and so 53 pages (52.14 weeks a year) – running from Monday to Sunday on one side on easy to write on paper, additional information on the day and with a photo to match on opposite page. Donation 350birr.

We ask a donation to help support the Tesfa communities who have guesthouses around the country hosting visitors enabling them to walk through their beautiful landscapes.  The calendars are available from our offices at Kebena, but we will also have copies at various locations around Addis.

For further information email calendars@tesfatours.com

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The New Tesfa Calendar is available now

Calendars produced by Tesfa Tours

Tesfa Tours 2012 Calendars

Dear Friends and Supporters

The new and unique Tesfa Calendar is now ready

Runs from Sep 2019 – Aug 2020 (ie Ethiopian Year 2012) is now in its 13th year and is ready!

This calendar is unique in that it details the Ethiopia dates, holidays, saints days, fasts, Islamic holidays and more onto a western calendar month format. So for example you can see on 12 September it is Meskerem 1, 2012; you can see it is a public holiday – Enkutatash (New Year); its also Yohannes – (John the Baptist’s) Annual saints day and not to forget its the monthly Lideta Mariam (birthday of St Mary) day.

This goes along side stunning photos that will make you want to get out of Addis, or fly over from where ever you have the calendar and see this beautiful country. The photos are taken from the Tesfa Community treks across the north of the country (the Agenda has photos from other additional places too).

The calendar comes in 3 versions:

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Traditional hanging calendar (29cm across ands 53cm down)- 12 months with 13 photos. We ask a donation of 200 birr to help support the Tesfa communities who have guesthouses around the country hosting visitors enabling them to walk through their beautiful landscapes.

Desktop version, like the hanging calendar but smaller to fit on your desk (20cm x 17cm) – same pages – with photos facing back and dates forward. We ask 150 birr donation for these calendars.

The Agenda – great for note taking with all the information packed in & 50+ photos

Newly designed this year is the Agenda (approx 21cm x 15cm) in portrait format, has 1 week to a page and so 53 pages (52.14 weeks a year) – running from Monday to Sunday on one side on easy to write on paper, and with a photo to match on opposite page. The agenda also includes a map showing where the community tourism guesthouses are located. For this agenda we ask 300birr donation!

The calendars are available from our offices at Kebena, but we will also have copies at various locations around Addis, notably ICS, Sandford School, German School, GIZ & EU offices. If you would like to hold copies to distribute in your organisation please let us know.

For further information call 011 124 5178 or email calendars@tesfatours.com

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Beautiful and unique Ethiopian Calendar

Tesfa Calendars

The Tesfa Calendar is the calendar you need on your wall or desk.

Not only does it have stunning photos that will inspire you to make trips to the mountains,

but it shows the dates in the Ethiopian Calendar in a western grid (with western dates shown)

Key saints days, feast days, fasts, national holidays and other interesting information is shown.

They come in 3 formats – Wall hanging (52 x 29cm when hanging), Desk Top (20 x 18 cm ) and Agenda (20 x 14 cm closed)

 

These calendars are available from many locations in Addis:

Desk top calendar

  • Sandford School (Jim or Richard)
  • ICS (Jennifer)
  • German School (Sarah)
  • EU main offices (Lucas)
  • British Embassy (CLO – Dadly)
  • PACT – (Cassandra)

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and off course Tesfa Tours office at Kebena.

We ask a 200 birr donation for each calendar – proceeds go to support the community tourism.

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Diary version of calendar out now

The 2009 Tesfa diary/ note book calendar.

The 2009 Tesfa diary/ note book calendar.

The Tesfa Calendar is now available in diary version, sized at 20x14cm  it will fit nicely in your bag. Never be without the details of the Ethiopian date, up coming saints days & fasts, and Ethiopian holidays. Note your appointments on the month, and use the note sheet for each month to add more details. Illustrated with the same wonderful photos as the traditional hanging version.

Although smaller than the traditional wall hanging version there are more pages. So the donation we are asking from clients will be the same: 200ETB.  Proceeds go to support the communities involved in the Tesfa Community Tourism.

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Tesfa’s new calendar coming of the printing press

Beautfiul girl on cover of Tesfa Calendar, Photo by Tash McCarroll

The Cover of Tesfa Calendar, Photo by Tash McCarroll

The new calendar which starts on 1st September 2015 and runs till August 2016, is just being finalised. Copies should be available from Monday 17th August.For those that have not seen this before, it combines the western and Ethiopian calendars, showing both sets of dates and the main saints days, fasts and festivals.

It is a must have for foreigners living in Ethiopia and a vital tools for anyone planning trips, reconciling documents with Ethiopian dates on, understanding the saints days etc.

The pages for each month - showing all the holidays and both dates

The pages for each month – showing all the holidays and both dates


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It is also illustrated with beautiful photographs from the Tesfa community treks in Wollo and Tigray. Many of the photos of Tigray this year are taken by Tash McCarroll.

We are asking for 200 birr per Calendar, proceeds will go to support the community tourism and the communities themselves. We  can post them abroad and will need to charge for the postage.

If you would like a calendar please email us on calendars@tesfatours.com.

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