This is the year 5773 in the Hebrew calendar, 5126 in the Mayan calendar (which was famous last month), 4710 in the Chinese calendar, 4346 in the Korean calendar, 2963 in the Berber calendar, 2557 in the Buddhist calendar, 2402 in the Zoroastrian calendar, 2013 in the Western Christian calendar, 2005 in the Ethiopian Christian calendar, 1729 in the Coptic calendar, 1434 in the Islamic calendar, 1013 in the Igbo calendar, and 169 in the Baha'i calendar... for example!
There is however a possible alternative calendar that starts before all of these. It also has the benefits of not having any negative dates in history (no missing year-zero adjustments), and the benefit of not being tied to any current world religion. (Objections have been made over the adoption of the Christian calendar for secular international activities.) The brightest objects in the sky were used to construct our calendars. Obviously this is the sun for days and years and the moon for months which was approximately divided into weeks. For a year-keeping system we need something with a cycle much longer than years. Also, the sun and the moon are the first and second brightest object, what about the third brightest⸮
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. It is the fifth closest star outside the solar system and is « only » 8.6 light years away. It was used by the ancient Egyptians to coordinate their calendar and time plantings after the Nile floods. In a 365 day year there is a small offset each year so that the beginning of the year creeps around the calendar relative to the first appearance of Sirius each year. One full rotation, when Sirius again appears at the same point in the year is called a sothic cycle. One sothic cycle is 533,265 days or 1,460 (365 day) years.
Working back there is a sothic cycle that began in 4241 B.C. (on the W.C. calendar). Using this as a starting point for our "year of history" calendar, this is 6254 Y.H.! (The missing year zero cancels out with the year 1 on the two different calendars.) Also, we are just over a quarter of the way into the 5th S.C. (sothic cycle), which began in 1599 A.D. So alternatively we could say this year is 5 S.C., 414 Y.H. Or the year 414 in the 5th cycle. In another sense, we are back in the 400's!
Sothic cycles are not completely without cultural tie-ins, which makes this calendar scheme a bit more interesting. In the West Sirius is referred to as the "dog star." It is part of Canis Major, one of the dogs following Orion the hunter.
Look for a bright star along the line back from Orions belt.
As I mentioned before sothic cycles were used by the Ancient Egyptians. About a century ago it was speculated in the West that this cycle point 6,254 years ago (4241 B.C.) was in fact the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. While this has been debated and is not widely believed now, it was used in some books as the beginning of the Egyptian calendar and as the timing for the opening of the "Crypt of Civilization." This air tight chamber was sealed in 1940 in Atlanta and is intended to be opened 6,177 years later.
Incidentally the Egyptians personified Sirius as Sopdet.
Note the star above Sopdet's head. In hieroglyphics Sirius is given as:
It is not surprising that the third brightest object in the sky would be recognized by cultures around the world (link). Recognizing Sirius as a dog or wolf seems to be widespread. Sirius was important in Polynesia and goes by several names in Hawaiian. Like the Egyptians Sirius was also used to time agriculture plantings in parts of West Africa and was very important in traditional religions in the region like the Serer and Dogon (and is linked to quite a controversy regarding Dogon religion, "Nommo" that came to earth, and the Dogon's knowledge of a companion star of Sirius, link--to have a look for yourself type "Dogon Nommo sirius" into google's search field and page through some of the results). Incidentally, since we are talking about calendars, the Dogon (and the Javanese) also have/had a five day week. In Scandinavia Sirius was also known as Loki's brand (~torch) and in Persia Sirius was a white horse, Tishtrya, that brought rains.
These inexact links to cultures around the world make a revised world year keeping system have components of human culture, but is not tied exclusively to any single human culture. I think this makes it even more appropriate for adoption by an international system.
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