A week is a time unit equal to seven days.

The English word week continues an Old English wice, ultimately from a Common Germanic , from a root "turn, move, change". The Germanic word probably had a wider meaning prior to the adoption of the Roman calendar, perhaps "succession series", as suggested by Gothic wikō translating taxis "order" in Luke 1:8.

The term "week" is sometimes expanded to refer to other time units comprising a few days. Such "weeks" of between four and ten days have been used historically in various places. Intervals longer than 10 days are not usually termed "weeks" as they are closer in length to the fortnight or the month than to the seven-day week.

Seven-day week

Evidence of continuous use of a seven-day week appears with the Jews during the Babylonian Captivity of the 6th century BC. Both Judaism (based on the Creation narrative in the Torah/Bible) and ancient Babylonian religions used a seven-day week. Other cultures adopted the seven-day week at different times. Between the 1st and 3rd centuries the Roman Empire gradually replaced the eight-day Roman nundinal cycle with the seven-day week. Hindus may have adopted a seven day week as early as the 1st century BC. There is evidence of some Chinese groups using a seven day week as early as 4th century AD.

Systems derived from the seven-day week

Soviet Union

Between 1929 and 1931 the USSR changed from the seven-day week to a five-day week. There were 72 weeks and an additional five national holidays inserted within three of them totaling a year of 365 days.

In 1931, after the Soviet Union's five-day week they changed to a six-day week. Every sixth day (6th, 12th, 18th, 24th and 30th) of the Gregorian Calendar was a state rest day. The five additional national holidays in the earlier five-day week remained and did not fall on the state rest day.

But as January, March, May, July, August, October and December have 31 days, the week after the state rest day of the 30th was seven days long (31st–7th). This extra day was a working day for most or an extra holiday for others.

Also as February is only 28 or 29 days depending on whether it is a leap year or not, the first of March was also made a state rest day, although not every enterprise conformed to this.

To clarify, the week after the state rest day, 24/25 February to 1 March, was only five or six days long, depending on whether it was a leap year or not. The week after that, 2 to 6 March, was only five days long.

The calendar was abandoned 26 June 1940 and the seven-day week reintroduced the day after.

Decimal calendar

A 10-day week, called décade, was used in France for nine and a half years from October 1793 to April 1802; furthermore, the Paris Commune adopted the Revolutionary Calendar for 18 days in 1871.

Christian "eighth day"

For early Christians, Sunday, as well as being the first day of the week, was also the spiritual eighth day, as it symbolised the new world created after Christ's resurrection. The concept of the eighth day was symbolic only and had no effect on the use of the seven-day week for calendar purposes. Justin Martyr wrote: "the first day after the Sabbath, remaining the first of all the days, is called, however, the eighth, according to the number of all the days of the cycle, and [yet] remains the first". This does not set up an eight-day week, since the eighth day is also considered to be the first day of the next cycle (i.e., not the following day).

A period of eight days, starting and ending on a Sunday or starting on a major feast day and finishing on the same day of the week a (seven-day) week later, is called an octave. For centuries these were a major feature of the liturgical calendar, particularly of the Catholic Church, and some are still observed, though the number of such octaves has now been radically reduced. Some modern Church uses also preserve the idea of an eight-day period, starting and finishing on the same day of the week, and retain the name "octave" for them; for example, many churches observe an annual "Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity" on 18–25 January or in the week that begins with Pentecost Sunday. Organizations such as 8th Day Center for Justice, based out of Chicago, Illinois, use the concept in terms of social justice as well.

Hermetic lunar week

The Hermetic Lunar Week Calendar is one of many proposed reforms to the Gregorian Calendar. The lunation is divided into the four moon phases and has six, seven, eight, or nine days depending on the actual time difference between the full moon, first quarter, new moon and last quarter.

"Weeks" in other calendars

Periods termed "weeks" in calendars unrelated to the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Three day

The names of the days of the week (aste) in Guipuscoan Basque point to an earlier three-day week. #astelehena ("week-first", Monday) #asteartea ("week-between", Tuesday) #asteazkena ("week-last", Wednesday)

Four-day

The Igbo of Nigeria have a traditional calendar with a four-day week. This "market week" features prominently in the fiction of Chinua Achebe.

Five-day

The Javanese people of Indonesia have a five-day week known as the Pasaran cycle. This is still in use today and superimposed with seven-day week of the Gregorian calendar and Islamic calendar to become what is known as the 35-day Wetonan Cycle.

Six-day

The Akan people of West Africa have a 42-day cycle known as Adaduanan. The Adaduanan cycle appears to be based on an older six-day week, still existent in some northern Guan communities such as the Nchumuru, on which is superimposed a seven-day week which may have been brought south with itinerant traders from the Savannah. The six-day week is referred to as Nanson (literally seven-days) and reflects the lack of zero in the numbering systems; the last day and the first day are both included when counting the days of a week.

Eight-day

Nundinal cycle

The ancient Etruscans developed an eight-day market week known as the nundinal cycle around the 8th or 7th century BC. This was passed on to the Romans no later than the 6th century BC. As Rome expanded, it encountered the seven-day week and for a time attempted to include both. The popularity of the seven-day rhythm won and the eight-day week disappeared forever.

The cycle of seven days, named after the sun, the moon, and the five planets visible to the naked eye, was already customary in the time of Justin Martyr, who wrote of the Christians meeting on the Day of the Sun (Sunday).

Emperor Constantine eventually established the seven-day week in the Roman calendar in AD 321.

Celts

It is believed the ancient celts of the British Isles used a nine-night week. The moon was used to measure one day from another so nights were more significant. The nine nights divided nicely into a sidereal month of 27 nights. Each week of nine nights had eight days.

Nine-day

Baltic calendars

In the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania used a solar-lunar calendar. The structure of this calendar was understood with the help of the so-called Gediminas Sceptre discovered in 1680.

Historical records give evidence that the week of the ancient Balts was nine days long. Thus, the sidereal month must have been divided into three parts.

Ten-day

China

The Chinese ten-day week went as far back as the Shang Dynasty (1200-1045 BC). The law in the Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) required officials of the empire to rest every five days, called mu (沐), while it was changed into 10 days in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 – 907), called huan or xún (旬). Months were almost three weeks long (alternating 29 and 30 days to keep in line with the lunation). The weeks were labelled shàng xún (上旬), zhōng xún (中旬), and xià xún (下旬) which mean roughly "upper", "middle" and "lower" week.

Egypt

Ancient Egypt had a ten-day week, three weeks per month with ten extra days at the end of the year.

Revolutionary France

The French Republican Calendar consisted of three ten-day weeks in a month called décades

Other calendar intervals

Aztecs

The Aztecs divided a ritual cycle of 260 days, known as Tonalpohualli, into 20 weeks of 13 days known as Trecena.

The Aztecs divided a solar year of 365 days, Xiuhpohualli, into 18 periods of 20 days and five nameless days known as Nemontemi. Although some call this 20-day division or grouping a month, it has no relation to a lunation and therefore the word "week" is more appropriate.

Maya

The Maya divided a 260-day ritual cycle known Tzolk'in into 20 weeks of 13 days known as Trecena.

The Maya also divided the year, Haab', into 18 periods of 20 days, Uinal, and five nameless days known as Wayeb'.

Bali, Indonesia

The Pawukon is a 210-day calendar consisting of 10 different concurrent weeks of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 days.

References

Further reading

External links

Englisc Rímbóc: The Anglo-Saxon Calendar

Category:Units of time

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