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The '''Byzantine Creation Era''' (also ''' ''"Imperial Creation Era of Constantinople,"'' ''' or ''' ''"Era of the World"'' ''') was the Calendar officially used by the [[Byzantine Empire]]<ref>i.e. '''Eastern Roman Empire'''. The term Byzantine was invented by the German historian Hieronymus Wolf in 1557 but was popularized by French scholars during the 18th century to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire. The citizens of the empire considered themselves ''Romaioi'' ("Romans"), their emperor was the "Roman Emperor", and their empire the ''Basileia ton Romaion'' ("Empire of the Romans"). The Latin West designated the empire as "Romania", and the Muslims as "Rum".</ref> and the Eastern [[Orthodox Church]] from ca.AD 692 to 1728 in the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]], and from ca.AD 988 to 1700 in Holy [[Church of Russia|Russia]] .
Derived from the [[Septuagint]], it placed the date of creation at 5,508 509 years before the [[Incarnation]], and was characterized by a certain tendency which had already been a tradition amongst Hebrews and Jews to number the years ''' ''from the beginning of the world'' ''' - '''‘[[w:Etos Kosmou|Etos Kosmou / Apo Kataboles Kosmou]]’''' (Greek: ''Έτος Κόσμου''), or '''‘[[w:Anno Mundi|Annus Mundi / Ab Origine Mundi]]’''' '''AM''' (Latin). This date underwent minor revisions before being finalized in the seventh century A.D. (before AD 692), although its precursors were developed circa AD 412 (see [[Byzantine_Creation_Era#Alexandrian_Era|''Alexandrian Era'']]). By the late tenth century around AD 988<ref>i.e. From the reign of Emperor Basil II (Βασίλειος Β' ο Βουλγαροκτόνο), who ruled from 976-1025, a period that saw the highest point of the Byzantine Empire in nearly five centuries. It was during this time (ca. 988) that the [[w:Coptic calendar|''Alexandrian System'']] was no longer referred to in Byzantium.</ref> a unified system was widely recognized across the Eastern Roman world.
Complex calculations of the 19-year lunar and 28-year solar cycles within this world era allowed scholars to discover the cosmic significance of certain historical dates, such as the [[Nativity|birth of Christ]] or the Crucifixion.<ref>Prof. Dr. [http://aha.missouri.edu/people/rautman.html Marcus Louis Rautman]. ''"Time."'' In [http://books.google.ca/books?id=hs3iEyVRHKsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gynaikeion+church+-flower+-witches&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 ''Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire'']. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. pp.7</ref> The era was ultimately calculated as starting on [[September 1|September 1st]], and [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] was thought to have been born in the year 5509 5510 ''Annus Mundi'' (AM) - the year since the creation of the world.<ref>Paul Stephenson. ''"Translations from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries, c.700-1204: [http://homepage.mac.com/paulstephenson/trans/scyl2.html John Skylitzes, "Synopsis Historion"'': ''The Year 6508, in the 13th Indiction: the Byzantine dating system]"''. November 2006.</ref>. Thus historical time was calculated from the creation, and not from Christ's birth, as in the west. The Eastern Church avoided the use of the [[w:Anno Domini|Christian Era]] since the date of Christ's birth was debated in Constantinople as late as the fourteenth century. Otherwise the ''Creation Era'' was identical to the [[Julian Calendar]] except that:
:*the names of the months were transcribed from Latin into Greek,
:*the first day of the year was [[September 1]],<ref>About the year 462 the Byzantine [[Indiction]] was moved from [[September 23]] to [[September 1]], where it remained throughout the rest of the Byzantine Empire, representing the present day beginning of the Church year. In 537 Justinian decreed that all dates must include the [[indiction]], so it was officially adopted as one way to identify a Byzantine year, becoming compulsory. Although the successive 15-year indiction cycles are themselves never numbered, each year within the cycle is, and the indiction had become the usual way for the Byzantines to distinguish recent and forthcoming years.</ref> so that both the Ecclesiatical and Civil calendar years ran from 1 September to [[August 31|31 August]], (see [[Indiction]]), which to the present day is the [[Church Calendar|Church year]], and,
:*the date of creation, its year one, was [[September 1]], 5509 BC to [[August 31]], 5508 BC.
It is referred to indirectly in '''Canon III''' of the '''[[Quinisext Council]]''', which the Orthodox Churches consider as ecumenical, its canons being added to the decrees of the [[Fifth Ecumenical Council|Fifth]] and [[Sixth Ecumenical Council|Sixth]] Councils, as follows:
:"... as of the fifteenth day of the month of January last past, ''in the last fourth [[Indiction]]'', '''in the year six thousand one hundred and ninety [6190]''', ..."<ref>''The Rudder (Pedalion)'': Of the metaphorical ship of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the Orthodox Christians, or all the sacred and divine canons of the holy and renowned Apostles, of the holy Councils, ecumenical as well as regional, and of individual fathers, as embodied in the original Greek text, for the sake of authenticity, and explained in the vernacular by way of rendering them more intelligible to the less educated. Comp. Agapius a Hieromonk and Nicodemus a Monk. First printed and published A.D.1800. Trans. D. Cummings, from the 5th edition published by John Nicolaides (Kesisoglou the Caesarian) in Athens, Greece in 1908, (Chicago: The Orthodox Christian Educational Society, 1957; Repr., New York, N.Y.: Luna Printing Co., 1983).</ref>
The ''Creation Era'' was gradually replaced in the [[Orthodox Church]] by the [[w:Anno Domini|Christian Era]], which was utilized initially by Patriarch [[Theophanes I of Constantinople|Theophanes I Karykes]] in 1597, afterwards by Patriarch [[Cyril Lucaris]] in 1626, and then formally established by the Church in 1728.<ref>"Οικουμενικόν Πατριαρχείον", ΘHE, τόμ. 09, εκδ. Μαρτίνος Αθ., Αθήνα 1966, στ. 778. (''Religious and Ethical Encyclopedia'').</ref> Meanwhile as Russia received Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium, she inherited the Orthodox Calendar based on the ''Creation Era'' (translated into Slavonic). After the collapse of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the ''Creation Era'' continued to be used by Russia, which witnessed millennialist movements in Moscow in AD 1492 (7000 AM) due to the end of the church calendar. It was only in 1700 that the ''Creation Era'' in Russia was changed to the [[Julian Calendar]] by Peter the Great.<ref>Prof. Charles Ellis (University of Bristol). [http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5547 Russian Calendar (988-1917)]. ''The Literary Encyclopedia''. 25 September, 2008.</ref>. It still forms the basis of traditional Orthodox calendars up to today. The year September AD 2000 was 7508 began the year 7509 AM.
==Important Early Calendars==
The ''Alexandrian Era'' of [[March 25]] 5493 BC was adopted by church fathers such as [[Maximus the Confessor]] and [[Theophanes the Confessor]], as well as chroniclers such as [[w:George Syncellus|George Syncellus]].
By the late tenth century the ''Byzantine Creation Era'', which had become fixed at [[September 1]] 5508 5509 BC since at least the seventh century (differing by 15 16 years from the Alexandrian date), had become the widely accepted calendar of choice for Chalcedonian Orthodoxy.<ref>
In Oriental Orthodoxy by contrast, the [[w:Coptic calendar|'''Coptic (Alexandrian) Calendar''']], used to the present day by the Coptic Orthodox Church and rooted in the older Egyptian calendar, is based on a totally different era, called the ''[[w:Era of Martyrs|Era of the Martyrs]]'' (''Anno Martyrum'', unrelated to the ''Annus Mundi''), beginning on [[August 29]], 284, its year one.
* 5537 BC<ref>Dr. Barry Setterfield. ''[http://www.setterfield.org/000docs/scriptchron.htm#creation Ancient Chronology in Scripture]''. September 1999.</ref><ref>Fr. [[Seraphim Rose]]. ''GENESIS, CREATION and EARLY MAN: The Orthodox Christian Vision''. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, CA, 2000. p.236.</ref> - [[w:Sextus Julius Africanus|Julius Africanus]] (AD 200-245), Church historian.
* 5529 BC<ref>Dr. Barry Setterfield. ''[http://www.setterfield.org/000docs/scriptchron.htm#creation Ancient Chronology in Scripture]''. September 1999.</ref><ref>Fr. [[Seraphim Rose]]. ''GENESIS, CREATION and EARLY MAN: The Orthodox Christian Vision''. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, CA, 2000. p.236.</ref> - [[w:Theophilus of Antioch|Theophilus]] (AD 115-181), Bishop of Antioch.
* '''5508 5509 BC''' - '''Byzantine Creation Era''' or''' ''"Creation Era of Constantinople."'' ''' (finalized in 7th c., before AD 692).
* 5500 BC - [[w:Hippolytus of Rome|Hippolytus of Rome]]. (ca. AD 234), Presbyter, writer, martyr.
* '''5493 BC - Alexandrian Era''' (AD 412).
The Fathers were well aware of the discrepancy of some hundreds of years between the Greek and Hebrew [[Old Testament]] chronology,<ref>Note that according to Dr. Wacholder, [[Josephus|Josephus']] chronology for the antediluvian period (pre-flood) conforms with the [[Septuagint|LXX]], but for the Noachites (post-flood) he used the Hebrew text. He chose this method to resolve the problem of the two chronological systems.</ref> and it did not bother them; they did not quibble over years or worry that the standard calendar was precise "to the very year"; it is sufficient that what is involved is beyond any doubt a matter of some few thousands of years, involving the lifetimes of specific men, and it can in no way be interpreted as millions of years or whole ages and races of men.<ref>Fr. [[Seraphim Rose]]. ''GENESIS, CREATION and EARLY MAN: The Orthodox Christian Vision''. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, CA, 2000. pp.602-603.</ref>
To this day, traditional Orthodox Christians will use the Byzantine calculation of the [[w:Etos Kosmou|Etos Kosmou]] in conjunction with the [[w:Anno Domini|Anno Domini]] (AD) year. Both dates appear on Orthodox cornerstones, ecclesiastical calendars and formal documents. The ecclesiastical new year is still observed on [[September 1]] (or on the Gregorian Calendar's [[September 14]] for those churches which follow the [[Julian Calendar]]). September 2008 marked the beginning of the year 7516 7517 of this era.
