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Derived from the [[Septuagint]], it placed the date of creation at 5,509 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).
We do not know who invented this era and when, however it appears for the first time in the treatise of a certain “monk “[[monk]] and priest”[[Presbyter|priest]]”, Georgios (AD 638-39), who mentions all the main variants of the ''"World Era"'' (''Ére Mondiale'') in his work.<ref>Fr. Diekamp, ''“Der Mönch und Presbyter Georgios, ein unbekannter Schriftsteller des 7. Jahrhunderts,”'' BZ 9 (1900) 14–51.</ref><ref>Pavel Kuzenkov (Moscow). ''[http://www.byzantinecongress.org.uk/comms/Kuzenkov_paper.pdf How old is the World? The Byzantine era κατα Ρωμαίους and its rivals]''. 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London 2006. p.3.</ref>. Georgios makes it clear that the main advantage of the Byzantine era is the common starting point of the astronomical [[w:Lunisolar calendar|lunar and solar cycles]], and of the cycle of [[Indiction|indictions]], the usual dating system in Byzantium since the sixth century. He also already regards it as the most convenient for the [[Pascha|Easter]] computus. 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=Daily+Life+in+the+Byzantine+Empire ''Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire'']. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. pp.7</ref>
This date underwent minor revisions before being finalized in the seventh century A.D., although its precursors were developed circa AD 412 (see [[Byzantine_Creation_Era#Alexandrian_Era|''Alexandrian Era'']]). By the second half of the 7th century the ''Creation Era'' was known in the far West of Europe, in Britain.<ref>Pavel Kuzenkov (Moscow). ''[http://www.byzantinecongress.org.uk/comms/Kuzenkov_paper.pdf How old is the World? The Byzantine era κατα Ρωμαίους and its rivals]''. 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London 2006. p.4. (PL XC, 598, 877 (Pseudo‐Beda)).</ref> By the late tenth century around AD 988<ref>i.e. From the reign of Emperor Basil II (Βασίλειος Β' ο Βουλγαροκτόνο), (976-1025), who officially used this calendar. It was during this time (ca. 988) that the [[w:Coptic calendar|''Alexandrian System'']] was officially superceded in Byzantium by the ''Byzantine Creation Era''.</ref> a unified system was widely recognized across the Eastern Roman world.