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The '''Byzantine Creation Era''' or''' ''"Imperial Creation Era of Constantinople,"'' ''' 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.
Derived from the [[Septuagint]], it placed the date of creation at 5,508 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. (ca.692), although its precursors were developed circa AD 400 (see [[Byzantine_Creation_Era#Alexandrian_Christian_Era|''Alexandrian Christian Era'']]). By the late tenth century<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.
The era was calculated as starting on [[September 1|September 1st]], and [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] was thought to have been born in the year 5509 ''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:
:"... 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>
When Russia received Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium, she inherited the Orthodox Calendar based on the ''Creation Era''. After the collapse of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the ''Creation Era'' continued to be used by Russia (translated into Slavonic) until 1700, when it 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 AD 2000 was 7508 AM.The year 7516 of this era began in September 2008.
==Important Early Calendars==
* [http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5547 Russian Calendar (988-1917)]. Charles Ellis, University of Bristol. The Literary Encyclopedia. 25 September, 2008.
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=438&letter=E#1154 The Era of the Creation] at Jewish Encyclopedia.
* [http://www.smso.net/Calendar_era#Christian_era Calendar Era: Late Antiquity and Middle Ages: Christian era] at SMSO Encyclopedia (''Saudi Medical Site Online'').
* [[w:Dating Creation|Dating Creation]] at Wikipedia.