Lessons 3–4 · 2 lessons · U. Jo‘rayev, Q. Usmonov, A. Nurqulov, G. Jo‘rayeva. Tarixdan hikoyalar (Stories from history), Grade 5 (2nd edition). Cho‘lpon Publishing House, Tashkent, 2015
4
Counting years in history
Textbook: pp. 12–14
GoalKnow the Common Era, BCE and Hijri year counts, how to write centuries in Roman numerals and what chronology means.
New words
the Common Era (“birth”) · milodera; the start of a year count · eraHijri calendar · hijriy yil hisobichronology · xronologiya
Explanation
Most countries today, including Uzbekistan, use the Common Era year count. “Milod” is Arabic for “birth”; the year taken as the start of the count is the year of the birth of the Prophet Jesus (Isa). The word “era” means the start of a year count. Events before that point are written “before the Common Era” (BCE), and such years run backwards: 500 BCE is earlier than 300 BCE. The ancient Greeks counted years from the first Olympic Games (776 BCE) and the Romans from the founding of Rome (753 BCE, by tradition). The Hijri count is based on the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) migration from Mecca to Medina; its beginning falls on 16 July 622 CE, and in Uzbekistan it is used to set the dates of religious holidays. A century is 100 years; centuries are written in Roman numerals, and the 21st century began on 1 January 2001. The science that fixes the time of events is chronology: Greek “chronos” means time and “logos” means science.
Worked examples
Finding centuries: 1991 is the 20th century, 1582 the 16th, 2026 the 21st. Rule (if the year does not end in 00): take the hundreds of the year and add 1 (1991: 19 + 1 = 20).
The “muchal” count is a 12-year cycle named after 12 animals (mouse, cow, tiger, hare, fish, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, hen, dog, pig); it repeats every 12 years and its new year began at the spring equinox.
Class activity
“Time line”: draw a long line on the board and place the dates 776 BCE, 753 BCE, 622 CE and 1582 CE in the right order.
Practice
1
What do the words “milod” and “era” mean?
“Milod” means birth, the start of our present year count; “era” means the start of a year count.
2
Which centuries do these years belong to: 1805, 1250, 2003?