"the mosaic calendar; 



169 



A(iar followed by Nisan or even both Adars in an intercalary year 

 were similarly limited, though the duration of the other months was 

 by universal consent to be determined by observation. 



" R. Hanina b. Kahana even asserted on the authority of Rabb 

 that, since the time of Ezra, Elul had never had more than 29 days. 

 In a like vein R. Simai testified in the name of Haggai, Zechariah, 

 and Malachi that each of the Adars might be either 29 or 30 days 

 in length. Both sides declared that the custom of the diaspora 

 supported their view of the length of Adar. Whatever the theory 

 may have been, there are several instances quoted in the Babylonian 

 Talmud where Elul was actually given 30 days. It is therefore not 

 surprising that what appears to have been the older expedient 

 should also have received an expansion. R. Zera is said to have 

 proposed in the name of R. Nahman to double the feast of the 

 passover, and R. Johanan finally gave orders to double the festivals 

 both in Nisan and in Tishri. The doubling of the festivals and the 

 limitation of the duration of the preceding month would appear to 

 be in the nature of things alternatives, each of which rendered the 

 other unnecessary. It is therefore not a little remarkable that 

 Jewish scrupulosity should have ultimately adopted both expedients." 



Although the new moons in the ages represented by the Mishna 

 and Talmuds were determined by observation, the Elephantine 

 papyri show that among the Jews in Upper Egypt in the fifth 

 century B.C. strict calendar rules were employed which aimed at 

 making each month begin at the sunset following mean new moon. 

 See my paper, " A Reply to Professor Ginzel on the Calendar Dates 

 in the Elephantine Papyri," Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society, Ixxi (1911), pp. 661-3. 



On the question of intercalation, I may perhaps be permitted to 

 quote from an unpublished paper of my own : — 



" The Jewish intercalation was still irregular, and was determined 

 annually at the time represented by the Talmud. According to 

 that work regard might be had to the state of the roads, the bridges, 

 and the passover-ovens, to the possibility of pilgrims who had already 

 started, arriving in time for the passover, to the growth of the goats, 

 lambs and pigeons, of the corn and of the fruit, and to the number 

 of days that had to elapse before the equinox. Intercalation, 

 according to some rabbis, was to be avoided in a year of famine and 

 in a sabbatical year, and a court might be influenced by the fact 



