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This
webpage is part of www.alexandriancomputus.net,
which supports the new book on early Alexandrian Paschal reckoning
[Jan Zuidhoek (2023) Reconstructing Alexandrian Lunar Cycles (on the basis of
Espenak’s Six Millennium Catalog
of Phases of the Moon): Zwolle]. This webpage displays the author’s most
recent complete table of Alexandrian Metonic lunar cycles. Most of them have been
reconstructed recently and all of them are treated in his new book, which is
available via this website. |
Six Alexandrian Metonic Lunar Cycles
The table shown here is the author’s
most recent version of his table containing all three (lost) ante‑Nicene and all three (well-known) post‑Nicene Alexandrian Metonic lunar cycles in chronological order:
Six Alexandrian Metonic Lunar Cycles
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proto‑Alex. lunar cycle (0) |
Anatolius’ lunar cycle (1) |
archetypal
Alex. lunar cycle (2) |
Festal
Index lunar cycle (3) |
Theophilus’
lunar cycle (4) |
classical
Alex. lunar cycle (5) |
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304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 |
8 April 28 March 16 April 5 April 24 March 12 April 1 April 20 April 9 April 29 March 17 April 6 April 26 March 14 April 3 April 23 March 11 April 31 March 19 April |
8 April 28 March 16 April 4 April 24 March 12 April 1 April 20 April 9 April 29 March 17 April 6 April 26 March 14 April 3 April 23 March 11 April 31 March 19 April |
6 April 26 March 13 April 2 April 22 March 10 April 30 March 18 April 7 April 27 March 15 April 4 April 24 March 12 April 1 April 21 March 9 April 29 March 17 April |
6 April 26 March 14 April 2 April 22 March 10 April 30 March 18 April 7 April 27 March 15 April 4 April 24 March 12 April 1 April 21 March 9 April 29 March 17 April |
6 April 26 March 14 April 2 April 22 March 10 April 30 March 18 April 7 April 27 March 15 April 4 April 24 March 12 April 1 April 21 March 9 April 29 March 17 April |
5 April 25 March 13 April 2 April 22 March 10 april 30 March 18 April 7 April 27 March 15 April 4 April 24 March 12 April 1 April 21 March 9 April 29 March 17 April |
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Table 19: comparing the three (lost) ante-Nicene and the three (well‑known) post‑Nicene Alexandrian Metonic lunar cycles
to each other |
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The three (well‑known) post‑Nicene Alexandrian Metonic lunar cycles
date indeed from after, the three (lost) ante‑Nicene Alexandrian Metonic lunar cycles
from before the first council of Nicaea (AD 325), turning point in the
history of Christianity.
The three (lost) ante‑Nicene
Alexandrian Metonic lunar cycles,
i.e. the proto‑Alexandrian
lunar cycle (0), Anatolius’ lunar cycle (1), and the archetypal Alexandrian
lunar cycle (2) (numbered in chronological order), were reconstructed only recently
by the author of the new book in question. The proto‑Alexandrian lunar cycle (0) is by
definition the Metonic lunar cycle from which the great Alexandrian computist Anatolius, who was bishop of Laodicea (Syria)
from AD 268 to his death in about AD 282, originally started to
determine his Paschal dates, Anatolius’ lunar cycle (1) the one from which he
ultimately started in order to construct his famous 19‑year Paschal cycle. These two early
Alexandrian Metonic lunar cycles were constructed in the third quarter of the
third century and reconstructed respectively in 2009 and 2018, both on the
basis of the principle “the spring equinox falls on 22 March” and the
principle “the first day of a lunar month is the day beginning with the sunset
just before the first visible new crescent moon” (according to the Alexandrian
version of the Jewish calendar). Ultimately they turn out to differ in their
saltus, as a consequence of Daniel Mc Carthy’s recent revision of his
interpretation of the eighteenth (AD 269) line of Anatolius’ Paschal
table.
The archetypal Alexandrian
lunar cycle (2) is
nothing but the lost ante-Nicene common archetype of the three (well-known) post‑Nicene Alexandrian Metonic lunar
cycles. It was constructed, according to scholars as Marcel Richard,
Neugebauer, Declercq, and Holford-Strevens, in the first quarter of the fourth
century, and reconstructed by the author of the new book in question in 2018 on
the basis of the ecclesiastical principle “the spring equinox falls on
21 March” and the ancient Egyptian principle “the first day of a lunar
month is the first day after the day beginning with the sunrise just after the
last visible old crescent moon”.
The three (well‑known) post‑Nicene Alexandrian
Metonic lunar cycles, i.e.
the Festal Index lunar cycle (3), Theophilus’ lunar cycle (4), and the
classical Alexandrian lunar cycle (5) (numbered in chronological order), are
related to, respectively, the three important bishops Athanasius, Theophilus,
and Cyril of the church of Alexandria. The Festal Index lunar cycle (3) is the
improvised Metonic lunar cycle used by the very first compiler of the Festal
Letters of bishop Athanasius of Alexandria (AD 328‑373). Each of the three (well-known) post‑Nicene Alexandrian Metonic lunar cycles (3), (4), and (5) can be
considered to have been obtained, after the first council of Nicaea and one
after another, from the archetypal Alexandrian lunar cycle (2) by adapting it
by moving its saltus one day afterward or two years forward. Theophilus’ lunar
cycle (4), is the Metonic lunar cycle introduced by bishop Theophilus of
Alexandria (AD 384‑412) in order to structure his Paschal table of
100 years. The classical Alexandrian lunar cycle (5) is nothing but Annianus’
lunar cycle, being the Metonic lunar cycle opted for by the Alexandrian monk
and great computist Annianus
(in about AD 412) which sooner or later would be adopted by the episcopacy
of the church of Alexandria and ultimately would become the Metonic structure
underlying both Dionysius Exiguus’ Paschal table of 95 years, composed in about
AD 525, and Beda Venerabilis’ Easter table of 532 years, composed in
about AD 725.
We observe that there exists a 2‑day gap, which we refer to as the (ante‑Nicene) Alexandrian 2-day gap, between the proto‑Alexandrian and Anatolius’ lunar cycle on
the one hand and the archetypal Alexandrian lunar cycle and the three post‑Nicene Alexandrian Metonic lunar cycles on
the other hand. This is just the difference between the Egyptian lunar calendar
and the Alexandrian version of the Jewish lunar calendar, because:
1) each first new lunar crescent appears
60 hours after an old lunar crescent appearing for the last time;
2) each new month of the Egyptian
lunar calendar began with a first sunrise on which an old lunar crescent no
longer appeared;
3) each new month of the Jewish lunar
calendar began with a first sunset on which a new lunar crescent appeared.
© Jan Zuidhoek 2023‑2026
(updated 20‑10-2026)