A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which was first used and invented in Mesopotamia, as a natural period related to the motion of the Moon; month and Moon are cognates. The traditional concept arose with the cycle of moon phases; such months (lunations) are synodic months and last approximately 29.53 days. From excavated tally sticks, researchers have deduced that people counted days in relation to the Moon's phases as early as the Paleolithic age. Synodic months, based on the Moon's orbital period, are still the basis of many calendars today, and are used to divide the year.
Read more about Month: Types of Months, Calendrical Consequences
Famous quotes containing the word month:
“It is ill to marry in the month of May.”
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
“As full of spirit as the month of May,
And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The first month of his absence
I was numb and sick
And where he’d left his promise
Life did not turn or kick.
The seed, the seed of love was sick.”
—Alun Lewis (1915–1944)