Canaanite-Israelite month names

Canaanite/Israelite month names in monarchic Israel. Names such as Ziv, Ethanim and Bul were used alongside numbered months; these preserve the older Canaanite calendar tradition. The exact beginning of their use is unknown, so −950 works as a representative Iron Age date rather than a literal adoption date.

Kition Tariff Inscription. A Phoenician administrative inscription from Kition, Cyprus, that preserves the month name Ethanim, the same old Canaanite month name used in the Hebrew Bible for the seventh month. It provides direct evidence that Ethanim belonged to the wider Canaanite-Phoenician calendar tradition.