<P> Scholars are not in agreement about whether the calendars used by the Jews before the Babylonian exile were solar (based on the return of the same relative position between the sun and the earth), lunisolar (based on months that corresponded to the cycle of the moon, with periodic additional months to bring the calendar back into agreement with the solar cycle) like the present - day Jewish calendar of Hillel II, or purely lunar, as the Hijri calendar . </P> <P> The first month of the Hebrew year was called אביב (Aviv), evidently adopted by Moses from Ipip as the eleventh month of the non-lunar Egyptian calendar (that is also the origin of Abib as the tenth month of the non-lunar Ethiopian calendar), meaning the month of green ears of grain . Having to occur at the appropriate time in the spring, it thus was originally part of a tropical calendar . At about the time of the Babylonian exile, when using the Babylonian civil calendar, the Jews adopted as the name for the month the term ניסן (Nisan), based on the Babylonian name Nisanu . Thomas J Talley says that the adoption of the Babylonian term occurred even before the exile . </P> <P> In the earlier calendar, most of the months were simply called by a number (such as "the fifth month"). The Babylonian - derived names of the month that are used by Jews are: </P> <Ol> <Li> Nisan (March--April) </Li> <Li> Iyar (April--May) </Li> <Li> Sivan (May--June) </Li> <Li> Tammuz (June--July) </Li> <Li> Av (July--August) </Li> <Li> Elul (August--September) </Li> <Li> Tishrei (September--October) </Li> <Li> Cheshvan (October--November) </Li> <Li> Kislev (November--December) </Li> <Li> Tevet (December--January) </Li> <Li> Shevat (January--February) </Li> <Li> Adar (February--March) </Li> </Ol>

When does the church liturgical year begin and end