<P> Scholars are not in agreement about whether the calendars used by the Jews before the Babylonian captivity 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 Hebrew calendar, or purely lunar, as the Hijri calendar . </P> <P> The first month of the year was called אביב (Aviv) (derived 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 . It thus occurred in the spring . </P> <P> At about the time of the Babylonian captivity, 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 captivity . </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>

How many seasons are in the catholic liturgical year