The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1909-02-13
The DAYS of the Week

A call on the Oregonian for
information about "Mardi
Gras" ard it's meaning opens
the way to explanation of GER
tain facts about the names of
the DAYS of the week, which
may not be easily accessible to
all readers. Mardi Gras is "fat
Tuesday,; so called from the
French practice of parading a
fat OK during the celebration
of the day. 1t is the day be-
fore the first day of Lent,
which in some places in our
own country, where French
customs still prevail. is celebrat-
ed with rcverly and elaborate
display.
The division of time known
as the week is based on early
astronomical observation, de.
rived from Chaldean, and later
from Egyptian, sources. The
Jews got it during their sojourn
in Egypt, where their obser
vance of the Sabbath began.
Remember" writes the Deu-
teronomist, chat thou vast a
servant in the land of Egypt,
and that Lord thy God brought
thee out thence, through a
mighty hand and by an out
stretched arm; therefore the Lord
thy God commanded thee to
keep the Sabbath day." Philo-
Judaeus, Josephus, Clement of
of Alexandria, and others speak
plainly of the week as not of
Jewish origin, but common to
all Oriental nations The
seven days of the week were
connec,ed with the seven planets
then known; that is, with the
seven celestial bodies which ap-
pear to move among the stars.
Enumerating the sun and moon
among the bodies, they ar
ranged the planets-"the wan
derers"-in order, beginning
with the planet oflongest period
thus:
1. Saturn. g. Venus
IL. Jupiter. Mercury
3. Mars. Z. The Moon
l. The Sun
The fanciful astrological sys-
tenn was built on this basis.
The hour of the day were de-
voted in continued succession to
these bodies, as writer's versed
in Oriental lore point out. AS
they were twenty-four hours in
each day, it followed that with
whatever planet the day be-
gan the cycle of the seven plan
cts beginning with that one)
was repeated three times, max
ing twenty. one hours. The di.
vision of the day into twenty
four hours rest on unknown in,
cidents or ideas of still higher
antiquity. The seven days max
ing the week, being assigned to
the planet ruling their first hour,
would therefore be:
1. The SUMS day Sunday
2. The Moons day Montay, Lundi).
3. Mars day Tuesday, Mardi).
A.. Mercury's day "Wednesday, Mer.
credi)
5. Jupiter's day Thursday. Jeudi).
g. Venus day FRIDAY, Veneris dies,
Vendredi)
!. saturn's day Saturday; Ital., IL
Sabato).
R. A. Proctor, in his popular
astronomical essays, develop
this arrangement, which is
given in detail by Dion Cassius,
who wrote in the third CEN
tury of our era; who, more
over, gives explanation of the
method by which the arrange
ment was derived from the
Egyptian astronomy. Neither
the Greeks nor Romans. in
D1on's time, used the week,
which was period strictly of
Oriental origin. The Romans
adopted the week towards the
close of the fourth century ofour
era; and it is marked as a curl
GUS illustration of the way in
which traditions are handed
down, not only from genera-
ton to generation, but from
nation to nation, that the
Latin and western nations of
Europe. receiving the week
along with the doctrines of
Christianity, should nevertheless
have adopted the nomencla-
ture in use among astrologers
and "pagans."
But the English did not. Ro-
man power in Britain was COM
pletely extinguished, and the
Angels, Jutes and Saxons came
in. Their gods were the same
as those of the rest of the Ger
man peoples; for. though