Berber calendar

The Berber calendar (Berber languages: ⵜⴰⵙⵡⴰⵙⵜ ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ, romanized: taswast tamaziɣt) is the agricultural calendar traditionally used by Berbers (Amazigh, plural Imazighen). The calendar is utilized to regulate the seasonal agricultural works.

The Islamic calendar, a lunar calendar, is not suited for agriculture because it does not relate to seasonal cycles.^[1] In other parts of the Islamic world, either Iranian solar calendars, the Coptic calendar, the Rumi calendar, or other calendars based on the Julian calendar were used before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar.^{[citation needed]}

The current Berber calendar is a legacy of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis and the Roman province of Africa, as it is a surviving form of the Julian calendar. The latter calendar was used in Europe before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, with month names derived from Latin. Berber populations previously used various indigenous calendars, such as that of the indigenous Guanches of the Canary Islands. However, relatively little is known of these ancient calendrical systems.