Yennayer
Yennayer is the first month of the Berber calendar (Berber languages: Aseggwas Amaziɣ, ⴰⵙⴳⴳⵯⴰⵙ ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ, Arabic: ينّاير), and has been used since antiquity by the Berbers in North Africa. The first day of Yennayer corresponds to the first day of January in the Julian Calendar, which is shifted thirteen days compared to the Gregorian calendar, thus falling on 12 January every year. The Berber calendar was created in 1980 by Ammar Negadi, a Paris-based Algerian scholar. He chose 943 BC, the year in which the Meshwesh Shoshenq I ascended to the throne of Egypt, as the first year of the Berber calendar.
| Yennayer | |
|---|---|
Three Berber calendars, all of them refer to the Shoshenq era (Gregorian + 950). | |
| Official name | Aseggwas Amaziɣ |
| Also called | Berber New Year |
| Observed by | Algeria Morocco Tunisia Libya Egypt (Siwa Oasis) |
| Type | Cultural |
| Begins | 12 January |
| Ends | 14 January |
| Date | 12 January |
There is some debate about the traditional date of Yennayer, with some cultural associations advocating for its celebration on the evening of 13 January, which is widespread in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and the Canary Islands.
On 27 December 2017, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika officially recognized Yennayer as a public holiday to be celebrated on 12 January every year. The first official celebration of Yennayer as a public holiday in Algeria took place on 12 January 2018. On 3 May 2023, King Mohammed VI of Morocco declared the Berber New Year as a national public holiday in Morocco.