What is an era? This is a period of time determined by the goals of chronology or historiography. Comparable concepts are epoch, century, period, saculum, eon (Greek aion) and Sanskrit yuga.
What is an era?
The word era has been used since 1615 and translated from Latin "aera" means eras by which time is measured. The use of the term in chronology began around the fifth century, during Visigothic times in Spain, where it appears in the story of Isidore of Seville. Then in later texts. The Spanish era is calculated from 38 BC. Like an epoch, it originally meant the starting point of an age.
Use in chronology
What is an era in chronology? It is considered the highest level for organizing the measurement of time. The calendar epoch indicates the duration of the time period, starting from a certain date, which often marks the beginning of a certain political state, dynasty, reign. It could be the birth of a leader or another significant historical or mythological event.
Geological epoch
BIn the large-scale natural sciences, there is a need for a different perspective of time, independent of human activity, and indeed covering a much longer period (mostly prehistoric), where the geological era refers to well-defined time spans. A further division of geological time is the eon. The Phanerozoic eon is subdivided into eras. There are currently three epochs defined in the Phanerozoic. These are the Cenozoic, Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras. The older Proterozoic and Archean eons are also divided into their epochs.
Cosmological and calendar epoch
For periods in the history of the universe, the term "epoch" is usually preferred to "era", although the terms are used interchangeably. The calendar era is calculated in years within certain dates. Often with religious significance. As for our era, the chronology from the birth of Jesus Christ is considered dominant. The Islamic calendar, which also has variants, counts the years from the Hijra, or the migration of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, which took place in 622 BC
During the period from 1872 to World War II, the Japanese used the imperial year system, counting from the period when the legendary Emperor Jimmu founded Japan. This was in 660 BC. Many Buddhist calendars date from the death of the Buddha, which, according to the most commonly used calculations, took place in 545-543. BC e. Other calendar epochs of the past werecalculated from political events. These are, for example, the Seleucid era and the Ancient Roman abbot, which originate from the date of the founding of the city.
Century and era
The word "era" also refers to units used in another, more arbitrary system, where time is not represented as an infinite continuum with one reference year, but each new block starts from a new countdown, as if time starts again. Using different years is a rather impractical system, and a difficult task for historians. When there is no unified historical chronology, the prevalence of the absolute ruler in public life in many ancient cultures is often reflected. Such traditions sometimes survive the political power of the throne and may even be based on mythological events or rulers who may not even have existed.
What is a century and an era? Can these concepts also be interchangeable? A century is not necessarily 100 years, in another sense it can be several centuries, or even a couple of decades. For example, the reign of a ruler is considered to be a "golden age" in history, but this does not mean at all that he ruled for exactly 100 years. Therefore, the scope of the century can vary both in one direction and in the other. In East Asia, each emperor's kingdom can be subdivided into several periods of reign, each of which is regarded as a new era.
An era in historiography
Era can be used to refer to well-defined periods of historiography, for example,Roman, Victorian and so on. Later periods of actual history include the Soviet era. In the history of modern popular music, there are also periods, for example, the disco era.
Different points of view
What is an era from different points of view? Here are the most common:
- A time reference system by numbering years from some important event or a given point in time (Christian era).
- An event or date that marks the beginning of a new or important period in history (the Renaissance).
- A period of time considered in terms of remarkable and characteristic events, persons (the era of progress).
- From a geological point of view, an era describes the time frame from the moment the Earth was created to our time. This is the largest chronological division (Paleozoic era).
What is the new era?
Different nations have their own reckoning. The traditional beginning of our era is the birth of Jesus Christ, this period was once determined by the Pope. Thus, our era is also considered Christian, in honor of the founder of a new religious doctrine - Christianity. Prior to this, the chronology was conducted according to the calendar of Julius Caesar.
December 25 is considered an important holiday in many countries around the world. This is the day when the "son of God" was born. Since then, it has been customary to say: “Such and such a year before (AD) or after the birth of Christ” (AD). The new starting date was adopted by Tsar Peter I, and after December 31, 7208 from the biblicalThe creation of the world came on January 1, 1700 after the birth of Christ. People still adhere to this chronology and call it the new, or our era.
