Islamic Dates

Islamic Dates in Older Carpets
Rugs woven and dated in the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries almost always use the Islamic lunar calendar. To convert an Islamic lunar date into the Christian or Georgian dates the following formula is used:

Islamic lunar date + 622 - (Islamic lunar date/33.7) = Christian date

Thus, a woven rug date of "1280" converts like this:

Islamic lunar date of 1280 plus 622 minus 38 (38 being 1280 divided by 33.7) = 1864

Islamic Dates in Newer Carpets.
By the 1920's, the governments of both Turkey and "Persia" (which had changed its name to Iran at this time) converted to a solar calendar, so that the lengths of their months would match the lengths of months in the West. Year "one" was still calculated from the Hegira, Mohammed's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. To convert an Islamic solar date into the Christian or Georgian date, use this formula:

Islamic solar date + 622 = Christian date [no lunar conversion factor is needed] (Note that this conversion is not completely accurate, as the Islamic and Christian new years occur at different times.) Thus, a woven rug date of "1376" converts like this:

Islamic solar date of 1376 + 622 = Christian date of 1998

Western-style numerals are in red; three versions of numbers in Arabic Calligraphy are illustrated below them. Arabic numerals are read left-to-right, as in the West: thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones.