Al Drour - an ancient Gulf calendar that tells you when to plant, fish and pearl dive

It’s taken for granted that our days are defined by some kind of calendar, where a day is an amount of time determined by the motion and appearances of celestial bodies. Depending on which calendar you follow, it can change your whole concept of time – and even your direction in life.

One ancient, near-forgotten calendar is Al Drour, one of the Arabian Gulf’s oldest calendars. The legendary Arab navigator Ahmad Ibn Majid – believed to have been born in either Julfar, Ras Al Khaimah or Sohar, Oman – referred to it more than 500 years ago.

While Bedouins in the desert used different stars and calculations than the inhabitants of mountain settlements and those living along the coast, all of them, to some extent, depended on Al Drour, which charted four different seasons that were divided by the stars and their heliacal risings and settings.

Al Drour is a 365-day calendar, divided into four main sections representing seasons. There are three seasons of 100 days and one of 60 days. The remaining days are known as Al Khams Al Masrouqa, or the five stolen days.

The first 100 days of the calendar represent the autumn, known as Al Asfar, followed by 100 days of winter, or Sheta, then summer, Saif, and, because this is the Gulf, a second, really hot summer period known as Al Qaiz. The last five stolen days represent turbulent and unpredictable weather.

Original article by Rym Ghazal

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Al Drour – an ancient Gulf calendar that tells you when to plant, fish and pearl dive