Eli5:why we use the solar calendar instead of the lunar calendar?
In: Planetary Science
As others have said, the solar calendar aligns with the seasons and the solstices and equinoxs. But why is that important?
First, it makes it easier for farmers to know when to plant and harvest. Shepherds to know when to move their flocks. But perhaps just as importantly for ancient cultures, it aligns the festivals with their associated events.
The festival honoring the gods of agriculture in hopes of a good crops should occur in the spring when the fields are sowed. The festival thanking the gods for a good harvest should be just after the harvest. For smaller communities, this isn’t such an issue, but for an organized civilization, such festivals require planning, and people like structure.
Part of the impetus for the Julian calendar reform was that the festivals had become misaligned with the time of year they should occur.
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