By Prof Lawrence ETIM
My core argument is that time constructs are human inventions, not natural phenomena. The concepts of “year” and “new year” are not natural. They are man-made_
You are now in a new year – 2026. Congratulations. But what if I told you that the very idea of a “year,” and indeed of a “new year,” is largely man-made? Ponder that for a moment!
The only truly natural temporal rhythm is the alternation of day and night, arising directly from the Earth’s rotation. Even then, the names we assign to days are human creations; they are not God-sent. Language, culture, and social coordination – not nature – gave us Monday, Tuesday, or Friday.
Beyond day and night, the notions of the year, month, week, and hour are artificial, man-made constructs. So also are the concepts of the millennium, century, decade, and fortnight. These divisions are intellectual tools designed to help our human societies organize memory, agriculture, worship, trade, and governance. Nature itself does not announce decades or centuries.
The Gregorian calendar that much of the world uses today is itself a relatively recent invention, dating back only about four centuries. Before it was the Julian calendar. In fact, the former USSR did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1918, long after it had been in use in Western Europe. Since Jesus was here about 2000 years ago, the implication of that is clear: This is not the Callander used during his time on earth.
Elsewhere, alternative systems still thrive. The Islamic calendar, for example, originated in the Arab world and is based on lunar cycles rather than the solar year. Consequently, Islamic New Year does not align permanently with the Gregorian calendar; the year 1448 AH will begin around mid-2026, depending on moon sighting.
Our fine-grained measurements of time – seconds, minutes, and hours – are consequences of technological invention rather than eternal realities. They have not always existed as fixed units of human thought. Early civilizations marked time approximately, not precisely.
The Egyptians used sundials, water clocks, and sand clocks to estimate the passage of time. Much later came sophisticated mechanical devices, with the first European mechanical clocks appearing around the 14th century. The invention of the pendulum clock by Christiaan Huygens in 1656 marked a major leap in accuracy. Clearly, the strict notions of seconds, minutes, and hours crystallized only after the rise of mechanical clockmaking in Europe.
Even the idea of a seven-day week is not universal. While it spread widely through ancient Near Eastern, Roman, and later European influence, other cultures organized time differently. Among the Igbo, a week traditionally has three days, while among the Ibibio, it has eight. These systems worked perfectly well within their cultural and economic contexts.
The deeper point is this: calendars and clocks are powerful human inventions, *NOT* immutable laws of nature. They help us coordinate life, set goals, remember history, and imagine fresh beginnings. The “new year” is therefore not a cosmic reset, but a social and psychological milestone – useful precisely because it is constructed. Its power lies not in nature, but in the meaning we collectively choose to give it.
In essence, our shared chronology is a magnificent, collaborative fiction – a scaffold of meaning we have built upon the natural pillars of planetary motion. Recognizing this does not diminish our celebrations but elevates our understanding: we are not merely passing through time, but are active participants in its very definition. The “new year” is thus a powerful testament to human ingenuity, a collective turning of the page in a story we ourselves are writing.
Happy new year!
Prof ETIM is at the University of Uyo
