Re: Why do different countries start the week on different days?

Blue Hornet <hornet.blue@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Putting aside the crucial question of 'when the week begins' (which is
not a societal thing at all, but more a matter of 'what day/s do you
have off?' ... the week 'begins' the day after), I've often wondered
why the 7-day week has become the norm, or apparently so, over the
world.

[snip more questions]

There's a book called "The Seven Day Circle: The History and Meaning of
the Week" by Eviatar Zerubavel. I see that copies are available from
abebooks.com for as cheap as $1 plus shipping, so maybe I'll finally get
myself one. (I thought about it long and hard when it first came out.)
You'll find a review here:

http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/general/ge-sbd2.htm

including:

... Dr. Zerubavel examines other "weekly" cycles, such
as the African four-day week, Chinese three- and
twelve-day weeks, the Baha'i nineteen-day week, and
the ancient Central American twenty- and
thirteen-day weeks, as well as a very complex
Javanese calendar which contains several overlapping
weekly cycles of different lengths. Particularly
interesting are two European attempts to abolish the
seven-day week: the ten-day week imposed in France
after the Revolution (1793- 1805) and the Soviet
five- and six-day weeks ...

--
Best -- Donna Richoux
.