Chronology of
מגילת תענית
MEGILAT TAʾANIT
(Scroll of Fasting)

Despite its name, מגילת תענית MEGILAT TAʾANIT protects days of celebration from fasting and, on some dates, public eulogies. Its roughly thirty-five commemorations preserve victories, relief from foreign tribute and renewed authority over the laws and institutions of יהודים YEHUDIM. Sacred memory here includes recovering the power to govern, worship and defend a city.1

The short calendar is in ארמית ARAMIT; the later commentary, or scholion, is in עברית IVRIT. The commentary supplies stories and identifications often absent from the original notices. The linked commemorations below follow the calendar's month order, not a sequence of securely established historical years.2

א׳ בניסן 1st 𝑜𝑓 NisanPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Opening of the commemoration for establishing the daily offering.

א׳ בניסן 1st 𝑜𝑓 Nisan: Opening of the commemoration for establishing the daily offering. The commentary connects it with a dispute over communal funding; the calendar itself does not name the disputants.3

Open item

ח׳ בניסן 8th 𝑜𝑓 NisanPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Opening of the commemoration for restoring שבועות ŜAVUʾOT, continuing until the end of פסח PESAḤ.

ח׳ בניסן 8th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan: Opening of the commemoration for restoring שבועות ŜAVUʾOT, continuing until the end of פסח PESAḤ. The commentary explains a dispute over when to count toward the festival.4

Open item

02-07Precision: yearless-day · Basis: not-assessed

Dedication of the wall of ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM.

02-07: Dedication of the wall of ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM. The notice names no builder.5

Open item

י״ד באייר 14th 𝑜𝑓 IyarPrecision: recurring-day · Basis: not-assessed

The offering for פסח שני PESAḤ ŜENI; public eulogies were prohibited.

י״ד באייר 14th 𝑜𝑓 Iyar: The offering for פסח שני PESAḤ ŜENI; public eulogies were prohibited.6

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3618-02-27Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Tribute from יהודה YEHUDA and ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM ceased.

3618-02-27: Tribute from יהודה YEHUDA and ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM ceased. The assigned year follows the proposed identification with independence under החשמונאים HAʾHAŜMONAʾIM.7

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י״ז בסיון 17th 𝑜𝑓 SivanPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Capture of מגדל צור MIGDAL ẒUR.

י״ז בסיון 17th 𝑜𝑓 Sivan: Capture of מגדל צור MIGDAL ẒUR. Its identification with a particular stronghold remains disputed.8

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כ״ה בסיון 25th 𝑜𝑓 SivanPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Tax collectors were removed from יהודה YEHUDA and ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM.

כ״ה בסיון 25th 𝑜𝑓 Sivan: Tax collectors were removed from יהודה YEHUDA and ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM. Economic subordination, not only military occupation, entered the calendar of deliverance.9

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04-14Precision: yearless-day · Basis: not-assessed

A Book of Decrees was abolished.

04-14: A Book of Decrees was abolished. Its identification as a rival penal code comes from the commentary.10

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כ״ד באב 24th 𝑜𝑓 AvPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Return to the laws of יהודים YEHUDIM.

כ״ד באב 24th 𝑜𝑓 Av: Return to the laws of יהודים YEHUDIM. The commentary interprets this as recovery of legal authority displaced by Greek rule.11

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י״ז באלול 17th 𝑜𝑓 ElulPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Roman withdrawal from יהודה YEHUDA and ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM, without a named commander or year.

י״ז באלול 17th 𝑜𝑓 Elul: Roman withdrawal from יהודה YEHUDA and ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM, without a named commander or year.12

Open item

06-22Precision: yearless-day · Basis: not-assessed

Renewed killing of the wicked, whose identity remains disputed.

06-22: Renewed killing of the wicked, whose identity remains disputed.13

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08-23Precision: yearless-day · Basis: not-assessed

A lattice partition was dismantled in the courtyard of בית המקדש BEIT HAʾMIKDAŜ.

08-23: A lattice partition was dismantled in the courtyard of בית המקדש BEIT HAʾMIKDAŜ. The notice itself does not identify defiled altar stones.14

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כ״ה בחשוון 25th 𝑜𝑓 ḤeŝvanPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Capture of the wall of שומרון ŜOMRON, not an explicit notice of the destruction of the sanctuary on HarGerizim.

כ״ה בחשוון 25th 𝑜𝑓 Ḥeŝvan: Capture of the wall of שומרון ŜOMRON, not an explicit notice of the destruction of the sanctuary on HarGerizim.15

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09-07Precision: yearless-day · Basis: not-assessed

A holiday whose cause the calendar does not identify.

09-07: A holiday whose cause the calendar does not identify.16

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כ״א בכסלו 21st 𝑜𝑓 KislevPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

HarGerizim Day.

כ״א בכסלו 21st 𝑜𝑓 Kislev: HarGerizim Day. The Alexander narrative belongs to the commentary.17

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כ״ה בכסלו 25th 𝑜𝑓 KislevPrecision: recurring-day · Basis: not-assessed

חנוכה ḤANUKA begins an eight-day prohibition on public eulogies.

כ״ה בכסלו 25th 𝑜𝑓 Kislev: חנוכה ḤANUKA begins an eight-day prohibition on public eulogies.18

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כ״ב בשבט 22nd 𝑜𝑓 ŜʾvatPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Work on what an enemy ordered brought into בית המקדש BEIT HAʾMIKDAŜ ceased.

כ״ב בשבט 22nd 𝑜𝑓 Ŝʾvat: Work on what an enemy ordered brought into בית המקדש BEIT HAʾMIKDAŜ ceased. The commentary identifies the threat with Caligula's statue.19

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י״ד באדר ב׳ 14th 𝑜𝑓 Adar IIPrecision: recurring-day · Basis: not-assessed

פורים PURIM, the first of two days on which public eulogies were prohibited.

י״ד באדר ב׳ 14th 𝑜𝑓 Adar II: פורים PURIM, the first of two days on which public eulogies were prohibited.20

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ט״ו באדר ב׳ 15th 𝑜𝑓 Adar IIPrecision: recurring-day · Basis: not-assessed

שושן פורים ŜUŜAN PURIM, the second commemorative day.

ט״ו באדר ב׳ 15th 𝑜𝑓 Adar II: שושן פורים ŜUŜAN PURIM, the second commemorative day.21

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ט״ז באדר 16th 𝑜𝑓 AdarPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Rebuilding of the wall of ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM began.

ט״ז באדר 16th 𝑜𝑓 Adar: Rebuilding of the wall of ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM began. Its attribution to a particular ruler is not part of the notice.22

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י״ז באדר 17th 𝑜𝑓 AdarPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Refugees among יהודים YEHUDIM were saved from attackers in an episode associated with בית זבדאי BEIT ZAVDAI.

י״ז באדר 17th 𝑜𝑓 Adar: Refugees among יהודים YEHUDIM were saved from attackers in an episode associated with בית זבדאי BEIT ZAVDAI.23

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כ׳ באדר 20th 𝑜𝑓 AdarPrecision: unresolved-year-day · Basis: not-assessed

Rain followed a communal fast.

כ׳ באדר 20th 𝑜𝑓 Adar: Rain followed a communal fast. The commentary connects the event with חוני המעגל ḤONI HAʾMEAGEL.24

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What survived after
the destruction of בית שני BEIT ŜENI?

The תלמוד TALMUD debates whether these commemorations remained binding after the destruction. Its conclusion distinguishes חנוכה ḤANUKA and פורים PURIM, whose prohibitions endured, from the other dates whose prohibitions were annulled. The text preserves a calendar of victories even where annual observance no longer carries them.25

Footnotes

  1. Noam, Megillat Ta’anit and Its Scholion,; Megillat Taʿanit, introduction, Iyar, Av, Elul, Adar ↩
  2. Noam, Megillat Ta’anit and Its Scholion, ↩
  3. Megillat Taʿanit, Nisan 2–3. Further daily records: ב׳ בניסן 2nd 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, ג׳ בניסן 3rd 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, ד׳ בניסן 4th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, ה׳ בניסן 5th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, ו׳ בניסן 6th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, ז׳ בניסן 7th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan. ↩
  4. Megillat Taʿanit, Nisan 4–5. Further daily records: ט׳ בניסן 9th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, י׳ בניסן 10th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, י״א בניסן 11th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, י״ב בניסן 12th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, י״ג בניסן 13th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, י״ד בניסן 14th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, ט״ו בניסן 15th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, ט״ז בניסן 16th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, י״ז בניסן 17th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, י״ח בניסן 18th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, י״ט בניסן 19th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, כ׳ בניסן 20th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, כ״א בניסן 21st 𝑜𝑓 Nisan. ↩
  5. Megillat Taʿanit, Iyar 1 ↩
  6. Megillat Taʿanit, Iyar 3 ↩
  7. Megillat Taʿanit, Iyar 7; the year is reconstructed, not stated by the scroll. ↩
  8. Megillat Taʿanit, Sivan 1–2 ↩
  9. Megillat Taʿanit, Sivan 5 ↩
  10. Megillat Taʿanit, Tammuz 1–2 ↩
  11. Megillat Taʿanit, Av ↩
  12. Megillat Taʿanit, Elul 3 ↩
  13. Megillat Taʿanit, Elul 5–6, English translation of the calendar notice ↩
  14. Megillat Taʿanit, Cheshvan 1–2 ↩
  15. Megillat Taʿanit, Cheshvan 3 ↩
  16. Megillat Taʿanit, Kislev 3 ↩
  17. Megillat Taʿanit, Kislev 5–6 ↩
  18. Megillat Taʿanit, Kislev 7 ↩
  19. Megillat Taʿanit, Shevat 4–5 ↩
  20. Megillat Taʿanit, Adar 7 ↩
  21. Megillat Taʿanit, Adar 7 ↩
  22. Megillat Taʿanit, Adar 9–10 ↩
  23. Megillat Taʿanit, Adar 11–12 ↩
  24. Megillat Taʿanit, Adar 13–14 ↩
  25. Rosh Hashanah 19b, 2–3 ↩