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Mesopotamia

The Land of the Four River Banks

Introduction

Dating conventions

Giorgio Buccellati – July 2023

The following abbreviations are used in our websites:

  • B.C. for "before Christ," and
  • C.E. for "Christian era."

The term “Common era,” which is now in common use, is not acceptable because it is indicative of a colonialist bias: the word “common” applied to the Christian era excludes in fact the possibility of other calendars asserting themselves as common.

On the other hand, the traditional term “Anno Domini”, A.D., is anachronistic as a Latin term.

The chart gives a visual rendering of the three systems:

traditional current our use
B.C.
Before Christ
BCE
Before Common Era
B.C./BC
Before Christ
A.D.
Anno Domini
CE
Common Era
C.E./CE
Christian era

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