Nisan

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This article is about the Jewish month of Nisan. See Nissan Motors for the automobile manufacturer by that name.

Nisan (Hebrew: נִיסָן, Standard Nisan Tiberian Nîsān ; from Akkadian nisānu, from Sumerian nisag "First fruits") is the first month of the civil year and the seventh month (eighth, in leap year) of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Tanakh it is called Aviv, meaning spring. It is a spring month of 30 days. Nisan usually falls out in March–April on the Gregorian calendar.

In some Christian traditions it is believed Jesus' death occurred at 3:00 (i.e., the ninth canonical hour from sunrise) on the afternoon of 14 Nisan, the eve of Passover, and the Last Supper was a pre-Passover Seder held the previous evening. (See Quartodecimanism for more information.)

[edit] Holidays and observances in Nisan

Passover – 15th through 21st Nisan (22nd outside Israel)
Yom HaShoah – 27th Nisan

[edit] Other Uses

"Nisan" is also the Turkish, an Altaic language, and Arabic, a Semitic language, name for the month of April.
In the story of Xenogears, "Nisan" is the name of a country, named after the Hebrew month.