Hesius (Ar)
Lykourgos (Brundisium)
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Passage Hand
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Year 10,174 Contasta Ar


Years



This is my narrative and relevant references from the Books where Years are mentioned.
While this Gorean chronology is substantiated by Book reference, some thought and reasoning must be given to corresponding Earth years.
I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them.
Arrive at your own conclusions.

I wish you well,
Fogaban


It is now:
Year 10,174 Contasta Ar

In Ko-ro-ba, it is Year 66 of the Administration of Matthew Cabot
In Tharna, it is Year 56 of Sa'ng-fori and Freedom
In Torvaldsland, it is Rune Year 1,058
In Port Kar, it is Year 55 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains
The Kurii Civilization began 100,046 years ago


How can I say this?
Well, before I answer that question, I will first explain a little about years in general.


Traditionally the Chinese calendar does not use continuously numbered years. Outside of China, years are often numbered from the reign of the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi. But even then, at least three different years numbered 1 are now used by various scholars.

In Japan, the imperial year is based on the mythical founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.

And then there is Anno Domini. You'll probably recognize this when it's abbreviated AD, as in the current year of 2024 AD, the system most commonly used to count years in Western civilization.
But even in this system, there is no zero year. So the year 1 AD immediately follows the year 1 BC.


As we see, even here on Earth, counting years takes on many forms.

The same is true on Gor.
Just about every city and group of people count years from a different point in time.

The most widely accepted form of referring to the current year is based on Contasta Ar, commonly abbreviated as CA. Contasta Ar can be translated as "from the founding of Ar". As the myth goes, Ar was founded by the first man on Gor, a hero whom the Priest-Kings are said to have formed from the mud of the earth and the blood of tarns.

To begin this process it is necessary to establish a cross-reference date.
Since John Norman never says, for instance, "10,117 C.A. is 1967", we can still take what we do know and work a little math.
We can take what is said from Books 1 & 2 and extrapolate that 10,110 is the same as 1960.

How so?
We know Book 2 was first published in 1967.
We will take the liberty that the following passage was to be read in 'real time', in the year of 1967.

We put on our coats and went out into the February evening, into the light snow.
. . .
Then without speaking he went into his closet and emerged carrying a strongbox. He unlocked this with a key which he carried on his own person, and removed a manuscript, written in his own clear, decisive hand and bound with twine. He placed the manuscript in my hands. It was a document pertaining to what Cabot called the Counter-Earth, the story of a warrior, of the siege of a city, and of the love of a girl. You perhaps know it as Tarnsman of Gor.
Outlaw of Gor     Book 2     Pages 14 - 15

Book 1 encompasses 7 months beginning in February.
When I emerged from the mountains, I found I had been gone seven months.
Tarnsman of Gor     Book 1     Page 218

I recalled it was in February that he had departed from the college, years earlier.
Outlaw of Gor     Book 2     Page 12

And 6 years after that Tarl writes at the end of Book 1:
Strangely, though it has now been six years since I left the Counter-Earth, I can discover no signs of aging or physical alteration in my appearance.
Tarnsman of Gor     Book 1     Page 218

After the same almost seven years, Harrison Smith meets Tarl again.
It was almost seven years after I had known Tarl Cabot at the college when I saw him on the streets of Manhattan.
Outlaw of Gor     Book 2     Page 11

Some months pass after their first meeting.
In the ensuing months, my studies permitting, we saw one another fairly often.
Outlaw of Gor     Book 2     Page 11

And then, again in February, seven years to the month:
"I'll see you tomorrow," I said.
"No," he said. "I am going again to the mountains."
It was in February, at this time, that he had disappeared seven years before.
Outlaw of Gor     Book 2     Page 16

So, going backwards in time:
~ Tarl begins his adventures of Book 2 in February, 1967
~ Some months had passed before that during which Harrison Smith and Tarl met fairly often.
~ Six years before that, Harrison Smith met Tarl again.
~ Tarl returns to Earth after seven months on Gor or September, 1960
~ Tarl begins his adventures of Book 1 in February, 1960


We can therefore surmise that the events of Book 1 transpired in the Earth year of 1960.
And we can also establish that Ar was founded now, 10,174 Earth years ago.



So, using the correlation of 1960 AD = 10,110 CA, we can then look further into the Books and see when other events happened in relation to both the founding of Ar and Earth years.

I have listed below a few of the referenced points in time from the Books and compared them to the current Earth year of 2024.






Chronology of Ar
10,110 CA - 1960 - The Siege of Pa Kur's Horde
10,119 CA - 1969 - The Restoration of Marlenus
10,137 CA - 1987 - Cosian Invasion
10,174 CA - 2024 - Current Year
I had known Maximus Hegesius Quintilius only briefly several years ago, when he had been a captain, in 10,110 from the Founding of Ar, in the time of Pa-Kur and his horde.
Assassin of Gor     Book 5     Page 234

After the restoration of Marlenus of Ar, in 10,119 Contasta Ar, from the founding of Ar,
Marauders of Gor     Book 9     Page 112

Ar's Station, incidentally, is near the site where there was a gathering, several years ago, of the horde of Pa-Kur, of the Caste of Assassins, who was leading an alliance of twelve cities, augmented by mercenaries and assassins, against the city of Ar, This war is celebrated, incidentally, in the Gorean fashion, in several songs. Perhaps most famous among them are the songs of Tarl of Bristol. The action is reputed to have taken place in 10,110 C.A., Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar. It was now, in that chronology, the year 10,127.
Rouge of Gor     Book 15     Pages 62 - 63



Chronology of Ko-Ro-Ba
10,110 - 1960 - Year 02 of the Administration of Matthew Cabot - Tarl Arrives in Ko-Ro-Ba
10,119 - 1969 - Year 11 of the Administration of Matthew Cabot - Ko-Ro-Ba Restoration Begins
10,174 - 2024 - Year 66 of the Administration of Matthew Cabot - Current Year
In the calendar of Ko-ro-ba, which, like most Gorean cities, marks years by its Administrator Lists, it would be the eleventh year of the administration of my father, Matthew Cabot. In the calendar of Ar, for those it might interest, it was the first year of the restoration of Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars, but, more usefully for the purposes of consolidating the normal chaos of Gorean chronology, it was the year 10,119 Contasta Ar, that is, from the founding of Ar.
Raiders of Gor     Book 6     Page 1



Chronology of Tharna
10,117 CA - 1967 - Year 4 of the Reign of Lara
10,118 CA - 1968 - Year 1 of Sa'ng-fori and Freedom
10,174 CA - 2024 - Year 56 of Sa'ng-fori and Freedom - Current Year
Inscribed in the City of Tharna, the Twenty-Third Day of En'Kara in the Fourth Year of the Reign of Lara, Tatrix, of Tharna, the Year 10,117 from the Founding of Ar. Outlaw of Gor     Book 2     Page 245



Chronology of Events Concerning the Priest-Kings
10,118 CA - 1968 - Nest War In the Sardar Mountains
10,119 CA - 1969 - Last Egg of the Priest-Kings Returned



Chronology of the Wagon Peoples
10,118 CA - 1968 - The Year in Which Tarl Cabot Came to the Wagon Peoples
10,119 CA - 1969 - The Year in which Tarl Cabot Commanded a Thousand
Since the length of years vary, there is no way to calculate a current year comparison.
"Your coming and going with the Wagon Peoples," said Kamchak, "has spanned parts of two of our years."
I looked at him, not really understanding. What he said, of course, was true.
"The years," said Harold, smiling, "were two the Year in which Tarl Cabot Came to the Wagon Peoples and the Year in which Tarl Cabot Commanded a Thousand."
Nomads of Gor    Book 4    Page 343

A consequence of the chronological conventions of the Wagon Peoples, of course, is that their years tend to vary in length,
Nomads of Gor     Book 4     Page 12



Chronology of Torvaldsland
10,122 CA - 1972 - 1,006 Rune-Priest Year - Year of the War Arrow
10,174 CA - 2024 - 1,058 Rune-Priest Year - Current Year
I went to Torvaldsland in the Rune-Year 1,006. Years, in the chronology of Torvaldsland, are counted from the time of Thor's gift of the stream of Torvald to Torvald, the legendary founder and hero of the northern fatherlands. The calendars are kept by Rune-Priests. That would have been 10,122 C.A., or Year 3 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains in Port Kar.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 31



Chronology of Port Kar
10,120 CA - 1970 - Year 1 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains - Victory over Cos and Tyros
10,174 CA - 2024 - Year 55 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains - Current Year
This house has withstood a siege of thousands, within the last two years, in the time of the warrings of the Ubars and the Council of Captains, and the great engagement between the fleet of Port Kar and that of Tyros and Cos, on the twenty-fifth of Se'Kara, 10,120 Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar.
Captive of Gor     Book 7     Page 365

The sun, for Torvaldsland, was hot. In the chronology of Port Kar, it was early in Year 3 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains. In the chronology of Ar, which serves, generally, to standardize chronology on Gor, it was 10,122 C.A., or Contasta Ar, from the founding of Ar. The battle of the 25th of Se'Kara had taken place in 10,120 C.A. In that same year, in its spring, in Port Kar, the Council of Captains had assumed its sovereignty, thus initiating Year 1 of its reign.
Marauders of Gor     Book 9     Page 58

They had fought against the united fleets of Tyros and Cos and, without their help, doubtless Port Kar could not have won the great victory of the 25th of Se'Kara, in the first year of the reign of the Council of Captains, in the year 10,120 Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar.
Marauders of Gor     Book 9     Page 283

It was currently in the late winter of Year 3 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains in Port Kar, the year 10,122 C.A., Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 26

It was, currently, Year 7 in the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains, that year, in the chronology of Ar, which was 10,126 C.A.
Explorers of Gor     Book 13     Page 25

It is called the Place of the Twenty-Fifth of Se'Kara, because of the monument there, rising from the water. On the twenty-fifth of Se'Kara in Year One of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains, the year 10,120 C.A., Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar, a sea battle took place in which the fleet of Port Kar defeated the fleets of Cos and Tyros.
Savages of Gor     Book 17     Pages 60 - 61

This form of Kaissa, now utilized in the tournaments, is generally referred to, like the other variations, simply as Kaissa. Sometimes, however, to distinguish it from differing forms of the game, it is spoken of as Merchant Kaissa, from the role of the Merchants in making it the official form of Kaissa for the fairs, Player Kaissa, from the role of the Players in its codification, or the Kaissa of En'Kara, for it was officially promulgated for the first time at one of the fairs of En'Kara, that which occurred in 10,124 C.A., Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar, or in Year 5 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains, in Port Kar.
. . .
It was now two days before the Twelfth Passage Hand, in the year 10,129 C.A. Soon it would be Year Eleven in the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains, in Port Kar.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 8

This had taken place in Year One of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains, in 10,120 C.A.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 33

It was now 10,130 C.A., Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar. In the chronology of Port Kar, it was now Year Eleven, of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 249

The current year was 10,130 C.A. In the chronology of Port Kar, it was Year 11 in the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 246

10,127 C.A. It was natural that he of Ar's Station, would give the date in the chronology of Ar. Different cities, perhaps in their vanity, or perhaps simply in accord with their own traditions, often have their own chronologies, based on Administrator Lists, and such. A result of this is that there is little uniformity in Gorean chronology. The same year, in the chronology of Port Kar, if it is of interest, would have been Year 8 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains.
Renegades of Gor     Book 23     Page 347

There had not been a major engagement since the battle of the 25th of Se'Kara, in the first year of the sovereignty of the Council of Captains in Port Kar, or, to use the chronology of Ar, 10,120 C.A., Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar.
Vagabonds of Gor     Book 24     Page 108



Chronology of the Kurii
10,125 CA - 1978 - 100,000 - Kurii Civilization Begins
10,122 CA - 1972 - 99,994 - Plot To Destroy Gor Fails
10,174 CA - 2024 - 100,046 - Kurii Civilization Began - Current Year
"Surely, in ancient times, Kurii came together," I said.
"Yes," it said, "in the matings, and the killings." It looked at me, chewing. "But that was long ago," it said. "We have had civilization for one hundred thousand years, as you would understand these things. In the dawn of our prehistory small bands emerged from the burrows and the caves and forests. It was a beginning."
Beasts of Gor     Book 12     Page 367

Surrender Gor
Tribesmen of Gor    Book 10    Page 284

Gor, I understood, was to be destroyed. This would eliminate a world, but, with it, Priest-Kings, and leave Earth unsheltered, vulnerable, to the attack fleets of the steel worlds.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 285



Chronology of the Tahari
The oasis of Two Scimitars is an out-of-the-way oasis, under the hegemony of the Bakahs, which, for more than two hundred years, following their defeat in the Silk War of 8,110 C.A., has been a vassal tribe of the Kavars. The Silk War was a war for the control of certain caravan routes, for the rights to levy raider tribute on journeying merchants. It was called the Silk War because, at that time, Turian silk first began to be imported in bulk to the Tahari communities, and northward to Tor and Kasra, thence to Ar, and points north and west.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 151


















 



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