NISAN is the seventh month of the Jewish civil year. It was anciently the first month of the year, as appears from the Book of Esther, iii. 7. The name occurs twice iu the Bible, once in Esther, as just mentioned, and again in Neilsen. ii. 1. It is also found twice in the Apocrypha; in Eadraa v. 6, and in Esther xi. 2 : in the last case it is written Nilson. In the inscription of Palmyra the month is written exactly as in the Hebrew Bible, and Jostephue also writes Maier. In the manuscripts containing the Calendar of Heliopolis, the name is read variously !amnia, Nuairae, or Nvaear, and even Napa; but the reanaaeript containing the last two forms is said to be damaged. Beaty shrives the name from Zend word aignifying " new day ; " but those words do not actually occur in Zend, as ltunfoy admits, though they are very probable forms. We would rather derive it from the Zend nova sareda, new year ; a name almost certainly in use among the Persians, for we find the Armenians, who adopted the Parisian calendar, using to this day the name of Navasardi for their first month ; the Zend rd, as shown by Opperk, becomes l in Persian, and the word sante has now become actually se/. [Soo also Even.] The
final / often becomes n in Semitic dialects, and the few Samaritans who are now remaining say Israen for Israel, and gainan for gimel. Nistus varies with the lunar calendar from March to April : in this year (1860) it begins on the 24th of March and ends on the 22nd of April The feast of the Passover begins on the 15th day of the month. A fast is set down Ly some authorities for the 10th of the month, in memory of the death of Miriam, and another on the 26th for the death of Joshua ; but they do not appear to be generally observed.
There are thirty days in Nisan, and the mouth must not begin on either Monday, Wednesday, or Friday.
NISI. [pets tat Law.]