The MONTHS TOURNAMENT: "religious" play-in round

[theMoMA]

The calendars of the world are, in many ways, inseparable from the religions of the world. Although just about every calendar has a religious aspect, some calendars are inextricable from the religions that birthed them. This bracket quadrant honors those calendars: Hebrew, Islamic, Baha'i, Coptic, and Zoroastrian. Between them, these calendars have sixty-nine (69) months, meaning some voting is necessary to identify the final field.

Like the "ancient" play-in, which began yesterday, voting for the final spots in the "religious" bracket will take place by paired matchups between months from the same calendars, "win and in." Voting closes in two (2) days.

In the battle for the 45th seed, voters will have their first introduction to the Zoroastrian calendar and its wonderful Avestan orthography:

• Āθrō: The modern spellings Adur and Azar also signify this month, which is named in honor of fire, one of the holiest concepts in Zoroastrianism.
• Daθušō: "Day" or "Dey" are the modern equivalents of this month, whose name means "Creator," signifying Ahura Mazda.

If a vote between two of the holiest concepts in Zoroastrianism doesn't do it for you, how about even more Zoroastrianism in the 51st seed:

• Xšaθrahe Vairyehe: This month is named after Kshatra Vairya, one of the Amesha Spentas, or "divine sparks," of Zoroastrianism.
• Amərətātō: This month, named after the Zoroastrian concept of immortality, is known in modern spellings as "Amurdad" or "Mordad."

The 62nd seed is a matchup between two relatively low-key summer months in the otherwise stacked Hebrew calendar:

• Elul: This is a late-summer month most notable as a time of preparation for the High Holy Days.
• Tammuz: G-d may have commanded the Israelites to have no other gods before him, but curiously, the Hebrew calendar contains a midsummer month named after the Mesopotamian deity Tammuz.

The 63rd seed sees the first vote in the Coptic calendar, and the return of a familiar name*:

• Parmouti: As we have previously learned, the 23rd of Parmouti is when the martyrdom of St. George is celebrated in the Coptic church.
• Paremhat: The Coptic pope Shenouda III died on 8 Paremhat 1728, which corresponds to March 17, 2012, in the Gregorian calendar.

Finally, the 64th seed is up for grabs between two Baha'i months:

• Sharaf: Meaning "honor," this is the sixteenth (16th) month out of nineteen (19) in the Baha'i calendar, and falls in mid-winter.
• Nur: Meaning "light," this is the fifth (5th) month in the Baha'i calendar, and falls in early summer.

* In the interest of full disclosure, the organizers of the MONTHS TOURNAMENT acknowledge a lack of recognition that the Coptic and ancient Egyptian calendars are functionally equivalent. In future rounds, all "fun facts" will be written so as to emphasize the uniquely ancient Egyptian or Coptic aspects of these months.

BALLOT: COPY/PASTE TO VOTE

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur

[Good Goblin Housekeeping]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō no Zurvanism here chief all ahura mazda all the time
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō no need 4 more dad hahaha xd
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz while I'm anti tammuz I'm more anti Elul
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti in honor of dr manners i voted against the paremhat one
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur

[Auroni]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur

[Auks Ran Ova]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō - tough choice here, but I'm erring on the side of fire due its more immediate relevance to day-to-day life. I'd be happy to see either (or indeed both) of these months in the tournament.
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō - not to question the august (heh) authorities of the MONTHS TOURNAMENT, but are you sure this month is named after Vohu Manah and not Kshatra Vairya, a different Amesha Spenta? anyway I'm voting for it.
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz - take that, "God"!
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti - two Parmoutis? in thi--wait, did that already. Other events during the month of Paremhat include the apparition of Our Lady of Zeitoun, which blessedly has nothing to do with any Dave Eggers books.
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur - early summer seems like an obvious choice.

[Stained Diviner]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
I don't believe in Ahura Mazda.

51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
I've been against immortality ever since I read Gulliver's Travels.

62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
The 17th of Tammuz is a very bad day. It's worth eliminating the month just because of that one day.

63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
You almost messed me up by changing the order on this. I've heard of St. George but not Shenouda III.

64 seed: Sharaf v Nur
I honestly don't care which of these win, but I voted anyways.

[theMoMA]

51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō - not to question the august (heh) authorities of the MONTHS TOURNAMENT, but are you sure this month is named after Vohu Manah and not Kshatra Vairya, a different Amesha Spenta? anyway I'm voting for it.

This appears to be correct; thank you for bringing this to our attention. The correction has been made.

[A Dim-Witted Saboteur]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
A Jordanian indie rock band I like is named after the Arabic version of Elul
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur

[bkmcavoybickford]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
A month named for fire seems like it could be a useful thing.
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
More months should have the xš consonant cluster in them.
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
If they didn't exclude a Mesopotamian god from the calendar then, I don't see why I would want to now
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
When can we have Parmouti vs. Pharmuthi?
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur
Naming a month in early summer "light" makes a lot of sense.

[DogeofVenice]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur

[Whiter Hydra]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur

[$5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur

[shefna21]

45 seed: Āθrō
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe
62 seed: Elul
63 seed: Parmouti
64 seed: Nur

[Apocolocyntora]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur

[The Stately Rhododendron]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō - burning and unburning fire - in my belly right now!
51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
62 seed: Elul v Tammuz - it's inconcievable that people would pick Tammuz over Elul to me! Saying Selichot, drawing closer to Elohim, the laconic nights of late summer, Rose Schneiderman's yahrzeit.... compared to the 17th of Tammuz and Jabonitsky's yahrzeit. Blech!
63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
64 seed: Sharaf v Nur

[Tippy Martinez]

45 seed: Daθušō v Āθrō
Mmm fire...

51 seed: Xšaθrahe Vairyehe v Amərətātō
"Divine sparks"? That sounds dope!

62 seed: Elul v Tammuz
Late summer! Yay!

63 seed: Paremhat v Parmouti
I don't like March.

64 seed: Sharaf v Nur
We could all use some light in this time...

[theMoMA]

In a round of twists, turns, and close votes, the final play-in ballot did not live up to the dramatic standard that previous play-ins set. Āθrō (14-4), Xšaθrahe Vairyehe (16.5-1.5), Parmouti (13-5), and Nur (12.5-5.5) all advanced, and the margins weren't particularly close. But even though these matchups were runaway victories for the advancing months, some interesting storylines still emerged.

Xšaθrahe Vairyehe cruised to victory over Amərətātō, 16.5-1.5, in the biggest blowout we've seen so far. Amərətātō was only saved the embarrassment of being shut out by Douglas Simons.

Parmouti's advancement will be another one to watch, as observers are keenly interested to see how the Coptic months will do in comparison to their ancient Egyptian counterparts. With Parmouti advancing 13-5, and Pharmuthi previously advancing 14-9, perhaps the voters are signaling that they will tolerate the repeat of a month they like.

Finally, in the only close matchup of this round, Tammuz prevailed over Elul, 9.5-8.5. Some voters were wary of Tammuz due to its association with the 17th of that month, a historically tragic day in Jewish history. Other voters may have found Tammuz's association with Mesopotamian deities hard to resist, or simply figured that its association with bad days was better than Elul's relatively low profile (i.e. "any publicity is good publicity").

Thanks for voting. The MONTHS TOURNAMENT will return with final-bracket voting shortly.