The lunar calendar represents the Jerusalem temple establishment’s public festival rhythm: months began by lunar observation and were adjusted to keep pilgrimage festivals in their agricultural seasons.

For the Tzedukim, calendar control belonged to the priestly and temple order. This is why calendar dispute was not a minor technical issue; it determined when sacrifice, pilgrimage, purity, and communal time were valid.

Sources: Second Temple festival practice; priestly administration; later disputes preserved in sectarian and sage traditions.

The lunar system was flexible because lunar months do not naturally equal the solar agricultural year. Intercalation and observation were therefore part of public authority. Control of the calendar meant control over when pilgrims arrived, when offerings were due, and when the community fasted or celebrated. In this map it sits with the Tzedukim because the temple establishment’s claim to regulate public worship depended on this schedule. The contrast with the Yahad solar calendar shows how a technical disagreement could become a charge that an entire priestly system had lost its proper order.