Iran, Central Asia and beyond · the date moves each year

Nowruz

The spring equinox — the Persian new year, kept for some three thousand years.

What happened

Nowruz means "new day". It begins at the exact moment of the March equinox, which is why the new year can arrive at three in the morning and families will get up for it. The haft-sin table is laid with seven items beginning with the Persian letter S, each standing for something wished for the year.

Why it stuck

It is set by the sky rather than by a calendar — the instant the sun crosses the equator. A child can grasp that immediately, and it is astronomy they can check.

What a family can do

Grow sabzeh — lentils or wheat sprouted on a plate — in the two weeks before. It is the easiest gardening a small child will ever do.

Questions to work through

1. What is an equinox? Explain it with a ball and a lamp.
2. The haft-sin has seven items starting with the same letter. Try it in English: seven things for a new year.
3. Nowruz begins at an exact minute. Find what time it falls this year where you live.