August is the most humid month of the Israeli year, and the one that feels longest. The school holidays are at their midpoint, offices empty out, and the coastal humidity turns a short walk into an effort.
And inside that heat sit the most loaded days of the Hebrew calendar: Tisha B'Av falls here in most years, Tu B'Av arrives six days later, and by the end of the month Elul has usually begun and the shofar is sounded every morning. The month's name is another story about a ruler, this time one who was born in a different month entirely.
Where the name comes from: the emperor's month
Like July, August once went by a number: Sextilis, "the sixth". In 8 BCE it was renamed for Augustus, Rome's first emperor.
The curious part is that Augustus was not born in it, his birthday fell in September. The month was picked for a different reason; it was where his luck had always fallen: he entered his first consulship in it, won his greatest victories in it, and on its first day in 30 BCE Alexandria fell and Egypt passed into his hands.
Which brings up the story almost everyone has heard: that a day was taken from February and given to August so the emperor's month would not be shorter than Caesar's. It is a good story and it is not true. It first appears in writing in the 13th century. The lengths of the months, August's thirty-one days among them, were already fixed by Julius Caesar's reform, a full generation before the month got its new name.
The season in Israel: the heaviest air of the year
August is not the hottest month on paper; it is the hottest to live in. On the coast the day sits at 31–32°C and the night rarely drops below 25°C, but the deciding factor is humidity: 70% and above, often well into the evening, so the body struggles to cool itself at all.
Jerusalem and the hills post similar daytime numbers with dry air, and their nights are genuinely pleasant at 20–21°C. In Eilat and the Jordan Valley 40°C is routine. The sea hits its annual peak of around 30°C and has effectively stopped cooling anyone down.
There is still no rain. What does change is the light: by the end of August the sun sets around 7:15 in the evening, some forty minutes earlier than at the end of June, the first quiet sign that summer has begun to close.
August around the world
August is the month half of Europe simply stops working. In Italy the 15th is Ferragosto, when the entire country shuts and heads for the water, and the name is a direct survival from Rome: Feriae Augusti, "the holidays of Augustus", the rest-festival that same emperor established in 18 BCE. The Catholic Church marks the Assumption on the same date, and France, Spain and Poland take the holiday with it.
In Japan, mid-month, comes Obon: three days in which people return to their home towns, clean the family graves and light lanterns so the spirits of the dead can find their way back, closing with a communal circle dance. On 15 August India celebrates its independence, Edinburgh fills with the largest theatre festival in the world, and London ends the month with the Notting Hill Carnival.
The Hebrew dates that fall in August
August covers the end of Av and most of Elul, and holds three Hebrew dates worth knowing:
Tisha B'Av: the national day of mourning for the destruction of both Temples, and a fast of about twenty-five hours. It drifts between mid-July and mid-August, and in most years it lands here. The full account is on the Tisha B'Av page.
Tu B'Av: six days after the fast, and its exact opposite: the Mishnah ranks it among the two best days Israel ever had, and modern Hebrew has turned it into the Jewish Valentine's Day.
Rosh Chodesh Elul: at the end of August in most years. From here the shofar is blown every weekday morning and the run-up to Rosh Hashanah begins.
The grid at the top of this page shows August for the year selected, with the Hebrew date under each civil one, and the button above it prints the month to a single page. For every date in the year at once there is the annual holiday calendar; for the current month, the home page.
Common questions about August
How many days are in August?
Thirty-one, the same as the July before it.
Which Hebrew months fall in August?
Av and Elul. When the Hebrew calendar runs early, Elul takes most of the month; when it runs late, almost all of August sits inside Av.
Is Tisha B'Av always in August?
No. It always falls on 9 Av, which on the civil calendar drifts between mid-July and mid-August, usually August, but not always. This year it falls on 29/7/31.
Why is the month called August?
After the emperor Augustus. Until 8 BCE it was Sextilis, "the sixth", after its place in a Roman year that began in March.
Was a day really taken from February to lengthen August?
No. That is a late story, first written down in the 13th century. The lengths of the months were set by Julius Caesar's calendar reform, decades before the month was renamed for Augustus.