After Zero
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After Zero, abbreviated as AZ or A.Z., and Before Zero, abbreviated as BZ or B.Z. represent an idea for calendar year notation which appeared in Internet forums just before and after the year 2000. AZ and BZ were proposed as substitutes for both the paired BC and AD (anno Domini) notation, and the paired BCE and CE (Common Era) notation.
The BZ and AZ notations were proposed to be chronologically equivalent to the epochs defined by BC/AD and BCE/CE in the Gregorian calendar.
The origin of the idea and the earliest public proposal of BZ and AZ notation are difficult to trace. Discussion of the idea is found, however, on Internet on-line discussion forums. See, for example, a Biblical Archaeological Society archival reference at [1] and a University of Chicago listserve reference at [2]
