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Iyar is referred to in the Tanach as "the second month" and as "Ziv," a word which means brightness, similar in meaning to the name Iyar, which is from the word ohr, meaning "light:"
"And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of HaShem." (Kings I, 6:1)
Iyar is understood by the Sefer HaYetsirah as being a time especially propitious for gaining wisdom, as well as for healing. The latter quality is hinted at by the name Iyar itself, which is an acronym, in Hebrew, for "I am HaShem your healer," as in the verse:
"He said, 'If you obey God your Lord and do what is upright in His eyes, carefully heeding all His commandments and keeping all His decrees, then I will not strike you with any of the sicknesses that I brought on Egypt. I am HaShem who heals you.'" (Exodus 5:26)
In the month of Iyar, both the manna began to fall from heaven, and the well of Miriam, which travelled along with the children of Israel in the desert, first appeared.
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