The earliest known water clock was invented by Amenemhet at Karnak/Thebes, Egypt in about 1500 BC. A descendent clock is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It was used for determining night hours -- recommended for use on cloudy nights where the stars were not visible. Images are on the Web, see "Karnak clepsydra."
Another water clock was invented in Babylon somewhat earlier but has not survived. It was described on a cuneiform tablet and was used for timing watchmen's shifts. Egyptian star clocks were (at first) based upon the rising of 36 stars called "decans". For more details see the Wikipedia entry for water clocks and the section in Marshall Claggett's "Ancient Egyptian Science, Volume II, Calendars, Clocks and Astronomy", Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society, 1995. It is the best source I know for Egyptian horology. I am guessing that the clock was used by priests in the Karnak Temple for timing night hymns and rituals associated with the Book of the Dead. I assume that the general populace slept through the night oblivious to this. I am assuming that fortnightly meetings were scheduled to take advantage of moonlight. Gordon Uber San Diego, California ---- R Wall <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Brent, > > That reminds be of a book that I read that indicated that some society or > club meetings were held on certain days close to the full moon. For example, > every month on the Thursday after the full moon at 9pm. I assume that was to > allow you to use the moon light to travel at night in the days when there > was no street lighting. I suppose they could have used a moon dial to > determine 9pm because there would be moon light. > > Roderick Wall. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Brent > Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2010 8:41 AM > To: Sundial List > Subject: life before clocks > > I wonder what life was like before mechanical clocks. > > I suppose your day was less structured than ours are today. > Maybe to work at sunrise, go home at sunset. > Eat when you are hungry, sleep when you are tired. > > I wonder how many people used sundials? Was it a common thing to have? > Was it a necessity? > > How did everyone show up on time for a 9pm Opera? > > What was the accurate time of day good for back then? > > Before mechanical clocks you probably wasted a lot of time waiting for > people or events. > > Who cared about accurate time, and why? > > Churches? > Armies? > Courts? > Scientists? > Governments? > Sailers? > > Sundials became very sophisticated, but why? > > thanks; > brent > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial > > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1153 / Virus Database: 424/3265 - Release Date: 11/18/10 > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial > --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
