Individual Project

Labrador, Ana Micaela

2011-02178

The Clocks of Ancient Egypt

A Brief Study on the Evolution of Early Egyptian Timepieces

Wouldn’t life be somewhat easier without any clocks? Possibly, all of humanity would feel less hounded by deadlines upon deadlines if these strange, time–telling contraptions weren’t around. After all, as the saying goes, ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ Clocks are a concise representation of how we have become accustomed to centering our daily activities on the concept of the passage of time, but how exactly did the clock come about in the first place?

Traditionally, a clock consists of at least two things: a face, usually circular in shape, and a hand. Though in technical terms, everything is a clock – from the simple phenomenon of the changing seasons, to the more vast and complex cycle of the Earth’s slow and steady rotation around the sun; it’s no wonder, therefore, that mankind relied on time–telling by using the clocks made available to them by nature. The ancient Egyptians, for example, would observe the cycles of the sun and moon, and then portion this cycle into segments or ‘hours’ according to the positions of the stars during that time of day. Such observations on these celestial bodies gave way to other studies in Religion, Astrology, and Astronomy.

When simply observing planetary movement wasn’t enough, more concrete and complex timepieces were built. One particular example of such a tool is the Obelisks, which were built as early as 3500 B.C.  A large wooden t–shaped frame, it partitioned night from day by indicating noontime by casting a shadow in a certain position, but was also capable of showing the year’s longest and shortest days, depending on the shadow’s length.

Sundials were introduced afterwards in 15000 B.C. as a miniature version of the Obelisk. While an Obelisk was a towering structure, sundials were often small and portable, and told time through the observation of the position of a shadow, in relation to the sun. The device divided each half of the day – morning and evening – into 10 hours, plus two “twilight hour.” This process of time–telling influenced the concept of a twenty–four hour day being used in the present.

Besides the Sundial, Egyptian Prince Amenemhet invented the Clepsydra or water clock – a device that resembled a bowl placed into a shallow dish, with holes and plugs to control the flow of water. The device would displace water as a means of measuring time, and was effective in comparison to the sundial, since it worked during both the day and night. In spite of this, problems with the water clock arose whenever there was a change in the weather; certain climates would cause the water to flow more quickly or slowly.

Alternatively, in 600 B.C., the Merkhet was invented. Essentially a straight bar attached to a plumb line with a weight dangling at the end, it was used to measure straight lines for the erection of pyramids. The Egyptians were known to have aligned the device with the North Star to establish a North–South meridian; the passage of time was evident in how the stars would cross the meridian line as the days changed.

There were other inventions that followed the general concept of the Sundial; the Hemicycle and the Hourglass are just a few examples of these devices. Certainly, the Egyptians receive credit for being one of the civilizations that spearheaded the development of the clock, turning it into the piece of technology mankind has grown so accustomed to using today.

The next time you’re swamped in deadlines, struggling to finish a term paper before the 11:30 PM mark, thank the Egyptians; possibly, the concept of days, hours, minutes and seconds couldn’t have been as well developed without their incredible contributions to the development of time measurement, and timepieces in general.

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References:

The History of Time. n.d. ThinkQuest Library. http://library.thinkquest.org/C008179/historical/basichistory.html. March 6, 2014.

Bindal, Prakhar, 2012. Who invented clock?. MeritNation: School Made Easy. http://www.meritnation.com/ask-answer/question/who-invented-clock/gk/2414974. March 7, 2014.

Bellis, Mary, 2013. The History of Time Keeping. About.com Inventors. http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa071401a.htm. March 7, 2014.

McMahon, Mary and Harris, Bronwyn, 2014. What is a Merkhet?. WiseGeek: Clear Answers for Common Questions. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-merkhet.htm. March 8, 2014.