In earlier times to receive
an estimate on what time
was, many people looked at the sun
and moon. People observed the phases
of the moon, which are the result of
the reflection of the sun as
seen from different angles around
the Earth, to interprete time. These
phases showed the passing of months.
Early astronomers looked to
the rising of the moon to identify
the end or beginning of each month.
Americans Indians depended
on the moon to determine when
a hunt or harvest took place. Many
cultures and religions such as Judaism,
Islam, and Christianity depend on the
moon to schedule events in their
year. Words such as
Monday and month come
from an Old English word
relating to the moon.
The ancients also used the
sun to measure time. The rising
and setting determined when
a day began and ended
( the same pattern we use today).
As the earth rotated, time
of day was determined on how
long it took the sun to return
to a particular place in the sky.
Along with the moon and
the sun, stars were also
a natural device used to
determine time. The rotations
of the Earth around its axis
and around the sun would cause
changes in the position
of the stars in the sky;
this was how time was
determined. Astronomers
measured time in either
sidereal or solar (which
is best described: midnight
to midnight). Sidereal
time is the time based
on the movement of the
stars. A sidereal day
is the time it takes
for a star to reach
the same position on
two nights. A sidereal
year is the time it takes
for the sun to reach
the same position among the
stars. Sidereal time is a
way in which astronomers
used the stars and other
heavenly bodies to measure
time. For example,
long ago in Australia, time
was told by linking the sun,
moon, and stars along with
the weather and sometimes
certain types of seasonal
foods.
Scholars have shown
that the stones and the
layout of Stonehenge
was used to determine
astronomical events.
This stonehenge was built
about 3,000 years ago to
plot the sun and other stars
in order to calculate a
length of a year.
The Maya culture existed
about 2300 years ago.
They possessed two
calendars. Their first
calendar, known as Habb,
In which there were
18 months with 20 days
in each month and which was
based on the solar year.
Their second calendar
called tzolken had 260
sacred days. The Mayas did
not have a written language;
in their calendar symbols
called hieroglyphs
of glyphs were used
to express an idea.
The Chinese calendar is
the oldest continuously
used calendar in the
world. The Chinese
divided their 354
lunar day calendar
into twelve months with
28-29 days in each month.
This calendar was repeated
every 60 years with
5 cycles of 12 years each.
What made this calendar so
unique is the fact that each of the
12 years was named after
an animal. So, that each animal
would occur every 12 years.
For example, in history the
year of the Dragon was
1904 (4602 on the Chinese
calendar) and 12 years later
in 1916 it was the year
of the Dragon again.
The Egyptian calendar was
the first 365 day
calendar from about
5,000 years ago. This
calendar was based
on the flooding
of the Nile River.
From basic astronomy,
it was calculated that
this flooding event
occurred every 365 days.
This calendar was
divided into 12 months
with 30 days in each.
There was also five days
at the end of each year.
The Babylonians came up
with a 354 day lunar
calendar with 12 alternating
months. They were one of
the first cultures to divide
their year into a
7 day week. Their
worship of the sun, moon,
and five planets explains
their naming of the days
of the week. Sunday comes
from the sun, Monday is
named after the moon,
Tuesday is named from
the planet Mercury,
Wednesday comes from
Venus, Mars is related
to Thursday, Friday is
matched to Jupiter,
and Saturday is named
after Saturn.
There was the Julian calendar
which is an alteration of the
Roman calendar. When Julius
Caesar came into power, he made
some changes. 46 B.C. would last
for 445 days, February would last
23 days, and 67 days were to be
added in between November and
December. Of course this caused
much turmoil.
Many religions have composed
their own calendars through
history, such religion is
the Judaism and their Jewish
Calendar. This calendar is
based on the phases of the moon,
and was adopted in 3761 B.C., the
supposed creation of the earth.
The Hindu calendar possesses cycles
of 12,000 years. The Muslims
calendar is said to begin in
July of 622 AD when Mohammed fled
from Mecca to avoid his enemies.
These are some of the calendars
used in history in order
to organize time.
