Talk:Hour

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There are 12 hours in a day for the same reason 13 has a tradition of being an unlucky number. The Babylonians (and Sumerians?) used a base 60 numbering system. They attributed mystical significance to numbers. Good and powerful numbers divided 60 evenly. 7 is the first number that doesn't divide 60 evenly and, curiously, got tagged as "lucky". 8 was considered the weakest of the numbers from 1 to 12. 13 does not divide 60 evenly and so was thought a "bad" number. When anything important needed dividing into units, such as the hours in a day, it was done in some even divisor of 60 with 12 being the most popular. That the moon happens to wax and wane approximately 12 times a year and that a year is close to 60*6 = 360 days only reinforced the holiness of base 60 numbering. To prevent the 360 day calendar from getting out of sync, the 5 extra days in a year were used for a holiday which was called Saturnalia. (Think Saturnalia must be a Roman name, after Saturn which in the Greek mythos is Chronos, God of Time.)

Looks like all the entries on units of time are missing this history. Also the entry on Babylonia barely mentions this and the entry on Sumeria is totally silent.

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[edit] Media reference to this article

This article is quoted from by Julian Palmore, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois in the "Ask The Expert" column appearing in the May/June 2005 issue of Illinois Alumni, a newsletter for alumni of the University of Illinois. The first sentence is quoted. It would be useful to provide a reference(s) for this first sentence along with references supporting other information in the article. Courtland 13:26, 2005 May 12 (UTC)


[edit] WTF is with all this shit about 12.

Someone 2 fix plz

[edit] Counting hours

« In the modern 24-hour clock, counting the hours starts at midnight, and hours are numbered from 0 to 23. Noon is always close to 12:00 (differing according to the equation of time) » How far can it be? The largest departure would be when the equation of time has the steepest slope, and be accumulated over a mere 12 hours. Using the Equation of time approximation, it looks like at most 14 s. The sentence remains unclear. Urhixidur 15:54, 2005 August 22 (UTC)

[edit] Egyptian time?

The hour was originally defined in Egypt as 1/24 of a day, based on their duo-decimal numbering system (which counted finger joints on each hand).

The Egyptians used a base-10 numbering system. The relationship between this, 1/24 of a day, and finger joints isn't obvious… I'm happy to edit the article if someone can explain the relationship to me. Barefootguru 23:52, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

a duodecimal numbering system (counting with each thumb the spaces between the joints of the other finger on the same hand, i.e. 3 x 4 = 12)

This is rather confusing. What exactly does it mean? -213.122.110.231 15:31, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Misspelling

I can't believe that "civilizations" was misspelled. Please be more careful when editing articles. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Coolbho3000 (talk • contribs) 00:06, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 3 x 4 = 12?

What does this mean?

" (counting with each thumb the spaces between the joints of the other finger on the same hand, i.e. 3 x 4 = 12) "

Scrutchfield 22:03, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 6*5=30

Degrees minutes and seconds are derived from satanic origin, because there are five sixes at five ends of satanic pentagram, thus gives 6*5=30 minutes, thus half of degree. Additionally 60 minutes, 60 seconds, 60 tierces are multiples of 6. Thus much better solution would be using septenary or at least decimal units for measuring time and angle. Sexagesimal means six times ten, where six is taken from number of the beast. Here is God-derived alternative to these satanic units: http://the-light.com/cal/veseptimal.html that has nothing to do with babylonian satanic measurements. More about full septimalization of all units here: [1]

Comprehensive proof of evilness of these unholy numbers such as 6,60,90,180,270,360,666,3600,6666, which refuses to be completed up to multiples of holy seven is placed here: [2] 83.19.52.107 09:52, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

It would be nice if you would qualify all statemntes with the warranted IMHO, ITHO, etc. With Post-Hollyween Greatings, Jclerman 19:35, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
I don't know what is imho or itho, thus I will leave this out. 83.5.23.78 20:02, 1 November 2007 (UTC)