Portal:Time/Selected Article archive/June 2008
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The history of timekeeping devices encompasses the various methods used to measure time throughout history.
The origins of the current Western time measurement system date to approximately 2000 BC, in Sumer. The system developed then—which remains in use today—was sexagesimal. The Ancient Egyptians classified day and night as each being twelve hours long... Water clocks, called clepsydras by the Greeks, were also of early Egyptian design, probably first used in the Precinct of Amun-Re; their use continued, especially in Greece. Around this period, the Chinese, ruled by the Shang dynasty, are thought to have used the outflow water clock, which was introduced from Mesopotamia as early as 2000 BC. Other ancient timekeeping devices include the candle clock, used in China, Japan, and England; the timestick, used in India and Tibet, as well as some parts of Europe; and hourglasses, which functioned similarly to a water clock.
