To understand the sense of time used throughout the ancient and medieval world, you have to forget about our contemporary clocks and their hours, minutes, seconds, mechanical ticktocks, and alarms. Imagine your waking day, sunrise to sunset, along with your sense of passing time, guided solely by the sun and the shadows it casts throughout the day.
In the days of shadow clocks, the unit of time was a moment (momentum), or the discernible movement of the gnomon’s shadow on a sundial face. A moment was approximately 90 seconds with 40 moments in a solar hour. The hour was further divided into four puncta (quarter-hours) and ten minuta. Of course, a solar hour depended on the length of the day, which, in turn, depended on the season.
From the earliest sundials around 1500 BCE through the middle ages, sundials became increasingly sophisticated and served a number of important functions for ancient and more recent civilizations. With Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, and Muslim innovations, early civilizations were able to keep exact records of past events and plan for future ones. Not only could they track the seasons, solstices, and equinoxes, they could formalize governmental, religious, and societal activities with a unified schedule. Even with the 14th-century introduction of clocks and their base 60, or sexagesimal system (hours, minutes, and seconds), sundials were still relied on and more reliable for resetting the newfangled mechanical clocks when necessary.
Traditionally, sundials were engraved with proverbs and mottos that invited passersby to reflect on the passing of time, the shortness of life, or random humorous anecdotes.
Let others tell of storms and showers, I tell of sunny morning hours.
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Ili kuelewa maana ya wakati uliotumiwa katika ulimwengu wa kale na wa enzi za kati, ni lazima usahau saa zetu za kisasa na saa zao, dakika, sekunde, tick-tocks za mitambo, na kengele. Fikiria siku yako ya kuamka, kutoka kuchomoza hadi machweo, pamoja na hisia yako ya kupita kwa wakati, ukiongozwa tu na jua na vivuli vinavyopigwa siku nzima. Katika siku za saa za kivuli, kitengo cha wakati kilikuwa wakati (momentum), au mwendo unaoonekana wa kivuli cha gnomon kwenye uso wa saa ya jua. Wakati wa jua ni dakika 90 na dakika 40 katika saa ya jua. Saa hiyo iligawanywa zaidi katika puncta nne (sehemu ya saa) na minuta kumi. Bila shaka, saa ya jua ilitegemea urefu wa siku, ambayo, kwa upande wake, ilitegemea majira. Kuanzia saa za jua za mapema zaidi karibu 1500 KK hadi enzi za kati, saa za jua zilikuwa na ufanisi zaidi na zilitumikia kazi kadhaa muhimu kwa ustaarabu wa kale na wa hivi karibuni. Kwa sababu ya uvumbuzi wa Wamisri, Wababiloni, Wagiriki, na Waislamu, ustaarabu wa mapema uliweza kuweka rekodi sahihi za matukio ya zamani na kupanga mambo ya wakati ujao. Haikuwa tu kwamba wangeweza kufuatilia majira, vipindi vya jua, na vipindi vya equinox, bali pia wangeweza kuandaa shughuli za serikali, za kidini, na za kijamii kwa ratiba moja. Hata baada ya kuanzishwa kwa saa za karne ya 14 na mfumo wao wa msingi wa 60, au mfumo wa sexagesimal (saa, dakika, na sekunde), saa za jua zilikuwa bado zinategemea na zenye kutegemeka zaidi kwa ajili ya kuweka upya saa za kiufundi mpya wakati wa uhitaji. Kwa kawaida, saa za jua zilikuwa na mithali na kauli mbiu zilizowakaribisha wapita-njia wafikirie kupita kwa wakati, ufupi wa maisha, au hadithi za kuchekesha. Wacha wengine wasimulie juu ya dhoruba na mvua, mimi nasimulia juu ya saa za asubuhi zenye jua. The Kinney Brothers Publishing blog inakuletea habari za kisasa, vidokezo vya kufundisha vinavyosaidia, na shughuli za kufurahisha ambazo unaweza kuleta kwenye madarasa yako ya ESL. Tunathamini uzoefu na ushauri wa walimu na tunakaribisha maoni na mapendekezo yenu!