Ancient Egyptian Sundial Discovered at Valley of the Kings

[BlueGin]

A sundial discovered outside a tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings may be the world's oldest ancient Egyptian sundials, say scientists.

Dating to the 19th dynasty, or the 13th century B.C., the sundial was found on the floor of a workman's hut, in the Valley of the Kings, the burial place of rulers from Egypt's New Kingdom period (around 1550 B.C. to 1070 B.C.).

"The significance of this piece is that it is roughly one thousand years older than what was generally accepted as time when this type of time measuring device was used," said researcher Susanne Bickel, of the University of Basel in Switzerland. Past sundial discoveries date to the Greco-Roman period, which lasted from about 332 B.C. to A.D. 395.

The sundial is made of a flattened piece of limestone, called an ostracon, with a black semicircle divided into 12 sections drawn on top. Small dots in the middle of each of the 12 sections, which are about 15 degrees apart, likely served to give more precise times.

A dent in the center of the ostracon likely marks where a metal or wooden bolt was inserted to cast a shadow and reveal the time of day. [See Images of the Sundial and Egyptian Burials]

Ancient Egyptian Sundial Discovered at Valley of the Kings

 

[Mr. H.]

Yeah I read about that. I find it odd that the radials aren't drawn consistently.

 

[BlueGin]

I love it when researchers try to relate things to modern day life. It may have been used to measure work hours and setting a break? I'm with the commentors at the end. Maybe it was just used as a clock.

Bickel and her colleagues aren't sure for what purpose the workmen would've used the sundial, though they suggest it may have represented the sun god's journey through the underworld.

"One hypothesis would be to see this measuring device in parallel to the illustrated texts that were inscribed on the walls of the pharaohs' tombs and where the representation of the night and the journey of the sun god through the netherworld is divided into the individual hours of the night," Bickel wrote. "The sundial might have been used to visualize the length of the hours."

The device may have also been used to measure work hours. "I wondered whether it could have served to regulate the workmen's working time, to set the break at a certain time, for example," she said.

 

[Mr. H.]

As Freud would have said... "sometimes a sundial is just a clock".

 

[Oldguy]

As Freud would have said... "sometimes a sundial is just a clock".

And, sometimes it's purpose is to highlight specific events. For instance, the giant sundial at the Kentucky Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is arranged so that the shadow of the post fall on the names of Kentucky war dead on the day they died.

 

[editec]

A sundial discovered outside a tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings may be the world's oldest ancient Egyptian sundials, say scientists.

Dating to the 19th dynasty, or the 13th century B.C., the sundial was found on the floor of a workman's hut, in the Valley of the Kings, the burial place of rulers from Egypt's New Kingdom period (around 1550 B.C. to 1070 B.C.).

"The significance of this piece is that it is roughly one thousand years older than what was generally accepted as time when this type of time measuring device was used," said researcher Susanne Bickel, of the University of Basel in Switzerland. Past sundial discoveries date to the Greco-Roman period, which lasted from about 332 B.C. to A.D. 395.

The sundial is made of a flattened piece of limestone, called an ostracon, with a black semicircle divided into 12 sections drawn on top. Small dots in the middle of each of the 12 sections, which are about 15 degrees apart, likely served to give more precise times.

A dent in the center of the ostracon likely marks where a metal or wooden bolt was inserted to cast a shadow and reveal the time of day. [See Images of the Sundial and Egyptian Burials]

Ancient Egyptian Sundial Discovered at Valley of the Kings

I suspect that mankind has been using something like sundial much longer than that.

All that is needed to make a functional sundial is a stick in the ground.

Obviously such temporary timepieces wouldn't survive the eons for archeologists to discover them.

 

[Sunni Man]

I suspect that mankind has been using something like sundial much longer than that.

All that is needed to make a functional sundial is a stick in the ground.

Obviously such temporary timepieces wouldn't survive the eons for archeologists to discover them.

In the early days of Islam in arabia.

The shadow from a stick in the ground was used to determine prayer times........

 

[BlueGin]

As Freud would have said... "sometimes a sundial is just a clock".

And, sometimes it's purpose is to highlight specific events. For instance, the giant sundial at the Kentucky Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is arranged so that the shadow of the post fall on the names of Kentucky war dead on the day they died.

That is very cool.

 

[editec]

I suspect that mankind has been using something like sundial much longer than that.

All that is needed to make a functional sundial is a stick in the ground.

Obviously such temporary timepieces wouldn't survive the eons for archeologists to discover them.

In the early days of Islam in arabia.

The shadow from a stick in the ground was used to determine prayer times........

I certainly do NOT doubt that.

Before modern time, people understood time based on the movement of the heavens.

I have no doubt the hunter gatherers of Africa 100,000 years ago measured the passing of time with sundials.

The average human knew the skies far better than the average mode3n does.

They had little else to ponder in their downtime, after all.

It wasn't like they were reading books and listening to their iPods.