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<html>
<head>
<title>Babylonian Hours</title>
<script src="script.js"></script>
<style>
#clock {
font-family: "Droid Sans Mono", monospace;
}
#hour {
font-size: 6em;
}
#ush, #gar {
font-size: 5em;
}
#part {
font-size: 3em;
}
#desc {
padding-left: 30%;
padding-right: 30%;
padding-top: 100px;
text-align: left;
color: grey;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<!-- <p>Has the pace of modern life got you down... try telling time the Babylonian way!</p> -->
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Droid+Sans+Mono" rel="stylesheet">
<center>
<div id="clock">
<span id="time"><span id="hour">00</span><font style="font-size: 4em">h </font> <span id="ush">00</span><font
style="font-size: 5em;">:</font><span id="gar">00</span></span> <span id="part">...</span>
<p id="error"></p>
</div>
<div id="desc">
<h4>What is this?</h4>
<p>This clock uses a system of time calculation from 2,500 years ago used by the Babylonians in ancient
Mesopotamia. The time is based on the concept of a <em>seasonal hour</em>, i.e. the length of an hour is
seasonal and depends on the duration of daylight in your current location. This website grabs your location
and computes your local time in this Babylonian system (here's an example of a <a
href="http://cdli.ucla.edu/dl/photo/P237525.jpg">cuneiform tablet</a> from ancient Mesopotamia
calculating seasonal hours). Obviously, the ancient Babylonians did not have digital clocks, so this clock
takes a few liberties with how it displays the data, if you want to know more about the calculations and
ancient Babylonian units of time continue reading below.</p>
<p>If you're just curious how to read this clock, the first number is the hour past sunrise or sunset (depending
on day or night), the second is a unit called an <font style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font>
which counts up from zero to a maximum of <span id="numberOfUsh"></span> for your current location, the
third number is a unit called <font style="font-variant: small-caps">gar</font> for which there are 60 in an
<font style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font>, the acronym at the end refers to a named quarter of
the 24-hour day.</p>
<h4>Background</h4>
<p>Our standard scientific units of time are defined by physical realities which do not change with the seasons.<a id="fn1-ref"
href="#fn1">[1]</a>
That means that an hour is always the same length regardless of day, month, or year. However, this form of
time is dependant on technological developments which allow for precise measurements of the passage of time.
Prior to accurate time pieces, the passage of time through the day was often reckoned by a system of <em>seasonal
hours</em>. The basic method is to divide daylight into a number of equal length hours that can be
roughly reckoned based on the position of sun in the sky. Many different cultures and groups throughout
history have made use of seasonal hours.</p>
<p>This clock shows you your local time computed using a Babylonian system of seasonal hours. There are two
different types of units of time in the Babylonian system, the first is set by homogeneous phenomena (i.e.
always the same length), either astronomical (appearance of a star or movement of a celestial body) or
physical (water clock), the second is a seasonal system whereby the length of an hour changes depending on
the length of daylight. The Babylonians used multiple methods for measuring the passage of time throughout
the day, a common system was dividing the 24-day up into 12 "double"-hours (<em>bēru</em>), these
units of time were equivalent to 30° of the sun's movement around the earth (360° divided by 12 is
30°). This clock (somewhat anachronistically) makes use of both fixed and seasonal units of time.</p>
<p>The first number is the hour (<em>simanu</em> in Akkadian) of the day or night, the second unit is measured
in <font style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font>, the third in <font
style="font-variant: small-caps">gar</font>.<a id="fn2-ref" href="#fn2">[2]</a>
<ul>
<li>The length of a <em>simanu</em> (seasonal hour) is determined by dividing the length of local daylight
by 12, or in the case of a night hour, dividing nightime by 12.<a id="fn3-ref" href="#fn3">[3]</a> For
your current location a seasonal daylight hour is equal to <span id="lDayHour"></span> minutes and a
seasonal nighttime hour is equal to <span id="lNightHour"></span> minutes.
</li>
<li>The length of an <font style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font> is set at approximately four
minutes, or one degree of movement of the sun. For your current location there are <span
id="numberOfUsh2"></span> <font style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font> in a seasonal
daylight hour. Coincidentally our 360° circle is based on the definition of an <font
style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font> as one degree.
</li>
<li>The length of a <font style="font-variant: small-caps">gar</font> is set at approximately four seconds
(1/60th of an <font style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font>)
</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>Finally, I include a short acronym much like our AM/PM. The Babylonians divided the day into four parts
defined by the sunrise and sunset. They are:
<ul>
<li>ASR: after sunrise</li>
<li>BST: before sunset</li>
<li>AST: after sunset</li>
<li>BSR: before sunrise</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>This clock is not quite accurate, because any reckoning done by seasonal hours would likely not involve
smaller units of time. But in order to create a more familiar clock I included the smaller units (<font
style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font> and <font
style="font-variant: small-caps">gar</font>) as well. A hypothetical ancient Babylonian could use
the <font style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font> and <font
style="font-variant: small-caps">gar</font> measured by a water clock or computed through
astronomical calculations (like the tablet linked above) to determine the length of a seasonal hour. Also
it's important to note that the first unit in this clock has a range of 0-11 (like our own clocks), and the
last unit also has a familiar range (0-59), while the middle unit (<font
style="font-variant: small-caps">uš</font>) differs according to the length of the seasonal
hour, from 0 to a maximum of <span id="numberOfUsh3"></span>. To put it simply, do not use this clock for
your normal day-to-day time calculation needs.</p>
<p>-Willis Monroe (<a href="https://twitter.com/willismonroe">@willismonroe</a>, <a
href="mailto:willismonroe@gmail.com">willismonroe@gmail.com</a>)</p>
<h4>Bibliography and Further Reading:</h4>
<div class="csl-bib-body" style="line-height: 1.35; margin-left: 2em; text-indent:-2em;">
<div class="csl-entry">Pingree, David, and Erica Reiner. "A Neo-Babylonian Report on Seasonal Hours." <i>Archiv
Für Orientforschung</i> 25 (1974): 50-55.
</div>
<span class="Z3988"
title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fzotero.org%3A2&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=A%20Neo-Babylonian%20Report%20on%20Seasonal%20Hours&rft.jtitle=Archiv%20f%C3%BCr%20Orientforschung&rft.stitle=Archiv%20f%C3%BCr%20Orientforschung&rft.volume=25&rft.aufirst=David&rft.aulast=Pingree&rft.au=David%20Pingree&rft.au=Erica%20Reiner&rft.date=1974&rft.pages=50-55&rft.spage=50&rft.epage=55&rft.issn=0066-6440"></span>
<div class="csl-entry">Rochberg, F. <i>The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in
Mesopotamian Culture</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
</div>
<span class="Z3988"
title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fzotero.org%3A2&rft_id=urn%3Aisbn%3A978-0-521-71661-1&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The%20Heavenly%20Writing%3A%20Divination%2C%20Horoscopy%2C%20and%20Astronomy%20in%20Mesopotamian%20Culture&rft.place=Cambridge&rft.publisher=Cambridge%20University%20Press&rft.aufirst=F.&rft.aulast=Rochberg&rft.au=F.%20Rochberg&rft.date=2004&rft.isbn=978-0-521-71661-1"></span>
<div class="csl-entry">Rochberg-Halton, F. "Babylonian Seasonal Hours." <i>Centaurus</i> 32, no. 2 (July
1989): 146-70.
</div>
<span class="Z3988"
title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fzotero.org%3A2&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1111%2Fj.1600-0498.1989.tb00843.x&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Babylonian%20Seasonal%20Hours&rft.jtitle=Centaurus&rft.volume=32&rft.issue=2&rft.aufirst=F.&rft.aulast=Rochberg-Halton&rft.au=F.%20Rochberg-Halton&rft.date=1989-07&rft.pages=146-170&rft.spage=146&rft.epage=170&rft.issn=0008-8994%2C%201600-0498&rft.language=en"></span>
<div class="csl-entry">Steele, J. <i>A Brief Introduction to Astronomy in the Middle East</i>. London: SAQI,
2008.
</div>
<span class="Z3988"
title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fzotero.org%3A2&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A%20Brief%20Introduction%20to%20Astronomy%20in%20the%20Middle%20East&rft.place=London&rft.publisher=SAQI&rft.aufirst=J.&rft.aulast=Steele&rft.au=J.%20Steele&rft.date=2008"></span>
</div>
<h4>Acknowledgments:</h4>
<p>
You can check out the <a href="https://github.com/willismonroe/babylonian-hours/">source code</a> on GitHub.
<br>
<br>
Geolocation is provided by <a href="http://freegeoip.net/">freegeoip.net</a>.
<br>
Local sunrise and sunset is provided by <a href="https://sunrise-sunset.org/">sunrise-sunset.org</a>.
<br>
<br>
Thanks to friends and colleagues who looked over this and pointed out inconsistencies and/or typos.
</p>
<h4>Footnotes</h4>
<p id="fn1">1. The definition as provided by the <a href="https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/current.html">National
Institute of Standards and Technology</a>: "The second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the
radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium
133 atom."<a href="#fn1-ref">↩</a></p>
<p id="fn2">2. It's standard convention to represent Akkadian words in <em>italics</em> and Sumerian words or
signs in <font style="font-variant: small-caps">small-caps</font>.<a href="#fn2-ref">↩</a></p>
<p id="fn3">3. Seasonal hours were not used at night because the sun is not in the sky at night. Instead, the
Babylonians used a system of "watches" at night which divided the night into three roughly equal parts.<a
href="#fn3-ref">↩</a></p>
</p>
</div>
</center>
</body>
</html>