Sundials
People developed a need to know the time of day around 5000 to 6000 years ago, when some
well-developed civilisations in the Middle East and North Africa wanted to organize their time
better. One of the first time-measuring devices was the sun clock, or sundial, which showed the
time of day by the position of the shadow of objects exposed to sunlight.
The Egyptians were one of the first cultures which divided their day into parts. 8.1. _______ Their
moving shadows formed a kind of a clock hand, helping citizens to divide the day into two parts
by indicating noon. The obelisks were also used to check the positions of the sun during
different seasons. 8.2. _______ Later, Egyptians added special markers around the base of the
monument which showed times of day in a more detailed way.
Another Egyptian shadow clock or sundial, probably the first clock that people could move
around, came into use around 1500 BC to measure the passage of “hours”. This device divided
the day into 10 parts plus two “dark hours” in the morning and evening. 8.3. _______ Then, the
position of the sun clock was changed – it was turned in the opposite direction to measure the
five “afternoon hours”. But the hours, of course, meant something different than they do
nowadays. 8.4. _______ Why? Because Egyptians (and later Greeks and Romans) divided the time
between sunrise and sunset into equal parts.
When mechanical clocks began to be used in Europe in the 14th century, sundials were not
forgotten. Sun clocks with equal hours were very popular. In fact, they were used to reset
mechanical clocks until the 19th century!
A. They showed the year’s longest and shortest days when the shadow at noon was the shortest or
longest of the year.
B. The first five hours belonged to the morning.
C. They still measure time in exactly the same way as in the past.
D. As early as in 3500 BC they started to build obelisks (tall, narrow monuments), which were used to tell
the time.
E. They had a different length in different seasons of the year.
