⏳ DYK: Before Clocks, the Sumerians Counted Time by Shadows and Stars?
Long before mechanical clocks existed, the ancient Sumerians measured time using the sky and geometry.
They divided the day into units based on the movement of the sun, using gnomons—upright poles casting shadows—to track hours. At night, they followed the rhythmic rise and fall of celestial bodies, including Venus, which they associated with the goddess Inanna.
More remarkably, the Sumerians invented the sexagesimal system—a base-60 counting method still used today in how we divide hours into 60 minutes and minutes into 60 seconds.
Their timekeeping was not just practical—it was sacred, woven into temple rituals, lunar calendars, and astrological charts that guided everything from harvests to kingship.
✨ Time, to the Sumerians, was not just passing—it was divine rhythm.
Amazing!