The Strange Time of the Sundial

1
The Strange Time of the Sundial

• O Lord God! You have made the heavens and earth
  by your great power nothing is too hard for
  you!
• Jeremiah 3217

2
The Facts, Please!

• Ancient people did not measure time by hours and
  minutes or even by days. They were most
  concerned with seasons of the year in order to
  know when to plant their crops. They judged the
  seasons by the constellations of stars, which
  appeared in different parts of the sky in
  different seasons.

• The oldest device for measuring hours of the day
  is the sundial. It is based on the fact that the
  shadow of an object will move from one side of
  the object to the other as the sun moves from
  east to west during the day.

3
More Facts, Please!

• The most common kind of sundial is made up of two
  parts-the dial face and the pointer, called the
  gnomon. The round dial face is horizontal and
  divided into quarters by lines running toward the
  four points and sometimes half or quarter hours.
  The pointer is a metal triangle, placed in the
  center of the dial and pointing toward the North
  Pole. As the sun moves across the horizon, the
  shadow of a sundials pointer moves across the
  dial face.

4
Final Fact, Please!

• In the story of King Hezekiah, he had a sundial
  in his courtyard called the dial (or steps) of
  Ahaz. This may have been a stairway going up
  the sides of an obelisk, with its point serving
  as a pointer. Its shadow would be on the highest
  step at high noon and in the morning and evening
  on the lowest steps on one side or another. The
  steps may have measure time at the rate of a half
  hour per step.