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Shadow Clock
How old is the oldest clock you ask? If the Old Testament was
written somewhere around 1450 B.C. ... then the first clock was
created a scant 450 years later ... somewhere around 1000 B.C.
It looked a bit like a T ... with the top facing east before noon
and then turned to face west after noon. The shadow formed at
the base told the hours.
There is another Shadow Clock that was unearthed during
excavations in Egypt which consisted of a wall and a flight
of steps. The principal is essentially the same as the Shadow
Clock mentioned above. As the shadow of the wall fell across
the steps ... the number of steps covered by the shadow told
the hour.
The dial of the Shadow Clock is mentioned in the Second Book
of Kings in the Old Testament. I won't quote the whole passage
as this might tend to border on tedium and we all know we wouldn't
want that. Still for those who want to delve into this ... the passage
begins with: "And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah ..."
And although I am going to be showing you an Egyptian Shadow
Clock in the form of a T ... another form of a shadow clock was
the obelisk ... a vertical spire around which a circle was formed
demarcating the hours by the shadows formed by the sun. I mention
this type because there's a fascinating aspect to it. The Egyptians
observed that when the shadow of the obelisk was at it's shortest
.... it always pointed in the same direction ... regardless of the
season. Today we call this direction the meridian ... a line joining
north and south.
So ... imagine you're lost in the desert somewhere. It's daylight.
Sand all around you. No landmarks. No compass. No watch. No nothing
.... except for a twig you happen to be carrying around in your back
pocket. If I remember correctly ... the book on desert-traveling
clearly states ... and I quote: "Ye who shall travel the deserts shall
keep a twig in thine back pocket." This is not without sound
rationale.
You need direction. It is still early. You grab thine twig and stick
it deep into the sand ... and you wait for the shadow to be the
shortest ... and now you have a line going north to south. And you can
start walking in the direction of your choice. Except that is ... for
one little thing. Which direction is north ... and which direction is
south? I say take your pick. You've got a fifty-fifty chance of
getting out of there alive ... which is a whole lot better than if you
didn't have a twig at all.
Which brings us to that ancient but wise saying which states ... and
I quote: "A man is not worth his weight in shekels if he does not have
his twig." Rumor has is that there are some out there who have
re-written this adage and have changed the word "twig" to "trunk". I
do not understand the concept behind this thinking. In any case ...
the wisdom behind the old adage is immeasurable. Comp***** break.
Watches stop. But a twig is forever. Or something. I don't know.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits...may
I direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where
you will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area
that says Current Tidbits ... and then click on it in order to
view an Egyptian Shadow Clock.
And there ya have it.
That's it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark
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