University of Washington sundial.
More about it here.
Sundials in Seattle.
Seattle as sundial capital of North America
Msgr Pope ping
Mexicans would fit right in. (I say this not as a criticism, but simply observing a distinction.)
The day for the ancient Jews began at sundown. …Not just ancient Jews; many modern Jews also.
So when Methusala lived a 1,000 years......he was only 52?
Thank you for posting this. It is fascinating. And very true, as anyone who has spent time in the ME can attest to.
Ping!
It's also interesting to note that time zones are a construct of the modern world because they weren't needed until the last 120 years or so. All time was "local time" before then. Since most people never traveled more than a few miles from where they lived, they were perfectly content to measure time based on the sun or the local church bells.
“The Jewish people generally speaking waited until the error of the lunar calendar amounted to about a whole month and then inserted an extra month called Veadar, between the months of a Adar and Nisan. A year with this extra month amounted to almost 400 days instead of the usual 354 days of the Jewish lunar calendars.”
Veadar means “and Adar” which can also be called Adar Sheni or “Second Adar” plus Adar Rishon or “First Adar” for the normal 12th Adar on the calendar. When there are two Adars they can also be called Adar Aleph (Adar 1) and Adar Bet (Adar 2).
Thank you for posting this Msgr Pope column. I consider his series on “life in the time of Jesus” to be quite informative.
They forgot to mention this passage from the Torah.
Exodus 11:4
“And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt”
And later...
Exodus 12:29
“At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.”
Our Heavenly Father gave us His timekeeping with the sun, moon and stars..
And the world is run off the sun only calendars today.. not unlike the ancient sun worshippers- nothing new under the sun.
Jews and muslims will break out the moon for calculations through the year at times convenient.
The stars get ignored in the timekeeping.
And the world major religions each get a pope gregory appointed sun based sabbath day in the counterfeit greco roman latin week.
Time has been counterfeited..and there is one master counterfeiter..
My Bible, Ps 136: 8-9
A couple of related observations from this interesting article.
The fact that the Arabs and the Jews both use Lunar reckoned calendars but the Arabic / Islamic calendar makes no adjustments to the astronomical year. This means that their important dates and religious festivals cycle throughout the common astronomical year. My informed guess is that this is the difference between an agricultural people (Jews) and a sub-Equitorial nomadic herding culture (Arabs) where intra-year changes (day lengths and seasonal variations) were minimal.
As for close time measurements common in our modern world, that necessity got its big boost from oceanic navigation in the European late Middle Ages. When most commerce was conducted by land travel and coastal shipping, accurate time measuring was an option. Once the “Age of Exploration” came to Europe, the need for time measurement grew in importance. While magnetic compasses, speed measurements and latitude following were well known tools of ocean navigation, only time measurement could resolve the ‘Y’ coordinate of travel on the trackless seas. Read Dava Sobel’s excellent book “Longitude” for the story of the successful development of an accurate non-pendulum clock needed for time-keeping at sea. From there to our modern GPS and telecommunication systems is a logical path that our star-following ancestors would marvel at just as we marvel at their abilities for that skill!
From The Iliad:
Now when Dawn in robe of saffron was hastening from the streams of Oceanus, to bring light to mortals and immortals, Thetis reached the ships with the armor that the god had given her.
—Iliad xix.1
But soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, then gathered the folk about the pyre of glorious Hector.
—Iliad xxiv.776
Homer mentions the rosy-fingered dawn many times, obviously not a late sleeper like us later clock obsessed idiots.
Frankly, there was no "Palestine" yet; the Romans named the land Palestina after the conclusion of the second Jewish-Roman war circa 138. Why call the land after the Philistines instead of its proper biblical names ("land of Israel" etc.) unless one is a Philistine ?
Jesus called it Israel, which should be good enough for any of his disciples. 23But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. 24The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. 25It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.
Imagine having your birthday in Veadar?
Bummer.