When and where did people first start to divide the day into hours?

The earliest evidence points toward

Egypt at the end of the third millennium BC, where priests were already dividing the day into 24 hours.

Initially, the hours were divided between the day, periods of twilight, and the night, but from the late
second millennium BC onwards, both the Egyptians and Babylonians simply reckoned that day and night
each consisted of 12 hours. According to Herodotus (2.109), the Greeks adopted the system from the
Babylonians.

The length of the day depends very much on the season (due to the earth’s rotation around the sun) and
as a result the ancient hour did not have a consistent length comparable to our own. Hours were longer
during the day in summer than during the winter. In order to understand what hour it was, people
looked at the length of their shadows during the day (as shadows shorten and lengthen before and after
what we consider noon).

Development of water clocks

For a more exact measurement of time, the ancient Egyptians developed a water clock made from
stone, copper, or pottery. The Greeks referred to it as a klepsydra (the Latinized variant is clepsydra),
literally a “water thief”. An inscription in his tomb identifies one Amenemhet, a court official who lived
ca. 1500 BC, as the inventor of the water clock. The earliest examples date to around the same time, the
Eighteenth Dynasty (1550–1295 BC).

The klepsydra is essentially a wide vessel with a hole at the bottom that could be plugged. In order to
keep time at night, the vessel was filled with water, which was then allowed to drain. The water would
take exactly twelve hours to pour through the hole; marks on the inside of the vessel’s walls marked the
precise hours as the water level decreased. This way, Egyptian priests were assured that they could
perform the necessary duties at the correct hour.

Water clocks became a common method of telling time in the ancient world. The so-called “Tower of
Winds” in Athens, built in the early first century BC, is a marvel of engineering, containing both sun dials
(about which more in a future post) and a water clock inside. This monument can still be seen in Athens
today, even though it might not be immediately apparent what it must have looked like when it was in
operation (picture from Wikimedia Commons):
The “Tower of Winds” in Athens, dated to the early first century BC (picture from Wikimedia Commons).

Water clocks were also used to time events. From at least the fourth century BC, water clocks (such as
the one depicted as this article’s featured image) were used in court houses to make sure that speakers
stayed within their allotted time to talk. This practice was also adopted by the more litigious Romans in
their own courts and ensured that proceedings moved along at a steady clip.

Hellenistic astronomers of the last few

A water clock or clepsydra (from Ancient Greek κλεψύδρα (klepsúdra) 'pipette, water clock'; from
κλέπτω (kléptō) 'to steal', and ὕδωρ (hydor) 'water'; lit. 'water thief') is a timepiece by which time is
measured by the regulated flow of liquid into (inflow type) or out from (outflow type) a vessel, and
where the amount is then measured.

Water clocks are one of the oldest time-measuring instruments.[1] The bowl-shaped outflow is the
simplest form of a water clock and is known to have existed in Babylon, Egypt, and Persia around the
16th century BC. Other regions of the world, including India and China, also have early evidence of water
clocks, but the earliest dates are less certain. Some authors, however, claim that water clocks appeared
in China as early as 4000 BC.[2][verification needed] Water clocks were also used in ancient Greece and
ancient Rome, described by technical writers such as Ctesibius and Vitruvius.

Through history, keeping time has been important, dating back as far as primitive man. Originally, the
passage of time may have been measured by the transition from day to night, the tracking of stars, and
seasonal changes. As mankind became more advanced, roughly 6,000 years ago, the desire for more
accurate methods of time keeping arose. This came from the need to keep accurate time for things such
as religious ceremonies, farming, or even bureaucratic gatherings. One of the first methods of keeping
time began with sun clocks in Egypt. This was problematic, however, because it could not measure time
in the dark or during days when the sun was not present. The failings of the sun clock made way for
water clocks.
In order to be categorized as a clock, any device must satisfy certain basic requirements. The first of
these requirements is to repeatedly mark time in equal amounts. The second requirement is that it must
both keep track and display the passage of time. This was something that water clocks were able to
effectively do.

Early Water Clocks

Experts believe that the earliest water-clock was buried in 1500 B.C. in the tomb of Amenhotep I.
Around 325 B.C. Greeks began using water clocks to keep time. They called them clepsydras, which
meant water thief. These water clocks were vessels, or containers, that sloped at the sides and had a
small hole close to the bottom. Water dripped from this hole steadily and constantly. Bowl, or cylinder
shaped vessels were marked on the inside so that the passage of time could be measured. The water
dripped steadily into this bowl-shaped vessel. The passage of time was marked by a float in the water
that rose to meet the markings, which represented hours, within the bowl. This was not the only version
of the clepsydras. Another version used metal bowls that were placed in larger containers of water. The
metal bowl would have a small hole in the bottom, which caused it to gradually sink. The sinking would
take place over a specific time period, which was used to measure the passing of time. These early water
clocks, or clepsydras, were typically not the most accurate.

Who

The oldest documentation of the water clock is the tomb inscription of the 16th century BC Egyptian
court official Amenemhet, which identifies him as its inventor.

What

clepsydra, also called water clock, ancient device for measuring time by the gradual flow of water. One
form, used by the North American Indians and some African peoples, consisted of a small boat or
floating vessel that shipped water through a hole until it sank.

Where

It may have been an invention of the Chaldeans of ancient Babylonia; specimens from Egypt date from
the 14th century BC. The Romans invented a clepsydra consisting of a cylinder into which water dripped
from a reservoir; a float provided readings against a scale on the cylinder wall. Clepsydras were used for
many purposes, including timing the speeches of orators; as late as the 16th century, Galileo used a
mercury clepsydra to time his experimental falling bodies.
Water clocks are one of the oldest time-measuring instruments. The bowl-shaped outflow is the
simplest form of a water clock and is known to have existed in Babylon, Egypt, and Persia around the
16th century BC.

When

16th century BC

Why

These clocks were used by priests to determine the time at night so that the temple rites and sacrifices
could be performed at the correct hour.

Without the water clock, an hour could have been interpreted into a span of many hours; the water
clock changed all of this. The clepsydra created the concept of a timer and a reliable timepiece, which
led the ancient world to create more timepieces which were the basis for modern timekeeping devices
today.

How