Letting go of the old to enter the new year is a metaphorical custom that is quite rooted in some corners of Italy, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. In the transalpine country, and more specifically in places like Naples, Calabria, or Sicily, objects of all kinds (even furniture, for which there are specific hours ad hoc) […]
Calendars
Posted inMiddle Ages, Science
When the Venerable Bede Established That a ‘Moment’ Lasted 90 Seconds
Most historical civilizations, such as the Sumerians, Egyptians, Chinese, Babylonians, Greeks, Mayans… used natural measures of time. These include the day, the solar year, or the phases of the moon. The Egyptians were among the first to divide the day into equal parts, using sundials for daylight hours and merjets, a type of plumb line […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Carvings at Göbekli Tepe are the World’s Oldest Calendar, Created to Commemorate the Comet Impact that Gave Rise to Civilization
Carvings on a stone pillar at the 12,000-year-old archaeological site of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey may represent the world’s oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet impact, according to experts. These intricate carvings, which adorn a site thought to have functioned as an ancient temple complex, suggest a sophisticated understanding of […]
Posted inAncient Egypt
The Canopus Decree, the Inscription that Attested to the Existence of Ancient Heracleion and Created the Leap Years
The famous Rosetta Stone, which enabled the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs, was found by Napoleon’s troops who invaded Egypt in 1799. It wouldn’t be long before many other similar steles and inscriptions began to appear, all with texts in two languages (Egyptian and Greek) and three writing systems (hieroglyphs, demotic, and Greek). The Rosetta Stone […]
