Sumerian Calendars
The Sumerians made the first calendar. They used the phases of the moon. Their calendars were numbered year by year. They were numbered by the reign of the kings every year. Each month had either 29 or 30 days and the year consisted of 12 lunar months. There were no weeks in their calendars. People got off work on the first, seventh, and fifteenth of each month. Every time a new moon was spotted, that meant that it was a new month. It began with the first sight of the crescent of the new moon. At first the beginning of the year was in the fall but then the Babylonians moved it to the spring. Sumerians had two seasons. One was the summer or the dry season which started at the end of February and march, and the second season was the wet season, or winter, which started in September, when rain started to happen. The Semetic people, Egyptians, and the Greeks all copied the Sumerians way of making the calendar. The high priest was the person who regulated the calendar. He would tell the people of the new moon or when the new month started.
Daytime Watches:
1st Watch - Morning 8:00 AM - 12:00 AM
2nd Watch - Midday 12:00 AM - 4:00 PM
3rd Watch - Afternoon 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Nighttime Watches
1st Watch - Evening 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
2nd Watch - Starlight 12:00 PM - 4:00 AM
3rd Watch - Dawn 4:00 AM - 8:00 AM
Water Clock Tower
Works Cited
http://www.crystalinks.com/sumercalendars.html
http://www.jameswbell.com/a005calendar.html
Comments (5)
Anonymous said
at 12:58 pm on Oct 14, 2008
This web page does a good job with covering the astronomical aspects of the Sumerian Calendar, but also covers some of the historical basis which is a nice touch. Also, the data is useful.
Anonymous said
at 12:35 pm on Oct 14, 2008
This web page has a good bit of information. It has all the necessary facts needed to get to the point about the Sumerian Calendar
Anonymous said
at 12:35 pm on Oct 14, 2008
Your information seemed somewhat choppy; it skipped from point to point, which made it somewhat hard to read. But on the plus side, it was very informative and filled with many interesting facts. Maybe you should consider revising, and you could easily lengthen it to make it easier to understand.
Anonymous said
at 12:29 pm on Oct 14, 2008
The web page provide useful information, short, but to the point. the virtual aide is nice.
Anonymous said
at 12:27 pm on Oct 14, 2008
The information is brief but very informative on the astronomical point of view.
Could have had a better introduction and more facts about the Sumerian culture itself. The organization and the presentation itself is nicely performed. Overall the execution of the page is good.
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