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