Clock Lord

                                                      First Water Clock 

We are certain that people had many ways of telling time long before mechanical clocks were developed. We don’t know but can you imagine how prehistoric man told time. He probably watched the movements of the sun and the changing shadows on the ground to measure time.

Documented data tells us that Sundials were developed as early as 2000 B.C. in Babylon. These were the earliest instruments for telling time. The sun’s movement during the day cast a shadow on the dial and the length of that shadow indicated the time.

In Egypt, hourglasses and water clocks were making an appearance around the same time as the sundial. They both had similarities in the way they worked. In the water clock, water was measured and put into a vessel, the water dripped at a steady rate from a hole in the bottom of one vessel into another. The sand was measured in the same manner and distributed in the same manner. From all accounts, these were pretty accurate measurements of time. As time went on, man developed marked candles which would indicate twenty minutes per section burned. Thus giving another aspect of telling time.

In the early 1200’s the first mechanical clocks were invented. They were powered by heavy weights which were hung with a drum by a chain or cord. The clocks were wound by hand and slowly unwound by the force of gravity pulling the weight down. You see, the cord was wrapped around the drum as it was being wound, then the pull of the weight would unwrap the cord. None of these clocks had hands, but chimed ever hour. In the 1600’s the hands were added to the dials for more accurate timing.

In the 15^th century in Europe, hourglasses were worn by men tied around their knees to tell time.

Remarkably, time swiftly changes and remarkably, man makes the changes to our time pieces.