Historical Methods of Timekeeping

Core concept

Ancient Egyptians and Babylonians used star positions to divide the night into hours, while candle clocks (marked with evenly-spaced lines) measured time by how much of the candle had burned. Each of these early methods had limitations — sundials didn't work at night or on cloudy days, and water clocks could be affected by temperature changes altering water flow rate — driving the eventual invention of more reliable mechanical clocks using pendulums and gears.