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Research Group: The Day Unit in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

humanities

[RG # 151]  The Day Unit in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Mar 1, 2018 - Aug 1, 2018

Organizers:

Jonathan Ben-Dov (University of Haifa) 
Sacha Stern (University College London)

 

This project aims to shed light on a dark corner in history, which was surprisingly very little investigated until now: how was it that the unit of ‘day’ and its primary division into 12 ‘hours’ came to ne conceived in human culture? The division seems to have been gradually developed in ancient Egypt and then migrated also to cuneiform sources from Mesopotamia. It then circulated, not quite smoothly, into the Greek world and subsequently into western late antique and medieval culture. This account remains vague because there is no comprehensive and solid research that could clarify it more pointedly.

New concepts of the division of the day required proper technological means to express them. After tracing this historical riddle, however, a lot remains to be explored for subsequent periods in history. We ask how the science and technologies of time measurement determined the structure and division of the day unit, conceptually as well as in practice, and conversely, to what extent did conceptual and practical divisions of the day unit underpin and influence the development of time measurement technologies. Time is in many ways a human construction, which requires a set of rituals and cultural agents in order to reinforce it. We aim to study these various mechanisms.

The suggested team is a unique combination of experts for the history of time in their respective fields. Such a group has never before been assembled to study this type of question. The group consists of historians of science and technology as well as of law and of religious and cultural institutions. The historical periods and geographical spread covered by the group is exceptionally wide: from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, to ancient Jewish culture (Second Temple, rabbinic) and into Medieval Judaism, Greek and Roman history, Islamic culture, and the literature of medieval Ethiopia.

 

 

2017-2018 Research Groups 2017-2018 Humanities

Members

fellow

Jonathan Ben-Dov

FELLOW
University of Haifa
Jonathan is a professor in the Department of Jewish History and Biblical Studies at University of Haifa. His research interests are: Second Temple Jewish literature, biblical literature, ancient Near East, and ancient astronomy calendars.
fellow

Wayne Horowitz

FELLOW
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Wayne is a professor in the Institute of Archaeology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research interests are: ancient Mesopotamian astronomy and science, and al-Yahudu.
fellow

Sarit Kattan Gribetz

FELLOW
Fordham University
Sarit is a professor in the Department of Theology at Fordham University. Her research interests are: Second Temple and rabbinic literature, calendars and time, gender, the Roman Empire, and Jewish-Christian relations.
fellow

Tzvi Langermann

FELLOW
Bar-Ilan University
Tzvi is a professor in the Department of Arabic at Bar-Ilan University. His research interests are: the histories of science, philosophy and religion.
fellow

Barbara Sattler

FELLOW
University of St. Andrews
Barbara is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of St. Andrews.
fellow

Sacha Stern

FELLOW
University College London
Sacha is a professor in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College London. His research interests are: calendars in Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
fellow

Israel Yuval

FELLOW
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel is a professor in the Department of the History of the Jewish People at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research interests are: history of Jews in medieval Germany; relations between Jews and Christians; the language of rituals.

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