A) Many ancient peoples created and maintained a calendar based upon the Sun (an

Question

A) Many ancient peoples created and maintained a calendar based upon the Sun (and thus the seasons). In order to maintain the accuracy of a solar calendar, specific OBSERVATIONS of the Sun were made. Different ancient cultures used different methods largely due to their different geographical locations on the Earth. By considering various ways in which this was done, list 3 different methods for observing the Sun to set the calendar.

B) Choose one of the methods listed above and pick an ancient culture which used this method to set its calendar or time its ceremonies. Describe ow this method was used by this culture for this purpose and why the geographical location of this culture made this the best method.

C) Very early in Babylonia and Egypt, calendars were kept which used both the Sun and the phases of the moon. For such a calendar to "work", each new year would have to begin at the same lunar phase. Explain why this doesn't work in the long-term and say how quickly (be quantitative) a lunar calendar would get "out of step" relative to a solar calendar.

Explanation / Answer

Answer A: Observation/tracking of the sun movement and its shadow was the critical element in setting up the calendar. The different method of observations are as follow

Ans 2:

Babylonia was the ancient cultural who developed their calendar by dividing the solar year into two season. The summer which included the barley harvesting in the fall of summer to the fall of Winter.

Since the Babylonia culture was mainly agricultural dependent and by the geography of the area was also along the Rivers hence their calendar has impression of agricultural cycle. They marked the start and end of time with the start and end of harvesting time line.

Ans 3

As per the Babylonian calendar the months began at the first visibility of the New Moon. The names of the months differed from city to city, and within the same Sumerian city of Babylonia a month could have several names, derived from festivals, from tasks (e.g. sheepshearing) usually performed in the given month, and so on, according to local needs.

On the other hand, the Sumerians had used artificial time units in referring to the tenure of some high official – e.g., on N-day of the turn of office of PN, governor. The Sumerian administration also needed a time unit comprising the whole agricultural cycle; for example, from the delivery of new barley and the settling of pertinent accounts to the next crop. This financial year began about two months after barley cutting. For other purposes, a year began before or with the harvest.

This fluctuating and discontinuous year was not precise enough for the meticulous accounting of Sumerian scribes.

And this lead to explore new way of having more consistent way of measurement of time.

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