IN ANTIQUITY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 518, 22 November 1928, Page 16

IN ANTIQUITY

History of Sundials Lost LECTURE ON ORIGIN Sundials and their history were c plained by Mr. N. H. Good in a lecture last evening at the Auckland University College. He was speaking under the auspices of the astronomical branch of the Auckland Institute and Museum. The origin of sundials, he said, was lost in antiquity. The first reference o them was made in the Bible, and hey were used by the Babylonians and -he Assyrians. From Palestine, the knowledge spread to Greece through he influence, most probably, of the Phoenicians. After the Homans took up the knowledge, it came to Britain. The Arabs understood the art and there was evidence that it was known to the Chinese, the Japanese, the Toltecs and the Aztecs of Mexico. The great' change of dividing the mean day came in the 14th and the 15th centuries. Sundials gradually 1 ost their importance. They were still used in gardens. Notable specimens in Auckland were on the Ellerslie racecourse and outside the ilemuera Library. The speaker used diagrams to explain the workings of the sundials.