The origin of measuring time here on Earth is directly connected with looking at the sky. The only events which occurred with any predictability in ancient times were those in the skies. Even early civilizations looked to the heavens with curiosity, mapping out the movements they saw, and more importantly trying to predict them.
The firm need and desire for accurate predictions kept many eyes celestially pointed. It is thus no coincidence that we paid particularly close attention to our closest neighbor in the sky, the moon.
Paying close attention to the movements of the moon as well as the changes it experienced allowed us to create the lunar calendar. Given that lunar changing and the moon’s position in the sky seemed to occur in cycles, the concept of seasons and years began to take hold. Looking back at ancient cultures and the sophistication of their calendar systems is impressive, though understanding their motives of timing and seasonal predictability helps understand the reason for their efforts.
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