Object from: British Library on Flickr Commons.
Date: c. 600 BCE Place: Egypt (Accession num: 1929-585)
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Headline: Compare the Merkhet - How to tell the time in the dark.
Summary: A Merkhet works like a sundial but at night.
The Plumb line is used to make a vertical line to the ground and the Merket is aligned to the North Star and a second Merkhet is lined up on the North South Meridian. You are now ready to track some time or stars! To do that you can use a water clock to time stars tracking past your Merkhet in the night sky. Celestial movement can then be mapped more accurately or the time can be told. This object is Egyptian and from 600BC, this Merkhet belonged to Egyptian priest called Bes, who was an Observer of Hours at the Temple of Horus in Edfu, Upper Egypt.
Source: www.wisegeek.com, www.sciencemuseum.org
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