Since the dawn of time, Man tried to invent instruments by which he could accurately measure the elapse of time, instruments that could also assist him in predicting future events or even precisely indicate his position on earth. All that he could rely on in this quest were the perceived movements of the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars - celestial bodies on their silent course through the infinities of space.

Traces of some of these can be found all over the world, monuments only partly understood by modern man: the great pyramids of Egypt, the massive stone rings or monoliths in the British Isles, across the whole of Europe, especially in France, as well as in Scandinavia, the celestial calendar stones of the Aztecs and the Mayans in Central America, or the calendars of the Sumerians and the Babylonians in the Tigris-Euphrates valley (in today’s Iraq).

Gradually the need to create instruments that could do more than just calculate the number of months or days in a year lead to the evolvement of the clock, whereby the days could be divided into equal parts. Egyptians used obelisks as shadow clocks – the fore-runners of the sundial - whereby the moving shadow shows the passing of the time during the day.  Later on water-clocks could also calculate the elapse of time during the night.

During the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance weight-driven mechanical clocks with an escapement mechanism were invented, and mostly placed in the towers of several large Italian cities. Thereafter the invention of the pendulum-clock led to more accurate time-keeping, whilst spring-powered clocks allowed smaller instruments to be created.

Man’s quest to invent an accurate time-piece still continues. Today scientists, utilizing the resonance of atoms, are even capable of keeping time to within 30 billionths of a second per year!

What fascinates me the most about this time-quest are the wondrous instruments of time-keeping that have been created through the ages.

During the 18^th century one of the rulers in India, the Maharaj Jai Singh II of Jaipur, also a keen astronomer, built five astronomical observatories in Jaipur, Delhi, Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura.  The Indian words Yantar Mantra means “instrument” (Yantar) and “Formula” (Mantra), thus an instrument with which to make calculations. The observatory in Jaipur (built between 1724 – 1730), with its thirteen instruments, is the most impressive and the best preserved. However, the one in New Delhi, situated in the centre of a pleasant park, is also an astronomical wonder not to be missed.

Most of the instruments are massive masonry structures, but a few are engraved metal rings and plates set in masonry foundations. Each has a particular function. Although they were primarily built to calculate planetary positions accurately in order to perform sacred rituals, the instruments also measured aspects such as the local time, the sun’s declination, and the time of the spring equinox, and even the expected date of arrival of the monsoon, its duration and intensity.

All the instruments have special names, such as the Samrat Yantra (“Prince of Dials”), to be seen in both cities, a 27 m high sundial built to measure the time of day in hours, minutes and seconds.  The Jai Prakash Yantra consists of two large concave spheres, representing an overturned celestial sphere, by which the sun’s path as well as local time could be measured.

Astronomical clocks are mechanical devices built not only to measure local time, but also to indicate different seasonal and astronomical information. One of the first such instruments was the amazing Antikythera Mechanism built by the Greeks in about 150 BC, recovered from the sea near the island Antikythera. This staggering astronomical calculator consists of 72 gears, probably used by navigators, and was capable of precise measurements of the movements of the moon, sun and stars at any given point.

However, the astronomical clocks built since the early Renaissance still to be seen in a number of cities around the world, are the truly wondrous instruments, top tourist attractions not to be missed. I’m just naming a few of them.

One of the most outstanding sights in the beautiful city of Prague in the Czech Republic is the Astronomical Clock on the Old Town Hall at the edge of the Old Town Square. Constructed in the year 1410, this complicated instrument not only tells the time, but also tracks the movements of the stars and the planets known at that time. Although it had undergone repairs a number of times during the centuries, and was extensively damaged during World War II, its mechanism is working up until today.

Some regard this clock as the most beautiful of all the world’s astronomical clocks, a “monumental kinetic sculpture”, as one of its beholders described it. The colourful astronomical dial and clock face are richly decorated with Gothic stone sculptures. The dial’s background represents the earth and the sky, surrounded by four moving components representing the movements of the sun and the moon. The movement of a golden sun shows the time in different ways, whilst a half-silvered sphere shows the lunar phases.

Four figures on both sides of the clock are set in motion on the hour: a figure admiring himself in a mirror represents vanity, another holding a bag of gold, greed, a Turkish figure wearing a turban, and a skeleton, Death, striking the time. At a doorway above the clock, a procession of the twelve Apostles appears at noon. Below the clock a present-day calendar was added in 1870.

The anticipation of the crowd, waiting for this unique display, especially at noon, is something to behold. One cannot visit Prague without seeing its amazing astronomical clock in action. 

A more recent example is to be found in Lier, a small city in Belgium. It is built in the Cornelius Tower, which formed part of the former wall surrounding the city. Not far away, just across the square, the Prisoner’s Gate, also part of the wall, can be seen.

The clock was built by Louis Zimmer and installed in the tower in 1930. Since then the tower is known as the Zimmer Tower. The uniqueness of this clock is that all thirteen different functions are driven by one device. This was so superior to anything that existed elsewhere, that even great minds such as Albert Einstein congratulated Zimmer on his ingenuity.

Apart from indicating the time on its hour-plate, the Zimmer Clock also shows the day and month according to different calendars, the position of the planets and the astrological star-signs, the tides of the sea, the borders of light and dark as it travels across the surface of the earth, and even the position of the earth’s latitudes and longitudes. One of the pointers of the clock holds a world record: it takes 25 800 years to complete one circle!

I’ve not seen all of the following, but my colleagues – as well as the literature – speak highly of them. The main gatehouse at Hampton Court Palace, as well as the Wells Cathedral in the UK houses interesting examples of meticulously crafted and accurate instruments. The astronomical clock of the Cathedral St-Jean in Lyon, France, dates from the 14^th century, and is regarded as a fine example of the early development of astronomical clocks.

Other examples of magnificent astronomical instruments are the St Pierre Giant Astronomical Clock in the Beauvais Cathedral (1865), France, which contains 90 000 pieces, 68 statues and 52 dials, the clock in the St. Paul’s Cathedral in Münster, Germany, with a Glockenspiel and hand-painted zodiac symbols, the stately one in Heilbronn, facing the famous square, the three different astronomical clocks from the 14^th century in the Strasbourg Cathedral (France), and the one in the Lund Cathedral in Sweden, with wooden figures representing Mary and Jesus and the three magi with their servants.

I believe that a traveller ought to acquaint him or herself with knowledge about these wondrous time-pieces to be seen all over the world. One stands in wonder before these master-pieces created by the ingenuity of brilliant minds, sometimes so many centuries ago.  More information on the clocks mentioned, as well as others can be found at the following websites: http://darkroastedblend.com/2009/10/incredible-astronomical-clocks.html, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_clock    

-  Manie Wolvaardt