the meridian; afterwards, by the hour-watch, σкiálnрov; and still later, by the clepsydra, or instrument for measuring time by means of water. The hour watch, or dial, otherwise called the sun-dial, is mentioned in the reign of king Hezekiah, 2 Kgs. xx. 9, 10; Isaiah, xxxviii. 8. Its being called "the sun-dial of Ahaz," renders it probable, that Ahaz first introduced it from Babylon, whence also Anaximenes, the Milesian, brought the first skiatheron into Greece. This instrument was of no use during the night, nor indeed, during a cloudy day. In consequence of this defect, the clepsydra was invented, which was used in Persia, as late as the 17th century, in its simplest form.

The clepsydra was a small circular vessel, constructed of thinly beaten copper or brass, and having a small perforation through the bottom. It was placed in another vessel filled with water. The diameter of the hole, in the bottom of the clepsydra, was such, that it filled with water in three hours, and sunk. It was necessary that there should be a servant to attend to it; in order to take it up when it had sunk, pour out the water, and place it again empty, on the surface of the water in the vase.

The hours of principal note, in the course of the day, were the third, the sixth, and the ninth. These hours, were consecrated by Daniel to prayer, Dan. vi. 10; comp. Acts, ii. 15; iii. 1: x. 9. The day was divided into twelve hours, which varied in length, being shorter in the winter and longer in the summer, John, xi. 9. In the winter, therefore, the clepsydras were covered internally with wax, that the water might enter into them more rapidly, and thus cause them to sink in a shorter time. The hours were numbered from the rising of the sun, so that at the season of the equinox, the third corresponded to the ninth of our reckoning, the sixth to our twelfth, and the ninth to 3 o'clock in the afternoon. At other seasons of the year, it is necessary to observe the time when the sun rises, and reduce the hours to our time accordingly. The sun in Palestine, at the summer solstice, rises at five of our time, and sets about seven. At the winter solstice, it rises about seven and sets about five. Before the captivity, the night was divided into three watches. The FIRST, which continued till midnight, was denominated , the first watch, Lam. ii. 19. The SECOND was denominated the middle watch, and continued from midnight till the crowing of the cock, Judg. vii. 19. The

THIRD, called, the morning watch, extended from the second to the rising of the sun. These divisions and names appear to have derived their origin from the watches of the Levites in the tabernacle and temple, Exod. xiv. 24; 1 Sam. xi. 11. In the time of Christ, however, the night, in imitation of the Romans, was divided into four watches. According to the English mode of reckoning they were as follows:

I'Ové the evening, from twilight to nine o'clock.

II. Merovúκtion, the midnight, from nine to twelve.

III. 'AλEKтopopwvía, the cock-crowing, from twelve to three. IV. IIpwt, from three o'clock till day-break.

The assertions of the Talmudists in opposition to this statement are not to be regarded.

§. 102. OF Weeks.

A period of seven days, under the usual name of a week, , is mentioned as far back as the time of the deluge, Gen. vii. 4, 10; viii. 10, 12; also Gen. xxix. 27, 28. It must, therefore, be considered a very ancient division of time, especially, as the various nations among whom it has been noticed, for instance, the Nigri in Africa, (see Oldendorp's Gesch. der Mission, i. 308.) appear to have received it from the sons of Noah. The enumeration of the days of the week commenced with Sunday. Saturday was the last or seventh, and was the Hebrew sabbath, or day of rest. The Egyptians gave to the days of the week the same names that they assigned to the planets. From the circumstance, that the sabbath was the principal day of the week, the whole period of seven days was likewise called, in the New Testament, ráßßarov and rúßßara. The Jews, accordingly, in designating the successive days of the week, were accustomed to say, the first day of the sabbath, i. e. of the week, the second day of the sabbath, viz. Sunday, Monday, etc. Mark, xvi. 2, 9; Luke, xxiv. 1; John, xx. 1, 19. In addition to the week of days, the Jews had three other seasons, denominated weeks, Lev. xxv. 1-17; Deut. xvi. 9, 10.

I. The week of weeks. It was a period of seven weeks, or forty-nine days, which was succeeded on the fiftieth day by the feast of pentecost, Greek EVTηKOσTh, fifty, Deut. xvi. 9, 10. II. The week of years.

This was a period of seven years,

during the last of which the land remained untilled, and the people enjoyed a sabbath or season of rest.

III. The week of seven sabbatical years. It was a period of forty-nine years, and was succeeded by the year of jubilee, Lev. xxv. 1—22; xxvi. 34.

§. 103. OF THE MONTHS AND THE YEAR.

The lunar changes without doubt were first employed in the measurement of time. Weeks, however, were not, as some suppose, suggested by these changes, since four weeks make only twenty-eight days, while the lunar period is twenty-nine and a half. Nor is it rational to suppose, that the changes of the moon first suggested the method of computation by years. Years were regulated at first by the return of summer or autumn. But when, in the progress of time, it was discovered that the ripe fruits, by which the year had been previously limited, regularly returned after about twelve lunar months, or three hundred and fifty-four days, the year was regulated by those months, and restricted to that number of days. In the course of seventeen years, however, it was seen, that, on the return of the same month, all the appearances of nature were reversed. Hence, as is evident from the history of the deluge, an attempt was made to regulate the months by the motion of the sun, and to assign to each of them thirty days; but it was, nevertheless, observed, after ten or twenty years, that there was still a defect of five days.

Moses did not make any new arrangement in regard to the lunar months of the Hebrews, nor the year, which was solar; but in order to secure a proper reduction of the lunar to the solar year, he ordered the priests to present at the altar on the second day of the passover, or the sixteenth day after the first new moon in April, a sheaf of ripe corn. For if they saw on the last month of the year, that the grain would not be ripe, as expected, they were compelled to make an intercalation, which commonly happened on the third year.

After their departure from Egypt, there existed among the Hebrews two modes of reckoning the months of the year; the one civil, the other sacred. The beginning of the civil year was reckoned from the seventh month, or Tishri, i. e. the first new moon in October. The commencement of the sacred year was

reckoned from the month Nisan, or the first new moon in April, because the Hebrews departed from Egypt on the fifteenth day of that month, Exod. xii. 2. The prophets made use of this reckoning. The civil year, which was the more ancient, was used only in civil and agricultural concerns. The Jewish Rabbins say, that March and September, instead of April and October, were the initial months of these two years. That they were so at a late period is admitted; but the change was probably owing to the example of the Romans, who began their year with the month of March. The Jews, being pleased with their example in this respect, or overruled by their authority, adopted the same practice. That this is the most probable statement is evident also from the fact, that the position of the Rabbins is opposed not only by Josephus, but by the usage of the Syriac and Arabic languages; from the fact also, that the prescribed observances of the three great festival days will not agree with the months of March and September, as has been shown by Michaelis, see Commentat. de Mensibus Hebræorum in Soc. Reg. Goett. 1763-1768, p. 10. et seq.

Months,, sometimes also called, from the circumstance of their commencing with the new moon, anciently had no separate names, with the exception of the first, which was called Abib, i. e. "the month of the young ears of corn," Exod. xiii. 4; xxiii. 15; xxxiv. 18; Deut. xvi. 1. During the captivity, the Hebrews adopted the Babylonian names for their months. They were as follows;

I. 7-NISAN, reckoned from new moon of April, Neh. ii. 1. -ZIF or Ziv, also called,

II.

of May, 1 K. vi. 1. - of June, Est. viii. 9. - of July. -of August.

The first month here mentioned, NISAN, was originally called ABIB. The intercalary month is denominated in Hebrew 77.

NOTE. The longevity of the antediluvians has already been mentioned. Certain critics have converted the hundreds of the antediluvian years into tens, or into quarters of years, or into months, or into summers and winters. Certainly they forget, that the orientals of the earliest period, as well as the modern Arabs, not only had a knowledge of the proper solar year, but divided it both into months, and into six periods of two months each. Clearly then, if the author of the first part of Genesis had meant to say, that the antediluvians lived so many months, or other less periods of time than a year, instead of so many years, he would have said so, in the terms commonly used to express those minor divisions. Besides, the attempt to reduce the years of the antediluvians to months, will make them, in some instances, the fathers of children at five years of age. What some of the ancients say, in regard to a year much shorter than the solar one, is, as Diodorus Siculus expressly assures us, nothing more than a mere conjecture, framed for the purpose of accounting for the great number of years, which the Egyptians and other nations attributed to their ancestors.

§. 104. SURVEYING, THE MECHANIC ARTS, AND GEO

GRAPHY.

I. Surveying. Measures of length are mentioned, Gen. vi. 15, 16. A knowledge of the method of measuring lands is implied in the account given Gen. xlvii. 20-27. Mention is made, in the books of Job and Joshua, of a line or rope for the purpose of taking measurements, 2,. It was brought by the Hebrews out of Egypt, where, according to the unanimous testimony of antiquity, surveying first had its origin; and, in consequence of the inundations of the Nile, was carried to the greatest height. It was here, we may conclude, that the Hebrews acquired so much knowledge of the principles of that science, as to enable them, with the aid of the measuring line above-mentioned, to partition and set off geographically the whole land of Canaan. The weights used in weighing solid bodies, Gen. xxiii. 15, 16, provided they were similar to each other in form, imply a knowledge of the rudiments of stereometry.

II. The Mechanic Arts. No express mention is made of the mechanic arts; but that a knowledge of them existed, may be inferred from the erection of Noah's ark and the tower of Babel ; also from what is said of the Egyptian chariots, Gen. xli. 43;