Ancient Egyptians were clock-watchers, too

The recently discovered Egyptian sundial. Picture: University of Basel Source: Supplied

THE DISCOVERY of a 3200 year-old sundial shows ancient Egyptian labourers may have been just as bad clock-watchers as much as their modern counterparts.

The marked shard of stone which was recently found in the Valley of the Kings is pushing back our concept of time.

The simple drawing of lines radiating out of a central hole - which would have contained a stick - is the oldest sundial ever found in the Nile Valley.

Dating from the 13th century BC, an era ruled by Egypt's19th Dynasty Pharohs, the sundial is a utilitarian device and was found on the floor of a recently excavated worker's hut not far from a tomb.

It may have been used to calculate the start and end of workers' shifts.

"The significance of this piece is that it is roughly one thousand years older than what was generally accepted as time when this type of time measuring device was used," researcher Susanne Bickel, of the University of Basel in Switzerland, said.

"I wondered whether it could have served to regulate the workmen's working time, to set the break at a certain time, for example," she said.

The sundial has 12 sections drawn on a flattened piece of limestone. Small dots between each line would have helped observe a more precise timetable. A rod would have sat in the hole, casting the sun's shadow on the polar-oriented stone.

"The piece was found with other ostraca (limestone chips) on which small inscriptions, workmen's sketches and the illustration of a deity were written or painted in black ink," Bickel told science blog LiveScience.

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