If you are asked how many hours a day consists of, the answer would certainly be 24 hours.
But when you look at a clock, especially a wall clock, you always see a circular display in which 12 numbers are placed around the circle, while two hands indicate the minutes and hours.
This sight is so common that for most people, it is very difficult to think of anything else when it comes to telling time.
But have you ever wondered how this design of wall clocks was adopted and how it was decided that the number 12 would be at the top, followed by the other numbers appearing around the circle?
In ancient times, sundials were used, in which time was determined according to the movement of the sun from east to west.
When mechanical clocks were developed, early clocks used the same time-telling system as sundials, meaning they were designed to move in the same direction as sundials.
The clockwise movement of the clock hands was also influenced by this. In other words, the system of sundials that worked with sunlight is behind it.
But as far as the clock display with 12 numbers is concerned, it became standard in the 14th century.
Since then, its basic form has not changed.
As for the 12 divisions, this was influenced by the ancient Babylonian civilization.
The number 60 was adopted for the sexagesimal system of this civilization.
Centuries later, the ancient Greeks adopted this concept and used it to divide a circle rather than to measure time, while the 12-hour timekeeping system was adopted.
Hipparchus adopted this division for 360 degrees, and in 150 AD, Ptolemy divided each degree into 60 smaller parts. The term partae minutae primae was used for these, from which the English word “minute” is also derived.
So, as for the question of why the number 12 is at the top, the answer is quite simple: 12 o’clock was the time when the shadow on a sundial was shortest at noon. The early clocks adopted this concept without any change, and this tradition has continued ever since.
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