Time, Faith and Technology – A Few Historical Soundings (Part 1/3)
In this article series we explore the complex and many-sided connection between religion and horology, two subject areas that at first glance may seem unrelated but that through history have had a profound influence on each other.
Text: Andreas Johansson & Anders Ackfeldt
In this article series we explore the complex and multifaceted connection between religion and horology, two subject areas that at first glance may seem unrelated but which throughout history have had a profound impact on each other. The series will be built around three themes that we hope will together give an intriguing introduction to the subject. In the opening part we will focus on the historical development of time measuring instruments — from sundials to sophisticated mechanical watches — and how these technological advances have influenced, and in turn been influenced by, humanity's need to understand its cosmos in the form of religious ideas.
The second part will devote us to the many ways in which religious themes and symbols have been integrated into the art and design of watchmaking. We will analyse how applications and embellishments in watches can reflect different religious worlds of ideas.
Finally, the third part of the series will highlight the wristwatches found on the arms of some of some of the world's most prominent religious leaders and other people with a connection to religion. We will explore how these personal timekeepers are not only an indication of the individual's taste and status, but can also be seen as an extension of their religious and spiritual lives.
The article series is written by Andreas Johansson, PhD in history of religions at Karlstad University & Lund University and Anders Ackfeldt, PhD in history of religions, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (SFII).
In summary, this series will take an in-depth look at the many ways that horology — the science and art of measuring time — has been cross-pollinated with religious traditions and ideas throughout history. Through these three articles we hope to be able to shed light on the multidimensional connections that exist between time, faith and technology.
The need to understand one's circadian rhythm, sunlight and moon phases has been central to human development, and it is likely, researchers argue, that several of the early sun and moon clocks have had connections to religious ideas and rituals, such as for example various canonical prayers. One of the oldest clocks that archaeologists have found evidence of is a sundial that was used in Egypt around 2000–1300 years before our era. It consisted of an L-shaped instrument with two equally long parts and was about 30 centimetres long. Thanks to its design the Egyptians could measure time fairly precisely. However, since the sun stands at different heights at different times of the year, the time shown on the clock could not be constant. Researchers have been able to show that this sundial in Egypt was not only used as an instrument for measuring the time during the day, but also for establishing calendars. The worship of the sun god Amon-Re manifests both the role of temporality in a coherent cosmos and the need to order and divide up daily life.
The early sundials that archaeologists have found in Europe are often called ”gnomon clocks” (from the Greek word for ”hand”). There is also early evidence of other types of clocks such as water clocks, candle clocks and incense clocks. But it was above all sundials that dominated.
These gnomon clocks were often large stones or obelisks placed in squares or in central parts of cities. The gnomon obelisks are generally considered to be humanity's first tool for measuring time. Similar finds have also been made in India, the Middle East and China, among other places. In China taller obelisks were developed, and a circular stone with a hole in the middle was also erected in order to be able to measure time more precisely.
Sundials have developed in parallel through different time periods and in different cultures. Sundials were often connected to temples, such as for example the sundial in Rome (from the year 293 BC), which was erected at the temple of Jupiter. Even in sacred scriptures we can find descriptions of sundials and how they were used, among other places in the Old Testament where reference is made to King Ahaz (king over the kingdom of Judah 736–716 BC).
Isaiah answered: ”The Lord shall give you a sign that he will keep what he has promised. Do you want the shadow on the sundial to go ten marks forward or ten marks backward?” 10 ”The sun's shadow has always found it easy to go ten marks forward. Make it go ten marks backward”, Hezekiah answered. 11 The prophet Isaiah then asked the Lord to do so, and he made the shadow on Ahaz's sundial go ten marks back, marks that it had already gone forward.
Similar reflections on sundials, time and astronomical phenomena can be found in the records of all world religions. In the Quran for example time is described as something where God actively makes night into day and day into night. That means that time is entirely governed by God's will. This thought to the development of the idea of predestination within Islam. Many believing Muslims also see the idea that God ”turns” time in the Quran as a revelation about the rotation of the earth to Muhammad long before science discovered this.
During the European Middle Ages monks and nuns used various time measuring instruments such as hourglasses and time candles to organise their daily routine in the monastery. Sundials painted on the outside of the convents showed the time of day. During the Middle Ages in Europe literature about time and dates was written, and these works were often written by monks. For example the English monk Bede Venerabilis wrote the work De Mensura horologi in the 700s, which contains tables and arrangements of months and time.
Even though sundials were mainly developed and refined in China and the Orient, it was in Europe that mechanical clocks saw the light of day. In the 1300s mechanical clocks began to appear in European cities. The development of these clocks was driven above all by Catholic monks, who had a need to keep track of prayer times and daily routines in the monasteries and churches. In addition there was a general need to institutionalise Christian feast days. At various church councils it was decided when for example Easter and Christmas were to be celebrated, which created an increased need to keep track of when the feast days occurred. This was a complex process where religious leaders needed to keep track of weeks and the cycles of the sun and moon.
In today's globalised world several different calendars often exist in one and the same society. Depending on your faith orientation different religious feast days fall at different times. For example it is not unusual for there to be two calendars in Muslim countries: the Gregorian and an Islamic one. These differ considerably both in year number (the Islamic year 2023 corresponds to 1445 in the Gregorian calendar) and in how the days of the month are counted (the Islamic calendar is moon based). What these calendars have in common is that they have arisen out of a religious need to keep track of religious feast days and holidays.
One of the first European clock towers during the Middle Ages was the Astronomical clock in Prague. This clock was not only an instrument for timekeeping, but also a symbolic representation of the universe. It contains astronomical hands and symbols for different star signs and celestial bodies. The clock also shows, among other things, the twelve apostles of Jesus, who appear when Death, in the form of a skeleton, rings the bell every full hour. The clock is still used today to show different times and dates, including solar times, moon phases and the positions of the zodiac. Similar astronomical clocks from this period are found around Europe, among other places in Lund, Strasbourg and Rostock. This visual representation of the cosmos conveyed a sense of divine order and created a connection between timekeeping and God's creation. Thus the clock tower and the clock served not only as practical aids for timekeeping but also as religious and cultural centres in the city.
In the Muslim Ottoman Empire too clock towers played a large role. They were used both to help the city's inhabitants keep track of the Muslim canonical prayers, which take place five times a day, and as symbols of the sultan's authority, state control and modernity. In 1798 the grand vizier Izzet Mehmed Pasha had the first clock tower erected on a hill overlooking his home town Safranbolu, and this tower is still in function today. In total 144 clock towers were built in the Ottoman Empire, where the perhaps most famous are the clock tower in Jaffa (in today's Israel) and the Bab al-Faraj clock tower in Aleppo (in today's Syria).
The development of watchmaking and the modern wristwatch industry has interesting connections with religious currents, particularly when you examine its historical development. An often used example of this relationship is the connection to the Christian reformation movements that gathered pace during the 1500s, in the form of Calvinism in Switzerland.
Calvinism, a Protestant theological tradition founded by Jean Calvin (1509-1564), had a profound impact on society and culture in Switzerland. This movement placed particular emphasis on industriousness, punctuality and discipline as spiritual virtues. This in turn contributed to a cultural environment where precision and meticulousness were highly valued qualities. It is in this context that Swiss watchmaking began to flourish, and its emergence can be seen as part of the larger cultural and religious dynamic in the country at that time.
Calvinism's impact on watch manufacturing is an illustrative example of how religion and economy can interact in unexpected ways. In Geneva the movement introduced a ban on luxurious jewellery, which led to an economic readjustment. Jewellery merchants instead began to manufacture watches, which Calvinism considered to be a practical aid and therefore permitted. This contributed to a growing watch industry being established in Geneva and in Switzerland at large, with many watchmakers and clockmakers contributing to its success. For example the LeCoultre family descends from French Calvinists who fled religious oppression in France and settled in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland. There in 1612 the family built the church that marked the founding of the village of Le Sentier, where Jaeger-LeCoultre today has its headquarters.
It is striking how faith and our understanding of time and the evolution of the watch have interacted. When you take soundings in the historical development of timekeeping you cannot escape the influence that religious traditions and the search for higher truths have had on this field. The watch becomes in that context, for many people, more than a simple mechanism for counting seconds and minutes; it becomes a metaphor for humanity's shared journey through a religious cosmos. The watch, in various forms, works as both a physical and philosophical tool that ties the everyday to the divine, and symbolises our striving to organise and give meaning to our existence.
In the next part of this series we will explore the wristwatch, an innovation that captured the world's attention and became enormously popular in the wake of the First World War. We will focus on how religion – physically – has shaped this iconic timekeeper in the from of religious motifs and complications.
