The time concept in the history of science and thought and the measurement technologies in the Ancient Age Period

In this study, the studies on the time concept and time measurement technologies of the civilizations that lived in the Ancient Age period are compiled and presented. The target of the study is revealing the relations and interactions between the conceptual and technological studies about the time concept in different civilizations. The time concept in the Ancient Age civilizations was discussed around the axis of what time was, whether it existed or not, whether it was cyclical or linear, its being ancient or not. Philosophers have claimed different ideas on the time concept in the direction of their societies and historical processes. We can claim that these debates and ideas that were started by philosophers in the Ancient Age period did not reach any sound conclusions even in 20th and 21st centuries; however, we can also argue that our knowledge on the universe, matter and time has increased ever since. The developments -especially in particle physics- broaden the horizons of the mankind on the creation of the universe, and the relations between energy and matter and time with each passing day. The Big Bang Theory, which was developed by hypothetical physicists in 20th century, was proven in a bigger extent in the 21st century, and even there have been experiments in the form of small creation models of the universe, and the traces of the conversion from energy into matter have been studied. This situation has brought the end of an argument about the time concept. According to the Big Bang Theory, time has a starting point, and with the explosion of a great energy field 13,5 billion years ago, the matter that formed the universe was revealed, and thus time started. Authors Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson succeeded in recording the sound traces of the first explosion in 1978, and received the Nobel Physics Award. Of course, time, which has a starting point, will also have an end point. In the scope of this review, the time concept has been evaluated with the developments in measurement technologies. The civilizations in the First Age period developed the calendars and clocks, which were used in measuring the time of the world. Almost all of the past civilizations developed calendars that were based on either the Moon or the Sun. In this scope, the calendar with twelve animals, which was developed by the Turks, has an important place. The effects of this calendar, which influenced the majority of the Asian civilizations, are still felt in our present day. The Nevruz Feast, which is celebrated in Turkic States, is accepted as the starting point of the New Year for the Turkish Calendar with Twelve Animals. However, the Turkic States quit using this calendar, and the Chinese are still using it, and therefore an argument on the belonging of this calendar has started. These arguments have been included in the scope of the review, and the parallelism between the calendar and the Turkish Culture have also been revealed. In measuring time, the other tool, which was developed by the civilizations, is the clocks. Clocks are the tools used to measure the change of time during the day. The first examples of clocks were the obelisks and the sun clocks. These clocks used the movements of the Earth around the Sun and the angles of the Sun, and had the property of being a calendar at the same time. There have been many archaeological findings on the use of these clocks by especially Antique Greek, Anatolian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. However, except for the archaeological findings, it is estimated that many civilizations have used these clocks as well. The basic problem of the sun clocks is that they did not work in night time and in closed areas. It is observed that past civilizations developed the water clocks to overcome this problem. The working principle of water clocks is based on the flow of water in a certain volume from a draining channel. Important developments on water clocks were observed in the Roman Era, and these clocks were used in courts to measure time. After the First Age period, with the development of mechanical clocks, the sun clocks and water clocks were quit. However, the sun clocks developed in the First Age and the water clocks that were designed by Ktesibios marked the measurement technologies of the First Age time measurement technologies and also guided today's technologies. Keywords: Philosophy, time, calendars, water clocks, sundials