#pillar dial

[historysurvivalguide]

Cylinder Dial

Sometimes also called a Pillar Dial or a Shepard Dial

This strange looking device is actually a portal sundial! The metal arm is the “gnomon” (the part of the sundial that casts a shadow) and the body is carved with different curved horizontal lines for times and vertical columns for months

This sundial is set for the 37th parallel north (37.3 degrees North latitude) which includes places like the island of Sicily, Greece, as well as places in Syria, Iran, China, and through the center of the United States. This kind of information can make it possible to determine where this device was originally made or at least where it was intended to be used 🔎

Helpfully, it also just so happens it is “inscribed on the dial corresponds with that of Catania in Sicily” so this device was likely made to operate in Sicily

(A very simple) Mystery solved!

Cylinder dial | Royal Museums Greenwich

[historysurvivalguide]

Animals Doing Astronomy in the 1300’s

Found this marvelous illustration in an old manuscript of animals with astronomical instruments

From left to right the instruments are: a shepherd’s dial, an armillary sphere, an astrolabe, and a quadrant

Shepherd’s Dial

A shepherd’s dial, sometimes called a pillar dial, is a cylindrical sundial that is used to measure the altitude of the sun to determine the time of year. These instruments have been around since the 11th century

Armillary Sphere

An armillary sphere is a spherical model of the sky and displays how the sky rotates and changes over the course of a day. It was independently invented at least twice and go back to the 3rd and 4th century

Astrolabe

An astrolabe is a handheld instrument that determines the time based on the position and movement of stars. This instrument was invented sometime in the 2nd or 3rd century

Quadrant

A quadrant measures angles up to 90 degrees and can act as a simple type of sextant. Some quadrants are engraved with arcs for calculating trigonometric function, time, latitude, and even longitude. Types of quadrants date back as far as the 1st century B.C.E

From the Burney MS 275 (page f.390v) from the British Library