The Ancient Greeks and Romans contributed more than any other past civilization to the rise of time's dominion over individual and public life. Adapting ideas from Egypt and Babylonia, they divided the day into hours, and invented sophisticated instruments and devices to mark their passage. This exhibition aims to explore the ways that time was organized and kept track of in the Greco-Roman world, and how it was conceived in relation to the Cosmos.
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| Portable Universal Sundial Bronze H. 6.4 cm; W. 6.1 cm; Diam. 2.5 cm Near Bratislava (?) ca. 250 CE [Credit: Museum of the History of Science, Oxford] |
Time and Cosmos will display over 130 objects, including ancient sundials, calendars, jewelry, and surveying instruments, and will be organized around two themes: the Tools of Time Reckoning, exploring the material resources that gave temporal structure to the daily life of private individuals as well as the community in such public spheres as religion, commerce, and law; and Reflections of Time and Cosmos, concerning ancient representations of time, the universe, and their power to shape the environment and human destiny.
Time and Cosmos in Greco-Roman Antiquity opens to the public at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World in New York on October 19, 2016 and runs through April 23, 2017. The exhibition is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11 to 6 pm with a late closure at 8 pm on Fridays. A free guided tour is offered each Friday starting at 6 pm.
Source: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World [August 22, 2016]