Ramblings of a Redhead: TIME for a figure of speech

I saw an interesting show today on ancient discoveries. It was about the Antikythera Machine. However, that is a whole different blog. You can check out the video here. What I would like to pull out of the video is a piece about the clepsydra. It's one of the first devices used to measure the passing of time. The ancient Greeks were brilliant mathematicians and engineers. When you look at some of the things that they accomplished, you may consider them modern. Some of what they discovered was lost and is only now being rediscovered.

The clepsydra was a simple device designed to keep track of a set amount of time. Say to time a persons allotted duration to speak during a court proceeding or in a senate setting. For example, an attorney may have only been given five minutes for a rebuttal. In comes the clepsydra.

The clepsydra consisted of a basin that would hold water. At the bottom was a spout that would remain plugged until the timer would be needed. Inside the basin were marks that would denote how much time had passed as the level of water would pass.