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> It is to them, ultimately, that we owe not only the week but also the 60-minute hour. I wonder, did Mayans and Aztecs also use this system? Or Chinese or sub

• thechao 4y ago
  Man, I've done minutes of research into this. So, I don't know about time-keeping — most ancient societies (as far as I can tell) kinda didn't care — however, the "week" thing is definitely not shared; here's some examples: 1. The Romans used an 8 day "week", although it was a bit loose at best; and, 2. The Mayans used a pair of interlocking 13- and 20- day "weeks" (months?) that formed a 260-day ... thing. A cursory search suggests that the Romans used 12 equihour subdivisions of the day (so: there were always 12 hours from sun up to sun down). It looks like the Chinese used ... 15? There's no evidence I can turn up in my (meager) literature at home that suggests the Mayans subdivided their day.