> UR

Everything created in the present can trace its origins to some earlier example, an essential beginning. And the city of Ur, whose very name forms the etymological root of the German word, was such a watershed source. This is the very place where our perception of time was molded by an ancient civilization whose influence still shapes the way we view and use time today. 6,000 years ago, the obelisks of Ur made the passing of the sun’s shadows visible over the ground, thus unveiling the mysteries of the earth’s movements through space. The passage of time became a tool of civilization. It was judged by the inhabitants of Ur, the Sumerians, that the passage of these shadows should encompass a rhythm of 12 separate units, marking one of the basic premises of our present system of time sectioning. They governed their day and marked the passage of the months, seasons and years by observing the orbits of the planets and the positions of the stars. Their timekeeper was the universe that surrounded them.