The Myth of Time

Time is a key feature in mythology. From the Mayan calendar charting the mythic age of creation, to the titan Chronos who embodies the very concept of time itself. In this video, I explore how early human cultures understood time, and how the first civilisations created methods of communicating this phenomenon. A phenomenon that even today we know frighteningly little about. Particularly through ancient calendars, which are able to tell us a lot about how time was thought of.

I hope you enjoy this one, I tried something a bit different here to spice it up. More Strange Christian Art is on the way, and hopefully with a shorter turnaround. The channel recently passed 600,000, amazing! Thank you all so much.

H.

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Sources & Further Reading:

Ancient Time Keepers

The History of Time: A Very Short Introduction by Leofranc Holford-Strevens

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Music:

Intro - Epic of Gilgamesh in Sumerian by Peter Pringle

Seikilos Epitaph performed by Marcus Harvey
Via Wikimedia Commons

As Time Passes by, by Clarence Reed
Via Epidemic Sound

Short Story by Feras Charestan
Via Epidemic Sound

Ancient Awakening by Bjorn Alva
Via Epidemic Sound

A King's Ransom by Bonnie Grace
Via Epidemic Sound

Wandering Soul by Gabriel Lewis
Via Epidemic Sound

Outro - Peaceful Ambient Music by CO.AG

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[ethanv.a.t.exclamador]

Christian years, roman months, and Norse days, truly awesome how they seemingly got implemented together in our modern life

[samaelnoir]

You've truly come a long way in terms of your editing and your voice is still ever so soothing. Big ups, my man.

[cramerfloro]

It is worth noting that the Titan Kronos (Κρονος) was originally not connected to the concept of time, but rather to that of agriculture and the harvest. But the similarity with the greek word for time, chronos ( χρονος) lead already in early times to an identification between the two.

[Bigwillyice]

Caesar actually came up with leap years that happened every four years in his calendar, making the year 365.25 days long. Gregory changed leap years so that they don’t occur in years divisible by 100, unless they are also divisible by 400. So 1800 and 1900 wouldn’t have a leap year but 2000 would. This changed the average year length to 365.2425 days which is a more accurate estimate. It’s pretty amazing how both of these guys who were both religious leaders/scholars created calendars that were incredibly accurate for their time I love it

[purplehaze]

"In other words, that's 311.04 trillion years. The longest single breath in mythological history."
That's so...specific. I love it.

[PrivateHaggard]

What strikes me as super interesting is that anno mundi, as well as the Maya calender both start around 3xxx BC which coincides (very for the Mayan) roughly with the birth of the first attested cities. Maybe it's not the creation of the world, but of Civilization. Which for all intents and purposes is the birth of our "modern" world.

[lucafazi]

In italian the days are named after the roman gods, like "martedì", meaning Thusday, result of the union of Marte (Mars) and dì (day), or "giovedì", from Giove (Jupiter).
A different case is presented for Sunday, which in italian is called "domenica", coming from the latin word "dominica" meaning "Day of the Lord" and it was introducted by Constantine when he converted to christianism to substitute the more ancient day of the sun, or "sunday" as it still is in english.

[dandrive]

Another interesting myth about time in the myth of dream time in Aboriginal mythology. Basically it’s a time of creation before time actually existed. The rules where less concise like a dream. I think the idea of a time before time is fascinating.

[mariodiezdelcorral]

This is probably the best youtube channel I have ever come across, amazing in every way possible. Ever since the mighty youtube algorithm showed my one of your older works, I have watched and trully enjoyed all the videos posted, and can't wait for the ones to come.
Given the topic of this video, even though you are probably already familiar with him, I will encourage everyone interested in the history of the perception of time to investigate the work of the brilliant writter and historian Mircea Eliade. Once again, great inspiring content, thank you for putting so much work into your craft!!!
Greetings from Madrid, Spain!

[locke_ch]

The Epitoph of Seikilos intro was very soothing when its the early morning, what other soothing music did the ancient times have?

[nBasedAce]

That song reminds me of the world in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. I love just exploring and walking by the shore in that game. The world is so accurate to the times. Walking around and seeing everyone go about their lives is so hypnotizing that I notice that I have been standing in the same spot for 10 minutes just people watching.

[dysphoria-chan]

9:03 Just remember that Mexica and Mayan cultures were so different, both in art and time. The Mexica sun disc wasn't used by Mayans, and it's a relatively recent piece of art in history.

Besides that, I always found the Holocen calendar fascinating, because it englobes almost all the time since humans became humans. At the same time, it gaves a better comprehension about the develop of civilizations, their collapses and renaissances. 2000 years aren't enough, it discredits all the millenia that happened before.

[laurelsilberman]

What an interesting video. Gave me a lot to think about and further educate myself on! And I loved that you started out the video with that ancient song. Wow wow wow. Hauntingly beautiful across thousands of years.

[mrkisukes]

What is truly amazing is how so many isolated civilizations were able to independently come to the same conclusion of how long a year is and use very similar sub-divisions to organize time.

[purplepanther]

This is definitely my fav channel, all ur content is so well done, even if it’s literally about calendar there’s so much effort

[alexispocu]

I cannot miss any of your vids!
You should make longer versions of some topics here and there, it's such and amazing job that you do.

[mathy]

9:40 Pope Gregoy tweaked how often leap years happened, making them slightly less frequently, but it is incorrect to say that he included them. He, in fact, removed some.

The man mostly credited for the inclusion of leap years is Caesar himself (hence Julian Calendar), so we can say that the calendar used all the way up until 1582 (and quite a few decades, even centuries more, in some places) is a Roman invention.

[Lasagnaisprettycool]

It's always so interesting to realize where everyday concepts and words come from. Excellent video!

[xsXRevanXsx]

Ive been asking for ages now, but I won’t stop. talk about the epic of Gilgamesh!

[Skrot]

i love your videos so much man. i get so excited everytime you post! you’re the person who introduced me to biblically accurate angels, which is now my favorite topic. i’m gonna work in a museum because of you! thank you so much hochelaga.