saving daylight

Hours were not always finite. They were undulating, flexible things, defined not, by the duration of periods of radiation of caesium, but by the more tangible position of the sun in the sky. Sunrise marked the begging of the twelve hour day, and sunset marked the begging of the twelve hour night. Except at the equinox, day hours and night hours were not the equal. Time was a comparative measure, always relative to the sun peaking at mid-day.