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how does the clock know the time of earth?

The first timekeeping devices weren't clocks, they were calendars that were used to track the passage of a year. Ancient astronomers would have noticed the 12 lunar cycles that occurred within a year.Historians believe that this number 12 was given a special significance, because when the Civilizations in Egypt, Sumer and India developed their first devices to measure fractions of a day, they designed their sundials so that the period from dawn to dusk was sectioned into 12 equal parts. 
When they extrapolated to the night time, they would make it also 12 parts, to mirror the daytime. China was a little different - they spilt their entire day into 12 parts.
Still, that's how they determined what time it was on their first clocks. It was likely an arbitrary distinction that paid homage to the 12 lunar cycles.


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