The Reason Modern Society Uses Seven-Day Weeks
Simon Whistler explains the reason why modern society uses seven-day weeks in an episode of Today I Found Out. The episode looks back at the earlier cultures that laid the groundwork for the practice of seven-day weeks by basing their weeks on lunar cycles.
Related Laughing Squid PostsTwo of the earliest known civilizations to use a seven day week were the Babylonians and the Jews. The Babylonians marked time with lunar months and it is thought by many scholars that this is why they chose a seven day week (though direct evidence of this being why they did this is scant). That being said, each lunar month was made up of several different cycles-on the first day, the first visible crescent appeared; on approximately the seventh, the waxing half-moon could be seen; on approximately the fourteenth, the full moon; on approximately the twenty-first, the waning half-moon; and on approximately the twenty-eighth, the last visible crescent. As you can see, each notable cycle is made up of about seven days, hence, the seven-day week.