Rácz Tibor Ákos: A múltnak kútja. Fiatal középkoros regészek V. konferenciájának tanulmánykötete - A Ferenczy Múzeum kiadványai, A. sorozat: Monográfiák 3. (Szentendre, 2014)
Képtáblák
English Summaries Máté Varga Medieval Sundial from the Benedictine Monastery of Kaposszentjakab In medieval Hungary surely many different sundials were in use to indicate the passing time, but for today only a few remained which can be still studied. There are especially not many of them which came to the light from archaeological excavations. Therefore, the analysis and the presentation of the fragments of a sundial that was unearthed in the church of the Benedictine monastery at Kaposszentjakab is, among other reasons, very important. In addition to the description of this fragmented sundial from Kaposszentjakab, in the article the author also summarizes the knowledge about sundials in general as well as he presents those wall clocks and pocket watches that were until now revealed in Hungary. To do so was an essential task, since from the archaeological point of view no one ever provided such a summary before. Until now mainly the astronomers were interested in sundials, and not so much the historians and/ or the archaeologists. The vertical or the so-called wall clocks were often used on the walls of medieval churches and monastic buildings to show the times of the day (the canonical hours) according to which the monastic life was ordered. Even the name of this type bears this monastery-bound function, as they are called the canonical sundials. The sundial of Kaposszentjakab which was carved and scratched in stone and was most probably on the southern wall of the monastery, for the first sight seems to be a beautifully executed piece of work, but its construction is a bit unpunctual. On the basis of its survived fragments the whole sundial can be reconstructed. This example belongs to the semicircular type with twelve divisions, each sector equals between 40 and 80 minutes and it shows the time from six o’clock in the morning until six o’clock in the evening. Unfortunately, its gnomon, which is also called shadow pole pointing to the celestial pole, was not found, but its original place is clearly visible. On the dial plate one can identify the fragments of the numbers ten and eleven, and what is special in this case is that instead of the Roman numbers already the Arabic ones were used. Parallels to this type of sundial can be cited from medieval Szentendre and Kolozsmonostor (today Mänäjtur, Romania) within the Carpathian basin (the former territory of medieval Hungary), but also from other parts of Europe, for example, from Stendal, Oebisfelde or Erfurt. On the basis of these similar examples and on other historical data it can be concluded that the sundial of Kaposszentjakab was prepared sometime in the second half of the fifteenth or at the beginning of the sixteenth century, but certainly not later then 1555. 452
