Dial

Dial - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

For the measurement of time, only once mentioned in the Bible, erected by Ahaz (2 Kings 20:11; Isa. 38:8). The Hebrew word (ma'aloth) is rendered "steps" in Ex. 20:26, 1 Kings 10:19, and "degrees" in 2 Kings 20:9, 10, 11. The ma'aloth was probably stairs on which the shadow of a column or obelisk placed on the top fell. The shadow would cover a greater or smaller number of steps, according as the sun was low or high.

Probably the sun-dial was a Babylonian invention. Daniel at Babylon (Dan. 3:6) is the first to make mention of the "hour."

Dial - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

DIAL, n. An instrument for measuring time, by the aid of the sun; being a plate or plain surface, on which lines are drawn in such a manner, that the shadow of a wire, or of the upper edge of another plane, erected perpendicularly on the former, may show the true time of the day. The edge of the plane, which shows the time, is called the stile of the dial, and this must be parallel to the axis of the earth. The line on which this plane is erected, is called the substile; and the angle included between the substile and stile, is called the elevation or highth of the stile. A dial may be horizontal, vertical, or inclining.