Sundials stamps in Israel

During 2014 I had a unique experience - taking part in the design of a new series of stamps. I received a phone call from the Israeli postal service who contacted me after reading my article about sundials in Israel. Although I am not an academic expert on the matter, I gladly agreed to help.

As it turned out, issuing stamps is a serious matter. In Israel, the process requires a government decision, and after the decision is approved a long process begins. The first phase is to decide on a concept for the series, how may stamps there will be and what will be the connection between them. There are many sundials types and my original idea was to choose a sundial which was significant to the religion and used in a synagogue, a sundial to symbolize the value of hard work ("The day is short and the work is great") and a modern sundial which is more an element of design in an urban surrounding.

There were other suggestions and there were some political issues as well and the final decision was to show the development of the sundials over different periods and do this in only three stamps.

After that it was a hard task to decide which specific sundials to present. There are wonderful sundials which are not suitable for the format of a small stamp since it is impossible to see the small details and engravings, and this is also a factor. Following this, I worked with the stamps' designer, David Ben Hador. The designer wanted to include the sun in the stamp but when looking at a sundial the sun is usually behind the watcher, so there was no attempt to have the hour in the sundial match the sun position, but still our goal was to allow some freedom to the designer and maintain the best realistic sundial as possible.

After the design of the stamps there is a need to design the envelope, the leaflet, the first day postal stamp, choose a verse, write the text in the pamphlet and so on. This is the final and in my humble opinion, great, result (the values are from the last draft and are not the actual values of the stamps)

Sundials in Israel -Ancient Jewish Quarter Jerusalem

Sundials in Israel - Zoharei Chamma Synagogue Jerusalem

Sundials in Israel - Jezzar Mosque Acre

Sundials in Israel - day of issue envelope

New sundial and planets model in Givaataim

I am very enthusiastic about sundials and even helped the Israeli postal service to design a series of stamps about sundials in the past. Therefore, I was very happy to be invited to the inauguration of a new sundial in Israel. The sundial is located in "Gan-Haaliya" in Givaataim (Golomb st.) in a large garden surrounding the city observatory and is dedicated to the memory of Tal Izsak who was one of the guides in the observatory.

The sundial was built by the designer and artist Yoav Shavit with technical consultation by Eden Orion (both sites are in Hebrew). It is a challenge to make new kinds of sundial but it is still possible, at first glance this array of poles don't look like a sundial at all!

But the picture becomes clear as you get nearer. Each pole is directed towards a different spot in the sky and when the sun reaches that spot a shadow with the correct hour will appear on the grass below. Here is the hour eleven.

Eleven o'clock

A few words about Tal before we will go on with the clock. Tal Izsak (23.06.1981 - 12.09.2012) was one of the guides in the local observatory and volunteered in the Israel Astronomical Association (IAA). I met Tal during a public observation in 2007 when I was a newbie and just stood beside him to understand how to operate a telescope. Here is a photo of Tal during an observation. Tal was always happy with a big smile, taking care of the telescope and ready to explain everything to the observers- children and adults.

Tal Iszak. Photo: Ella Ratz

The special design of the sundial (which is called a time field) causes some overlapping between the hours and at 11:30 you will see partial shade from both the 11 pole and the 12 pole. The purpose of the time field is not to give an accurate measurement of the time, but as many modern sundials are, to be a design-element in the urban area.

Here is the hour 11 from below

hour 11 o'clock from below

A partial shade of 10 means that we are already past 10

A partial shade of 10

The time field

A bit later at 12

12 o'clock

12 o'clock

And here is the artist next to his work

Yoav Shavit and the time field

The time field is just the first part of the dedication project. From the time field area and along a 200 meter path a model of the solar system was built. The big half circle in the photo above is actually the sun and each meter along the path represents 45 million KM in the solar system. In the relative distance of the planets a concrete pillar with some details about the planet was placed. Here is a photo for the Earth pillar. The small circle in the top of the column is the relative size of the earth to the sun. The concrete for each pillar was created specifically with the correct and required colors. The pillars are not painted, the concrete itself is with the right color.

The pillar for planet Earth

The new time field and planets path are great examples of how to add scientific elements to our urban surrounding. If you happen to be in the area, pop over and take a look.

Birds in a Rishon Lezion (Israel)

Israel is an amazing place for birds watching. Its unique location between Europe, Asia and Africa makes it the perfect place to the professional Ornithologist and amateur birdwatcher. The Rishon-Lezion Agamon (Israel) is an artificial lake at the southwest of the city in the edge of a very large urban area.

The entire area is being develop currently and some of the areas around the lake are closed to visitor. I've visited the lake for a short time and got a very nice photos of many species of birds. The place deserves additional and longer visits

Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

And another type of Kingfisher - Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis). It is a pleasure to watch hem hoovering in one spot, waving their wings very fast and then dive rapidly to the water.

Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis)

Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis)

Little egret (Egretta garzetta) are very common birds and this one manage to catch a fish but for some reason was unable to swallow it. The fish doesn't seems to be too big so I've no idea what was the reason. You can watch her attempt in the video (It is recommended to view on YouTube site in HD resolution)

Little egret (Egretta garzetta)

A very cute family of Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiaca). A mother with three ducklings. The mother is missing her paw and jumps on one foot a very strange and a bit sad to watch, but still she takes care for the ducklings. (Watch the jumps from 0:40 in the video)

Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiaca)

Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiaca)

The Spur-winged lapwing (Vanellus spinosus) is also very common in Israel. Its name in Hebrew is SIKSAK which is of course resembles the voices it makes. Behind it you will notice a Common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)

 

Spur-winged lapwing (Vanellus spinosus)

And a little further away Eurasian coot (Fulica atra).

Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)

Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)

Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)

There is a small airfield nearby so there were some bigger birds like this one...

Small airplane

I will definitely visit this place again!