Jimmy Topel, age 9, of Kingman, Ariz., for his question:
How did the days of the week get their names?
Our ancestors clocked the changeable moon to get the length of a month and figured out the weeks ages ago. They cut the month into four weeks and gave a name to each day of the week, just as we do today. some of them made calendars to check the .passing days of the year.
Our history began thousands of years ago and our early ancestors lived in many ancient lands, in Rome and Persia, Egypt and India, China and Scandinavia. Their farmers needed to check the passing seasons, and their wise men figured out the number of days from one new moon to the next. This is a month of about 28 days. Some of them gave names to each day of the month, but most of them cut the month into four weeks and gave a name to each day of the week.
In ancient Egypt they named each day for some bright object in the heavens. The telescope had not been invented so they could see only five of the sun's planets. They named the seven days for the sun and the moon and the five se£able planets. Monday was sacred to the moon and Sunday was sacred to the sun. Mercury and Venus, Mars and Jupiter and Saturn each had a day of its own every week. The Romans named the planets for their gods and goddesses. They too named a day for the sun and the moon. They named the five other days for their gods of the five planets.
Our names for Saturday, Sunday and Monday were handed down from these peOple. Saturday is named for the planet Saturn and for the Roman god Saturn. Sunday is named for the sun and Monday for the moon. But our other four days were not named for objects in the heavens. We borrowed them from the Norse people who lived in the Scandinavian countries of Northern Europe.
The Norsemen were the ancestors of the bold Vikings who roved the seas to faraway lands. They named their days for their own fierce gods and gentle goddesses. When they settled in new lands they kept their names for the days of the week. Our names for Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday date back to the bold Vikings.
The names have been changed a little to make them easier for us to say and to spell. Tuesday was named for the Norse god Tiu, alias Tiw, the Norse god of war. He was the son of Odin, alias Woden who was king of Norse gods. Our Wednesday was named for mighty Woden. Our Thursday is named for Thor, the Norse god of the roaring thunder. Our Friday is named for the Norse goddess Frigga who was the wife of Woden and goddess of motherly love.
In ancient Egypt, the work week began with Monday, the moon's day. Sunday was the seventh day of the week and was set aside for rest and play. Other ancient lands also counted Monday as the first day and saved Sunday for the seventh day of the week. The early Christians changed Sunday to the first day and ended the week with Saturday. In modern America, in Europe and many other countries we also start the week with Sunday, the special day for rest and worship.