Saudi Clock Tower to establish Makkah time

[JCMach1]

Source: Khaleej Times

Muslims around the world could be setting their watches to a new time soon when the world’s largest clock begins ticking atop a soaring skyscraper in Islam’s holiest city of Makkah.

Saudi Arabia hopes the four faces of the new clock, which will loom over Makkah’s Grand Mosque from what is expected to be the world’s second tallest building, will establish Makkah as an alternate time standard to the Greenwich median.

The clock is targeted to enter service with a three-month trial period in the first week of the holy month of Ramadan on or about August 12, according to the Saudi state news agency SPA.

It boasts four glimmering 46 metre-across (151 feet) faces of high-tech composite tiles, some laced with gold, sitting more than 400 metres (1,320 feet) over the Holy Haram compound.

The tower’s height will reach 601 metres (1,983 feet), SPA said. On its website, Premiere Composite, which is responsible for cladding the top section, including a shimmering spire topped by a golden crescent moon, puts the planned height at 590 metres (1,947 feet).

That would make it the world’s second tallest building — ahead of Taiwan’s 509 metre (1,670 feet) Taipei 101, but well behind the Burj Khalifa, the 828 metre (2,717 feet) skyscraper inaugurated in Dubai in January...

Read more: http://khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/August/middleeast_August175.xml§ion=middleeast

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Living on Makkah time...

[rfranklin]

1. Walt Disney meets the Saudis....

If they make it just a bit taller, they could sell elevator rides to Paradise.

[aquart]

2. Makkah? Formerly Mecca?

[harun]

10. One can go either way with the transliteration from Arabic.

Spelling hasn't changed in Arabic ( مكة ) but people are starting to revise some of the names now to more closely match the originals. There are sounds in Arabic that don't have English equivalents so the spelling changes won't be going away anytime soon.

[Posteritatis]

15. It's increasingly the preferred transliteration these days. (nt)

[bloomington-lib]

3. God I hope we don't start arguing about what time it is

"At a conference in Doha in 2008, Muslim clerics and scholars presented “scientific” arguments that Makkah time is the true global meridian. They said that Makkah is the centre of the world and that the Greenwich standard was imposed by the west in 1884."

[zogofzorkon]

4. It would be best to use both times

without identifying which time you're using. Lunchtime, dinnertime and time to feed the dog should be considered also.

[CJvR]

5. Unbelivable!

ROTFLMAO!!! This is just... WOW! The stupidity needed to come up with something like that is amazing.

One wonders when they will try to move the equator as well to give Mecca the coordinates 0:0

[Bill McBlueState]

9. The prime meridian could go anywhere

The equator, not so much.

I predict the world is going to stick with the current standard, but the part of post 3 that reads, "the Greenwich standard was imposed by the west in 1884" is basically correct.

[CJvR]

14. Yeah sure.

The main reason for Greenwich is just that the UK was the major maritime nation at the time and much of the work regarding navigation in the UK was done at the Greenwich observatory. But to claim that one arbitrary location is scientifically more valid than another arbitrary location shows rather conclusively that they have no idea what they are talking about.

[Lance_Boyle]

6. Stay Classy, Saudi Arabia.

Alternate time? The Middle Ages.

[snooper2]

7. We will get right on upgrading all our voice switches and routers

so they can support makkah time :rofl:

[Bill McBlueState]

8. The location of the prime meridian is pretty much arbitrary

No reason it has to be in Greenwich.

Still, they're fighting an uphill battle.

[Phil The Cat]

21. If it were the 1880s, there would be no reason

It would -have- to be in Greenwich! But there ARE some conveniences - like someone said - putting the date line through largely uninhabited areas, so next door neighbors won't be on different days!

But it is there, and has been for a while, and the cost to change it now would be unbearable!

If they want to use it for prayer time, fine! But don't go screwing with our navigation, data, and communications systems!

I'm not standing for western cultural or scientific superiority - just pure practicality!

[Bill McBlueState]

22. yeah, that was a good point about the location of the date line

I hadn't thought of that before.

[mike r]

11. Bookmark this everyone: The World Clock - Time Zone difference from Saudi Arabia – Makkah

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/difference.html?p1=151

[Roland99]

12. And when lightning hits it, we're all going to be sent back to November, 1955

[proteus_lives]

13. Prayer mats? Where we're going, we don't need prayer mats.

[Taverner]

16. All so they can worship a meteorite

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. What a useless article - it doesn't tell us what the difference from GMT is

For reference, Mecca's longitude is 39° 49', East; so local time there is 2 hours, 39 minutes ahead of GMT.

While GMT was 'imposed', it's a fairly convenient line to take, because it puts the international date line through the Pacific, in a pretty sparsely inhabited area. From Mecca, I think that an international date line would end up dividing Hawaii from the continental US. Which would be fun.

[Dead_Parrot]

18. It would also put Alaska a day ahead of the rest of the US

As opposed to about 20 years behind. ;)

[Downwinder]

19. Palin will like that.

She can get a head start on her critics.

[Xenotime]

20. Since more countries are moving to accepting Sharia Law this could be necessary.

[JCMach1]

23. LOL and Sharia needs time how??? Anyway I doubt the fundies will be happy with Disneyfying

Mecca