Good question and a great segue into a fun fact: it seems quite possible people waking up in the middle of the night was the norm for centuries, and that the assumption of sleeping the whole night is potentially a more modern idea.
I am having trouble finding a specific article, but a historian recently catalogued a large number of historical entries which note ‘the second sleep’. He basically posited that it’s likely that for ages, people in the pre-industrial world would sleep for about 3-4 hours, wake up in the middle of the night for an hour or two, and would then go back to sleep.
Article talking about it.
Articles quite often say that writing as far back as homer talk about an hour which terminates the first sleep like a normal thing everyone knows about. I haven’t read much of homer or Virgil so i can’t personally confirm or deny that.
This also relates to evolutionary traits like why older people wake up early and younger people stay up late. Some suggest it was to sort of act in like shifts to watch over the camp at night.
Good question and a great segue into a fun fact: it seems quite possible people waking up in the middle of the night was the norm for centuries, and that the assumption of sleeping the whole night is potentially a more modern idea.
I am having trouble finding a specific article, but a historian recently catalogued a large number of historical entries which note ‘the second sleep’. He basically posited that it’s likely that for ages, people in the pre-industrial world would sleep for about 3-4 hours, wake up in the middle of the night for an hour or two, and would then go back to sleep. Article talking about it.
Articles quite often say that writing as far back as homer talk about an hour which terminates the first sleep like a normal thing everyone knows about. I haven’t read much of homer or Virgil so i can’t personally confirm or deny that.
This also relates to evolutionary traits like why older people wake up early and younger people stay up late. Some suggest it was to sort of act in like shifts to watch over the camp at night.
I was under the impression that is also where the concept of the “witching hour” originates
#ThingsYouGetBulliedForAtEtonCollege
Some monks are still doing that.
In Monastics rules that have been written centuries ago it’s wrote common to have an hour or two of prayer in the middle of the night, around 2-3 am.