Ancient Greek technology developed during the 5th century BC, continuing up to and including the Roman period, and beyond. Inventions that are credited to the ancient Greeks include the gear, screw, rotary mills, bronze casting techniques, water clock, water organ, the torsion catapult, the use of steam to operate some experimental machines and toys, and a chart to find prime numbers. Many of these inventions occurred late in the Greek period, often inspired by the need to improve weapons and tactics in war. However, peaceful uses are shown by their early development of the watermill, a device which pointed to further exploitation on a large scale under the Romans. They developed surveying and mathematics to an advanced state, and many of their technical advances were published by philosophers, like Archimedes and Heron.
Some fields that were encompassed in the area of water resources (mainly for urban use) included groundwater exploitation, construction of aqueducts for water supply, storm water and wastewater sewerage systems, flood protection,and drainage. construction and use of fountains, baths and other sanitary and purgatory facilities, and even recreational uses of water. [5] Excellent examples of these technologies include the drainage system found in the Anatolian west coast, which featured an unusual masonry outlet structure that allowed self-cleaning of the drainage outlet. [6] The technology, which demonstrated the Greek understanding of the importance of hygienic conditions to public health, was part of an elaborate drainage system and underground water supply network. [6]
The Greeks developed extensive silver mines at Laurium, the profits from which helped support the growth of Athens as a city-state. [7] It involved mining the ores in underground galleries, washing them, and smelting it to produce the metal. Elaborate washing tables still exist at the site, which used rainwater held in cisterns and collected during the winter months. Mining also helped to create currency by the conversion of the metal into coinage. [8] Greek mines had tunnels that were as deep as 330 feet and were worked by slaves using picks and iron hammers. The extracted ore were lifted by small skips hauled by a rope that was sometimes guided by a wheel placed against the rim of the mine shaft. [9]
Technology | Date | Description | |
---|---|---|---|
Archimedes' screw | c. 3rd century BC | This device, capable of lifting solid or liquid substances from a lower plane to a higher elevation, is traditionally attributed to the Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse. [10] [11] | |
Streets | c. 400 BC | Example: The Porta Rosa (4th–3rd century BC) was the main street of Elea (Italy) and connected the northern quarter to the southern quarter. The street is 5 meters wide. At its steepest, it inclines to 18%. It is paved with limestone blocks, girders cut in square blocks, and on one side a small gutter for the drainage of rainwater. The building is dated during the time of the reorganization of the city during the Hellenistic age. (4th to 3rd centuries BC) | |
Cartography | c. 600 BC | First widespread amalgamation of geographical maps developed by Anaximander, although it is possible he had been exposed to mapmaking practices of the Near East. [12] | |
Rutway | c. 600 BC | The 6 to 8.5 km long Diolkos represented a rudimentary form of railway. [13] | |
Differential gears | c. 100–70 BC | The Antikythera mechanism, from the Roman-era Antikythera wreck, employed a differential gear to determine the angle between the ecliptic positions of the sun and moon, and thus the phase of the moon. [14] [15] | |
Caliper | 6th century BC | Earliest example found in the Giglio wreck near the Italian coast. The wooden piece already featured one fixed and a movable jaw. [16] [17] | |
Truss roof | 550 BC [18] | See List of Greco-Roman roofs | |
Crane | c. 515 BC | Labor-saving device that allowed the employment of small and efficient work teams on construction sites. Later winches were added for heavy weights. [19] | |
Escapement | 3rd century BC | Described by the Greek engineer Philo of Byzantium (3rd century BC) in his technical treatise Pneumatics (chapter 31) as part of a washstand automaton for guests washing their hands. Philon's comment that "its construction is similar to that of clocks" indicates that such escapement mechanisms were already integrated in ancient water clocks. [20] | Washstand automaton |
Tumbler lock | c. 5th century BC | The tumbler lock, as well as other varieties of lock, was introduced in Greece in the 5th century BC. | |
Gears | c. 5th century BC | Developed further than in prehistoric times for a variety of practical purposes. | |
Plumbing | c. 5th century BC | Although there is evidence for sanitation in the Indus Valley civilisation, the ancient Greek civilization of Crete, known as the Minoan civilization, was the first civilization to use underground clay pipes for sanitation and water supply. [21] Excavations at Olympus, as well as Athens, have revealed extensive plumbing systems for baths, fountains, and personal use. | |
Spiral staircase | 480–470 BC | The earliest spiral staircases appear in Temple A in Selinunte, Sicily, to both sides of the cella. The temple was constructed around 480–470 BC. [22] | Plan of ground floor of Temple A at Selinunte (c. 480 BC). The remains of the two spiral stairs between the pronao and the cella are the oldest known to date. |
Urban planning | c. 5th century BC | Miletus is one of the first known towns in the world to have a grid-like plan for residential and public areas. It accomplished this feat through a variety of related innovations in areas such as surveying. | |
Winch | 5th century BC | The earliest literary reference to a winch can be found in the account of Herodotus of Halicarnassus on the Persian Wars (Histories 7.36), where he describes how wooden winches were used to tighten the cables for a pontoon bridge across the Hellespont in 480 BC. Winches may have been employed even earlier in Assyria, though. By the 4th century BC, winch and pulley hoists were regarded by Aristotle as common for architectural use (Mech. 18; 853b10-13). [23] | |
Showers | 4th century BC | A shower room for female athletes with plumbed-in water is depicted on an Athenian vase. A whole complex of shower-baths was also found in a 2nd-century BC gymnasium at Pergamum. [24] | |
Central heating | c. 350 BC | The Great Temple of Ephesus was warmed by heated air that was circulated through flues laid on the floor. | |
Lead sheathing | c. 350 BC | To protect a ship's hull from boring creatures; see Kyrenia ship | |
Canal lock | early 3rd century BC | Built into Ancient Suez Canal under Ptolemy II (283–246 BC). [25] [26] [27] | |
Ancient Suez Canal | early 3rd century BC | Opened by Greek engineers under Ptolemy II (283–246 BC), following earlier, probably only partly successful attempts. [28] | |
Lighthouse | c. 3rd century BC | According to Homeric legend, Palamidis of Nafplio invented the first lighthouse, although they are certainly attested with the Lighthouse of Alexandria (designed and constructed by Sostratus of Cnidus) and the Colossus of Rhodes. However, Themistocles had earlier established a lighthouse at the harbor of Piraeus connected to Athens in the 5th century BC, essentially a small stone column with a fire beacon. [29] | |
Water wheel | 3rd century BC | First described by Philo of Byzantium (c. 280–220 BC). [30] | |
Alarm clock | 3rd century BC | The Hellenistic engineer and inventor Ctesibius (fl. 285–222 BC) fitted his clepsydras with a dial and pointer for indicating the time, and added elaborate "alarm systems, which could be made to drop pebbles on a gong, or blow trumpets (by forcing bell-jars down into water and taking the compressed air through a beating reed) at pre-set times" (Vitruv 11.11). [31] | |
Odometer | c. 3rd century BC | Odometer, a device used in the late Hellenistic time and by Romans for indicating the distance traveled by a vehicle. It was invented sometime in the 3rd century BC. Some historians attribute it to Archimedes, others to Heron of Alexandria. It helped revolutionize the building of roads and traveling by them by accurately measuring distance and being able to carefully illustrate this with a milestone. | |
Chain drive | 3rd century BC | First described by Philo of Byzantium, the device powered a repeating crossbow, the first known of its kind. [32] | |
Cannon | c. 3rd century BC | Ctesibius of Alexandria invented a primitive form of the cannon, operated by compressed air. | |
Double-action principle | 3rd century BC | Universal mechanical principle that was discovered and first applied by the engineer Ctesibius in his double-action piston pump, which was later developed further by Heron to a fire hose (see below). [33] | |
Levers | c. 260 BC | First described about 260 BC by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes. Although used in prehistoric times, they were first put to practical use for more developed technologies in Ancient Greece. [34] | |
Water mill | c. 250 BC | The use of water power was pioneered by the Greeks: The earliest mention of a water mill in history occurs in Philo's Pneumatics, previously been regarded as a later Arabic interpolation, but according to recent research to be of authentic Greek origin. [1] [35] | |
Three-masted ship (mizzen) | c. 240 BC: | First recorded for Syracusia as well as other Syracusan (merchant) ships under Hiero II of Syracuse [36] | |
Gimbal | 3rd century BC | The inventor Philo of Byzantium (280–220 BC) described an eight-sided ink pot with an opening on each side, which can be turned so that any face is on top, dip in a pen and ink it-yet the ink never runs out through the holes of the side. This was done by the suspension of the inkwell at the center, which was mounted on a series of concentric metal rings which remained stationary no matter which way the pot turns itself. [37] | |
Dry dock | c. 200 BC | Invented in Ptolemaic Egypt under Ptolemy IV Philopator (reigned 221–204 BC) as recorded by Athenaeus of Naucratis(V 204c-d). [38] [39] | |
Fore-and-aft rig (spritsail) | 2nd century BC | Spritsails, the earliest fore-and-aft rigs, appeared in the 2nd century BC in the Aegean Sea on small Greek craft. [40] | A spritsail used on a Roman merchant ship (3rd century AD). |
Air and water pumps | c. 2nd century BC | Ctesibius and various other Greeks of Alexandria of the period developed and put to practical use various air and water pumps which served a variety of purposes, [41] such as a water organ and, by the 1st century AD, Heron's fountain. | |
Sakia gear | 2nd century BC | First appeared in 2nd century BC Hellenistic Egypt, where pictorial evidence already showed it fully developed [42] | |
Surveying tools | c. 2nd century BC | Various records relating to mentions of surveying tools have been discovered, mostly in Alexandrian sources, these greatly helped the development of the precision of Roman aqueducts. | |
Analog computers | c. 150 BC | In 1900–1901, the Antikythera mechanism was found in the Antikythera wreck. It is thought that this device was an analog computer designed to calculate astronomical positions and was used to predict lunar and solar eclipses based on Babylonian arithmetic-progression cycles. Whereas the Antikythera mechanism is considered the proper analog computer, the astrolabe (also invented by the Greeks) may be considered as a forerunner. [43] | |
Fire hose | 1st century BC | Invented by Heron based on Ctesibius' double-action piston pump. [33] Allowed for more efficient fire fighting. | |
Vending machine | 1st century BC | The first vending machine was described by Heron of Alexandria. His machine accepted a coin and then dispensed a fixed amount of holy water. When the coin was deposited, it fell upon a pan attached to a lever. The lever opened up a valve, which let some water flow out. The pan continued to tilt with the weight of the coin until it fell off, at which point a counter-weight would snap the lever back up and turn off the valve. [33] | |
Wind vane | 50 BC | The Tower of the Winds on the Roman agora in Athens featured atop a wind vane in the form of a bronze Triton holding a rod in his outstretched hand rotating to the wind blowing. Below, its frieze was adorned with the eight wind deities. The 8 m high structure also featured sundials and a water clock inside dates from around 50 BC. [44] | |
Clock tower | 50 BC | See Clock tower. [45] | Tower of the Winds |
Automatic doors | c. 1st century AD | Heron of Alexandria, a 1st-century BC inventor from Alexandria, Egypt, created schematics for automatic doors to be used in a temple with the aid of steam power. [33] [ dead link ] |
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered one body of classical architecture. Roman architecture flourished in the Roman Republic and to an even greater extent under the Empire, when the great majority of surviving buildings were constructed. It used new materials, particularly Roman concrete, and newer technologies such as the arch and the dome to make buildings that were typically strong and well engineered. Large numbers remain in some form across the former empire, sometimes complete and still in use today.
The Archimedes' screw, also known as the Archimedean screw, hydrodynamic screw, water screw or Egyptian screw, is one of the earliest hydraulic machines named after Greek mathematician Archimedes who first described it around 234 BC, although the device had been used in Ancient Egypt. It is a reversible hydraulic machine, and there are several examples of Archimedes screw installations where the screw can operate at different times as either pump or generator, depending on needs for power and watercourse flow.
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of many material goods, including flour, lumber, paper, textiles, and many metal products. These watermills may comprise gristmills, sawmills, paper mills, textile mills, hammermills, trip hammering mills, rolling mills, and wire drawing mills.
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving car. Water wheels were still in commercial use well into the 20th century, but they are no longer in common use today. Uses included milling flour in gristmills, grinding wood into pulp for papermaking, hammering wrought iron, machining, ore crushing and pounding fibre for use in the manufacture of cloth.
A noria is a hydropowered scoop wheel used to lift water into a small aqueduct, either for the purpose of irrigation or to supply water to cities and villages.
A millwright is a craftsman or skilled tradesman who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites.
Philo of Byzantium, also known as Philo Mechanicus, was a Greek engineer, physicist and writer on mechanics, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd century BC. Although he was from Byzantium he lived most of his life in Alexandria, Egypt. He was probably younger than Ctesibius, though some place him a century earlier.
Renaissance technology was the set of European artifacts and inventions which spread through the Renaissance period, roughly the 14th century through the 16th century. The era is marked by profound technical advancements such as the printing press, linear perspective in drawing, patent law, double shell domes and bastion fortresses. Sketchbooks from artisans of the period give a deep insight into the mechanical technology then known and applied.
The Arab Agricultural Revolution was the transformation in agriculture in the Old World during the Islamic Golden Age. The agronomic literature of the time, with major books by Ibn Bassal and Abū l-Khayr al-Ishbīlī, demonstrates the extensive diffusion of useful plants to Medieval Spain (al-Andalus), and the growth in Islamic scientific knowledge of agriculture and horticulture. Medieval Arab historians and geographers described al-Andalus as a fertile and prosperous region with abundant water, full of fruit from trees such as the olive and pomegranate. Archaeological evidence demonstrates improvements in animal husbandry and in irrigation such as with the saqiyah waterwheel. These changes made agriculture far more productive, supporting population growth, urbanisation, and increased stratification of society.
A sāqiyah or saqiya, also spelled sakia or saqia) is a mechanical water lifting device. It is also called a Persian wheel, tablia, rehat, and in Latin tympanum. It is similar in function to a scoop wheel, which uses buckets, jars, or scoops fastened either directly to a vertical wheel, or to an endless belt activated by such a wheel. The vertical wheel is itself attached by a drive shaft to a horizontal wheel, which is traditionally set in motion by animal power Because it is not using the power of flowing water, the sāqiyah is different from a noria and any other type of water wheel.
The Lake Homs Dam, also known as Qattinah Dam, is a Roman-built dam near the city of Homs, Syria, which is in use to this day.
The Hierapolis sawmill was a water-powered stone sawmill in the Ancient Greek city of Hierapolis in Roman Asia. Dating to the second half of the 3rd century AD, the sawmill is considered the earliest known machine to combine a crank with a connecting rod to form a crank-slider mechanism.
A screw pump is a positive-displacement pump that use one or several screws to move fluid solids or liquids along the screw(s) axis.
Örjan Wikander is a Swedish classical archaeologist and ancient historian. His main interests are ancient water technology, ancient roof terracottas, Roman social history, Etruscan archaeology and epigraphy.
This is a bibliography of water clocks.
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