The Jayrun Water Clock, a
water clock
A water clock or clepsydra (; ; ) is a timepiece by which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into (inflow type) or out from (outflow type) a vessel, and where the amount is then measured.
Water clocks are one of the oldest time- ...
built by the
Muslim engineer Muhammad al-Sa'ati, was positioned at the gate of
Damascus,
Syria, at the exit of the
Umayyad Mosque
The Umayyad Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأموي, al-Jāmiʿ al-Umawī), also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus ( ar, الجامع الدمشق, al-Jāmiʿ al-Damishq), located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the ...
in the 12th century during the reign of
Nur ad-Din Zangi
Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. "Light of the Faith" in Arabic), was a member of the Zengid dynasty, which ruled the Syrian province (''Shām'') of the Seljuk Empire. He reig ...
.
[Hill, Donald Routledge. "A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times", p. 234]
There is a full description of the clock in the treatise ''Ktab 'Amal al-sa'at wa-l-amal biha'' (''On the Construction of Clocks and their Use'') written by
Ridwan b. al Saati in 1203. This treatise describes the reconstruction by Ridwan of the water clock which was built by his father, Muhammad al-Saati, in the reign of Nur al-Din Mahmud b. Zanki in Damascus (reigned 1154–74). "The clock-face consisted of wall of timber about 4.23 metres wide and 2.78 metres high. In this screen was a row of doors, at either end of which was the figure of a falcon. During the day a small crescent moved at constant speed in front of the doors and at every hour a door rotated to reveal a different colour, the falcons leant forward, discharged pellets on to cymbals and resumed their upright positions. Above the doors a zodiac circle rotated at constant speed. Above this was a semicircle of twelve circular holes. During the night one of these holes became fully illuminated every hour. The clock was operated by the "Archimedes" water machinery and the motion transmitted to the activating mechanisms by pulley and rope systems."
A full-size reconstruction of the clock can be seen in the Nationaal Beiaard- en Natuurmuseum Asten in the Netherlands.
References
{{reflist
External links
*Abdel Aziz al-Jaraki, "When Ridhwan al-Sa’ati Anteceded Big Ben by More than Six Centuries", 2007 (Muslimheritage.com
*Nationaal Beiaard- en Natuurmuseum Aste
See also
*
Dar al-Magana
Water clocks
Science and technology in Syria
Technology in the medieval Islamic world