Creating a working clock was a significant challenge in the Middle Ages. But for Ismail al-Jazari, the challenge was to build one—with style!
Badīʿ az-Zaman Abu l-ʿIzz ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ar-Razāz al-Jazarī (1136–1206) is often considered one of the most gifted minds of the medieval world. For about twenty-five years he worked as the chief engineer for the Artuqid dynasty, which ruled a portion of what is now modern-day Turkey, centred around the city of Diyarbakır.
“The Elephant Clock”, Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari MET 57.51.23
Around the year 1206 his ruler, Nāṣir al-Dīn Maḥmūd, asked him to write a book about the various technological contraptions he built. Here is how al-Jazari explains it:
I was in his presence one day and had brought him something which he had ordered me to make. He looked at me and he looked at what I had made and thought about it, without my noticing. He guessed what I had been thinking about, and unveiled unerringly what I had concealed. He said ‘you have made peerless devices, and through strength have brought them forth as works; so do not lose what you have wearied yourself with and have plainly constructed. I wish you to compose for me a book which assembles what you have created separately, and brings together a selection of individual items and pictures.’
Dutifully, al-Jazari complied and wrote a book, which has come down to us as The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (Kitab fi ma’rifat al-hiyal al-handasiya). It is a remarkable text, as it describes about 50 mechanical devices with detailed instructions on how to construct them. These are not ordinary items either—there are designs for doors that can open automatically, and a kind of robotic waitress who could serve you drinks. It is as if al-Jazari could create objects that came to life.
One of the technical drawings of the elephant clock from Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Devices’ (Kitab fi Maʿrifat al-Hiyal al-Handasiyah) by Ismaʿil ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari (1136-1206) – UBL Or. 117,
Among these designs are several for constructing clocks. They were all based on a simple water- or candle-powered mechanism, but al-Jazari’s clocks came with many moving parts and effects. Perhaps the most elaborate of them is the Elephant Clock. Here is how al-Jazari begins his description of the device:
It is a complete elephant, with a man mounted between its shoulders, like a mahout. In his right hand is an axe which is lifted above the elephant’s head and in his left hand is a mallet resting on the elephant’s head. On the elephant’s back is a strong dais square in shape, surrounded by a balustrade, and on its shoulders two handsome vases are firmly [fixed]. At each corner of the dais is a pillar, and above the four pillars is a castle above which is a cupola with a bird above it. In the side of the castle facing the elephant’s head is a handsome balcony projecting from the lower part of the castle. A man sits on this balcony; on his left and on his right are the heads of two falcons, emerging from apertures in the castle. The man sitting on the balcony is tilted over on his right thigh and his right hand is placed on the beak of the right-hand falcon, as if preventing it from opening its beak.
Elephant clock replica at the “1001 Inventions” exhibtion – photo by Takashi Yamamiya / Wikimedia Commons
Then al-Jazari goes into detail on how to build all these components. Spread out over 15 sections, the explanation takes up twelve pages in Donald R. Hill’s translation of The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. The basis of the device is an ancient technique for determining the passage of time with a bowl placed in water. At the bottom of the bowl is a small hole—the water starts going through the hole, which pushes the bowl downwards. The size of the hole and the weight of the bowl can determine how fast it descends.
Here is a simplified version of what happens in al-Jazari’s Elephant Clock design:
1. The elephant’s body holds a water tank as well as a bowl with a hole in its bottom.
2. As the bowl slowly sinks, it pulls ropes that move the scribe and his pen to indicate the number of minutes past the hour.
3. Once a half-hour passes, the full water bowl triggers a ball to fall from the castle at the top of the clock. A bird on top of the castle moves and makes sounds.
4. The man at the top of the structure leans sideways to reveal a falcon, and a ball rolls out of the bird’s beak.
5. The ball hits a fan, which then rotates a dial that shows the number of hours since sunrise.
6. The ball is then caught by a dragon, which begins to descend. This lifts the water bowl back up to the top of the water tank.
7. Finally, the ball drops into the vase, which triggers the elephant driver to swing down his mallet, striking a cymbal. At this point, the whole process starts again.
The text is accompanied by numerous illustrations, provided to give visual assistance for the instructions. Al-Jazari needed to explain the many plates, axles, chains and other individual parts hidden within the device. They had to be built from metals like copper, iron, and brass. For someone who finds the instructions given by IKEA hard to follow, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices seems impossible to understand.
If that does not seem impressive, there is one more thing to add—al-Jazari’s Elephant Clock was set to follow temporal hours (meaning twelve hours for daytime and twelve for nighttime). And this could be adjusted to fit longer days or longer nights—as long as additional balls were added to the top of the clock, the machine would continue working.
Creating a working clock was a significant challenge in the Middle Ages. But for Ismail al-Jazari, the challenge was to build one—with style!
Badīʿ az-Zaman Abu l-ʿIzz ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ar-Razāz al-Jazarī (1136–1206) is often considered one of the most gifted minds of the medieval world. For about twenty-five years he worked as the chief engineer for the Artuqid dynasty, which ruled a portion of what is now modern-day Turkey, centred around the city of Diyarbakır.
Around the year 1206 his ruler, Nāṣir al-Dīn Maḥmūd, asked him to write a book about the various technological contraptions he built. Here is how al-Jazari explains it:
I was in his presence one day and had brought him something which he had ordered me to make. He looked at me and he looked at what I had made and thought about it, without my noticing. He guessed what I had been thinking about, and unveiled unerringly what I had concealed. He said ‘you have made peerless devices, and through strength have brought them forth as works; so do not lose what you have wearied yourself with and have plainly constructed. I wish you to compose for me a book which assembles what you have created separately, and brings together a selection of individual items and pictures.’
Dutifully, al-Jazari complied and wrote a book, which has come down to us as The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (Kitab fi ma’rifat al-hiyal al-handasiya). It is a remarkable text, as it describes about 50 mechanical devices with detailed instructions on how to construct them. These are not ordinary items either—there are designs for doors that can open automatically, and a kind of robotic waitress who could serve you drinks. It is as if al-Jazari could create objects that came to life.
Among these designs are several for constructing clocks. They were all based on a simple water- or candle-powered mechanism, but al-Jazari’s clocks came with many moving parts and effects. Perhaps the most elaborate of them is the Elephant Clock. Here is how al-Jazari begins his description of the device:
It is a complete elephant, with a man mounted between its shoulders, like a mahout. In his right hand is an axe which is lifted above the elephant’s head and in his left hand is a mallet resting on the elephant’s head. On the elephant’s back is a strong dais square in shape, surrounded by a balustrade, and on its shoulders two handsome vases are firmly [fixed]. At each corner of the dais is a pillar, and above the four pillars is a castle above which is a cupola with a bird above it. In the side of the castle facing the elephant’s head is a handsome balcony projecting from the lower part of the castle. A man sits on this balcony; on his left and on his right are the heads of two falcons, emerging from apertures in the castle. The man sitting on the balcony is tilted over on his right thigh and his right hand is placed on the beak of the right-hand falcon, as if preventing it from opening its beak.
Then al-Jazari goes into detail on how to build all these components. Spread out over 15 sections, the explanation takes up twelve pages in Donald R. Hill’s translation of The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. The basis of the device is an ancient technique for determining the passage of time with a bowl placed in water. At the bottom of the bowl is a small hole—the water starts going through the hole, which pushes the bowl downwards. The size of the hole and the weight of the bowl can determine how fast it descends.
Here is a simplified version of what happens in al-Jazari’s Elephant Clock design:
1. The elephant’s body holds a water tank as well as a bowl with a hole in its bottom.
2. As the bowl slowly sinks, it pulls ropes that move the scribe and his pen to indicate the number of minutes past the hour.
3. Once a half-hour passes, the full water bowl triggers a ball to fall from the castle at the top of the clock. A bird on top of the castle moves and makes sounds.
4. The man at the top of the structure leans sideways to reveal a falcon, and a ball rolls out of the bird’s beak.
5. The ball hits a fan, which then rotates a dial that shows the number of hours since sunrise.
6. The ball is then caught by a dragon, which begins to descend. This lifts the water bowl back up to the top of the water tank.
7. Finally, the ball drops into the vase, which triggers the elephant driver to swing down his mallet, striking a cymbal. At this point, the whole process starts again.
The text is accompanied by numerous illustrations, provided to give visual assistance for the instructions. Al-Jazari needed to explain the many plates, axles, chains and other individual parts hidden within the device. They had to be built from metals like copper, iron, and brass. For someone who finds the instructions given by IKEA hard to follow, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices seems impossible to understand.
If that does not seem impressive, there is one more thing to add—al-Jazari’s Elephant Clock was set to follow temporal hours (meaning twelve hours for daytime and twelve for nighttime). And this could be adjusted to fit longer days or longer nights—as long as additional balls were added to the top of the clock, the machine would continue working.
Further Reading:
The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (Kitab fi ma’rifat al-hiyal al-handasiya) by Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari, translated by Donald R. Hill (D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1984)
1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization, ed. Salim T.S. Al-Hassani (National Geographic, 2012)
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