Al-Jazari elephant clock

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The Elefantenuhr of al-Jazari. Illustration around 1300, from a copy of his writings on machines.
Replica in Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall, Dubai
Elephant watch at 1001 Inventions

The elephant clock of al- Jazari (1136-1206) was a medieval automat in the form of a life-size replica of an elephant, which indicated the time with the help of a water clock . The mechanical elements and figures of the machine were housed in the howdah , a sedan chair on the back of the elephant. The clock was designed in such a way that every half hour the figures moved and noises could be heard.

Functional replicas of the clock can be found in the Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall in Dubai and in the outdoor area of ​​the clock museum Musée d'Horlogerie in Le Locle , Switzerland .

mechanism

The mechanism of the machine is controlled by a water clock inside the elephant.

In a large cavity filled with water there is a bowl that continuously fills with water through a small opening in the floor and sinks in the process. The bowl is connected by a wire to the figure on the elephant's back, which turns permanently. This figure represents a scribe and shows the minutes with its pen . Another wire connects the bowl to a basket in the canopy of the litter, in which there are metal balls. After half an hour, the container has sunk so far that it triggers a lever mechanism. The mechanical bird on the canopy begins to sing, another figure moves his hands and a metal ball is released from the basket. The ball continues to turn the hour disc on the canopy before it falls from a falcon's head into the mouth of a snake and causes it to tip over.

By turning the snake, the sunken bowl is pulled out of the water and emptied. Then the ball falls into a vase and the Mahut sitting at the head of the elephant hits a basin . The snake then swings back and the process is repeated as long as there are still balls in the basket. This must be refilled twice a day.

The elephant clock was the first clock with an automaton that ran again after a certain time interval.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Illustration from a copy of the "Kitab fi ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya" Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York City
  2. ↑ The robots from the Orient. Der Spiegel , 2015, accessed on July 18, 2015 (26/2015).

Web links

Commons : Elephant Clock  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files