Al-Jazari, Elephant Clock, 12th Century

The Elephant Clock, Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari Folio from The Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by Badi al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. This page comes from a treatise on fantastic devices invented by the author alE??Jazari. His elephant clock was especially intricate: every half hour, the bird on the dome whistled the man below dropped a ball into the dragonE??s mouth and the driver hit the elephant with his goad. While illustrated manuscripts were growing increasingly popular at the time, this folio is a rare survival from Syria, where few such manuscripts are known from this date

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Abbasid Caliph Caliphate Devices Horology Ingenious Ismail Keeper Keeping Knowledge Measure Measurement Mechanical Technological Telling Time-keeper Time-keeping Time-telling Timekeeping

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