A Most Ingenious Mechanical Device
One of the centre pieces of the India Court at the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai is the Elephant Clock, based on a medieval invention by Al Jazari, celebrated craftsman, mathematician and astronomer.
Al Jazari, born in 1136, upper Mesopotamia served as a engineer to the court of the Turkish Artudid dynasty that ruled Eastern Anatolia and the areas that are now northern Syria and Iraq. The elephant clock, featured in Al Jazari's manuscripts, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, is an early humanoid robot featuring a mechanical mahout who strikes a cymbal every half hour.
The Book of Knowledge
The elephant clock above photographed by me at the Ibn Battuta Mall is a stunning reproduction of the original and is featured below in illustrative form in the book of knowledge.
One of the centre pieces of the India Court at the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai is the Elephant Clock, based on a medieval invention by Al Jazari, celebrated craftsman, mathematician and astronomer.Al Jazari, born in 1136, upper Mesopotamia served as a engineer to the court of the Turkish Artudid dynasty that ruled Eastern Anatolia and the areas that are now northern Syria and Iraq. The elephant clock, featured in Al Jazari's manuscripts, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, is an early humanoid robot featuring a mechanical mahout who strikes a cymbal every half hour.
The Book of Knowledge
The elephant clock above photographed by me at the Ibn Battuta Mall is a stunning reproduction of the original and is featured below in illustrative form in the book of knowledge.
