Scheme of the water-driven sawmill at Hierapolis, Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The 3rd-century mill incorporated a crank and connecting rod.[1]
The Hierapolis sawmill was a water-powered stone sawmill at Hierapolis, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Dating to the second half of the 3rd century AD,[2] the sawmill utilized a crank and connecting rod mechanism.[1]
The watermill is evidenced by a raised relief on the sarcophagus. On the pediment a waterwheel fed by a mill race is shown powering via a gear train two frame saws cutting rectangular blocks by the way of connecting rods and, through mechanical necessity, cranks.[3]
Other sawmills[]
Further crank and connecting rod mechanisms, without gear train, are archaeologically attested for the 6th century AD water-powered stone sawmills at Gerasa, Jordan,[4] and Ephesus, Turkey.[5]
Literary references to water-powered marble saws seem to be indicated about the late 4th century by the Christian saint Gregory of Nyssa from Asia Minor (Anatolia), demonstrating a diversified use of water-power.[6]
The three finds push back the date of the invention of the crank and connecting rod mechanism.[7] However, it is predated in China. The Chinese used the crank and connecting rod for operating querns as far back as the Western Han dynasty (202 BC - 9 AD). Eventually crank-and-connecting rods were used in the inter-conversion or rotary and reciprocating motion for other applications such as flour-sifting, treadle spinning wheels, water-powered furnace bellows, and silk-reeling machines.[8][9] In China, a crank and connecting rod machine appeared in the 5th century, followed by a crank and connecting rod machine with a piston rod in the 6th century.[10]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ritti, Grewe & Kessener 2007, p. 161; Grewe 2009, p. 429; Grewe 2010
- ↑ Ritti, Grewe & Kessener 2007, p. 140
- ↑ Ritti, Grewe & Kessener 2007, pp. 139–141
- ↑ Seigne 2002a; Seigne 2002b; Seigne 2002c
- ↑ Mangartz 2010; Ritti, Grewe & Kessener 2007, pp. 149–153
- ↑ Wilson 2002, p. 16
- ↑ Ritti, Grewe & Kessener 2007, p. 161
- ↑ Lisheng & Qingjun 2009, pp. 236–249.
- ↑ Needham 1986, pp. 118–119.
- ↑ Joseph Needham (1975), "History and Human Values: a Chinese Perspective for World Science and Technology", Philosophy and Social Action, II (1–2): 1-33 [4], retrieved 2010-03-13
Sources[]
- Sawmill at Hierapolis, Asia Minor
- Ritti, Tullia; Grewe, Klaus; Kessener, Paul (2007), "A Relief of a Water-powered Stone Saw Mill on a Sarcophagus at Hierapolis and its Implications", Journal of Roman Archaeology, vol. 20, pp. 138–163, doi:10.1017/S1047759400005341, S2CID 161937987
- Grewe, Klaus (2009), "Die Reliefdarstellung einer antiken Steinsägemaschine aus Hierapolis in Phrygien und ihre Bedeutung für die Technikgeschichte. Internationale Konferenz 13.−16. Juni 2007 in Istanbul", in Bachmann, Martin (ed.), Bautechnik im antiken und vorantiken Kleinasien (PDF), Byzas (in German), vol. 9, Istanbul: Ege Yayınları/Zero Prod. Ltd., pp. 429–454, ISBN 978-975-8072-23-1, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-11
- Grewe, Klaus (2010), "La máquina romana de serrar piedras. La representación en bajorrelieve de una sierra de piedras de la antigüedad, en Hierápolis de Frigia y su relevancia para la historia técnica (translation by Miguel Ordóñez)", Las técnicas y las construcciones de la Ingeniería Romana (PDF), V Congreso de las Obras Públicas Romanas (in Spanish), pp. 381–401
- Sawmill at Gerasa, Jordan
- Seigne, J. (2002a), "Une scierie mécanique au VIe siècle", Archéologia (in French), vol. 385, pp. 36–37
- Seigne, J. (2002b), "Sixth-Century Waterpowered Sawmill", Journal of the International Society of Molinology, vol. 64, pp. 14–16
- Seigne, J. (2002c), "A Sixth Century Water-powered Sawmill at Jerash", Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, vol. 26, pp. 205–213
- Sawmill at Ephesos, Asia Minor
- Mangartz, Fritz (2010), Die byzantinische Steinsäge von Ephesos. Baubefund, Rekonstruktion, Architekturteile, Monographs of the RGZM (in German), vol. 86, Mainz: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, ISBN 978-3-88467-149-8
Further reading[]
- Seigne, J. (2006), "Water-powered Stone Saws in Late Antiquity. The Precondition for Industrialisation?", in Wiplinger, G. (ed.), Cura Aquarum in Ephesos. Proceedings of the 12th Int. Congress on the History of Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering in the Mediterranean Region, Ephesus/Selçuk, Turkey, October 2-10, 2004, Vol. 1, Babesch suppl. 12, Leiden: Peeters, pp. 383–390, ISBN 978-90-429-1829-0
- Wikander, Örjan (2000), "Industrial Applications of Water-Power", in Wikander, Örjan (ed.), Handbook of Ancient Water Technology, Technology and Change in History, vol. 2, Leiden: Brill, pp. 401–412, ISBN 90-04-11123-9
- Wikander, Örjan (2008), "Sources of Energy and Exploitation of Power", in Oleson, John Peter (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 136–157, ISBN 978-0-19-518731-1
- Wilson, Andrew (2002), "Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy", The Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 92, pp. 1–32, doi:10.2307/3184857, JSTOR 3184857, S2CID 154629776