Ancient Greek technology

<h2 id="water-technology">Water technology</h2>
Some fields that were encompassed in the area of water resources (mainly for urban use) included groundwater exploitation, construction of <a href="/facts/Aqueduct_(water_supply)/jnSsVRYd">aqueducts</a> for water supply, storm water and wastewater sewerage systems, flood protection, and drainage, construction and use of <a href="/facts/Fountain/sgWXEM1L">fountains</a>, baths and other sanitary and purgatory facilities, and even recreational uses of water.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a> Excellent examples of these technologies include the drainage system found in the <a href="/facts/Anatolia/vMkrLrPr">Anatolian</a> west coast, which featured an unusual <a href="/facts/Masonry/TlaDzpUp">masonry</a> outlet structure that allowed self-cleaning of the drainage outlet.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> The technology, which demonstrated the Greek understanding of the importance of hygienic conditions to public health, was part of an elaborate <a href="/facts/Drainage/thEd3nfB">drainage</a> system and underground water supply network.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a>

<h2 id="mining">Mining</h2>
The Greeks developed extensive silver mines at <a href="/facts/Laurium/P3S6P1pt">Laurium</a>, the profits from which helped support the growth of <a href="/facts/Athens/mBxlp8X1">Athens</a> as a <a href="/facts/City-state/aj1EjbYy">city-state</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a> It involved mining the ores in underground galleries, washing them, and <a href="/facts/Smelting/Ghdvhlga">smelting</a> it to produce the metal. Elaborate washing tables still exist at the site, which used rainwater held in <a href="/facts/Cistern/pyhHNWmx">cisterns</a> and collected during the winter months. Mining also helped to create currency by the conversion of the metal into <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_coinage/MpbvMVKN">coinage</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> Greek mines had tunnels that were as deep as 330 feet and were worked by slaves using picks and iron hammers. The extracted ore were lifted by small skips hauled by a rope that was sometimes guided by a wheel placed against the rim of the mine shaft.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>

<h2 id="inventions">Inventions</h2>
Main article: <a href="/facts/List_of_Greek_inventions_and_discoveries/dgp0zYpH">List of Greek inventions and discoveries</a>

<table><tbody><tr><th>Technology</th><th>Date</th><th>Description</th><th></th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Archimedes%2527_screw/MmkM1w4y">Archimedes' screw</a></td><td>c. 3rd century BC</td><td>This device, capable of lifting solid or liquid substances from a lower plane to a higher elevation, is traditionally attributed to the Greek mathematician <a href="/facts/Archimedes/sIeMhSVF">Archimedes</a> of <a href="/facts/Syracuse%2c_Sicily/d6TtVugX">Syracuse</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Streets</td><td>c. 400 BC</td><td>Example: The Porta Rosa (4th–3rd century BC) was the main street of <a href="/facts/Velia/YP72m5Ad">Elea</a> (Italy) and connected the northern quarter to the southern quarter. The street is 5 meters wide. At its steepest, it inclines to 18%. It is paved with limestone blocks, girders cut in square blocks, and on one side a small gutter for the drainage of rainwater. The building is dated during the time of the reorganization of the city during the Hellenistic age. (4th to 3rd centuries BC)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Cartography/8YdDAAeX">Cartography</a></td><td>c. 600 BC</td><td>First widespread amalgamation of geographical maps developed by <a href="/facts/Anaximander/rkrej4Hm">Anaximander</a>, although it is possible he had been exposed to <a href="/facts/Babylonian_Map_of_the_World/yCYFgSFg">mapmaking practices of the Near East</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Diolkos/AV7VeQyd">Rutway</a></td><td>c. 600 BC</td><td>The 6 to 8.5 km long <a href="/facts/Diolkos/AV7VeQyd">Diolkos</a> represented a rudimentary form of railway.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Differential_(mechanical_device)/ecdB4NMK">Differential gears</a></td><td>c. 100–70 BC</td><td>The <a href="/facts/Antikythera_mechanism/GHqvxCwR">Antikythera mechanism</a>, from the Roman-era <a href="/facts/Antikythera_wreck/oMeC0nR4">Antikythera wreck</a>, employed a differential gear to determine the angle between the <a href="/facts/Ecliptic/cJxXDDDW">ecliptic</a> positions of the sun and moon, and thus the <a href="/facts/Phase_of_the_moon/0JalCYrE">phase of the moon</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Caliper/4c1LKQwu">Caliper</a></td><td>6th century BC</td><td>Earliest example found in the <a href="/facts/Giglio_Island/mrmnnc7T">Giglio</a> wreck near the Italian coast. The wooden piece already featured one fixed and a movable jaw.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Truss_roof/uCqa7zzq">Truss roof</a></td><td>550 BC<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a></td><td>See <a href="/facts/List_of_Greco-Roman_roofs/dD7HFyA1">List of Greco-Roman roofs</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Crane_(machine)/Q5axXY0l">Crane</a></td><td>c. 515 BC</td><td>Labor-saving device that allowed the employment of small and efficient work teams on construction sites. Later winches were added for heavy weights.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16">16</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Escapement/8AgmCy7C">Escapement</a></td><td>3rd century BC</td><td>Described by the <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greece/PTVBrWXq">Greek</a> engineer <a href="/facts/Philo_of_Byzantium/w0Dm9eg4">Philo of Byzantium</a> (3rd century BC) in his technical treatise Pneumatics (chapter 31) as part of a <a href="/facts/Washstand/Lqo3QaS0">washstand</a> automaton for guests washing their hands. Philon's comment that "its construction is similar to that of clocks" indicates that such escapement mechanisms were already integrated in ancient water clocks.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17">17</a></td><td>Washstand automaton</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Lock_(security_device)/5xcFqSyy">Tumbler lock</a></td><td>c. 5th century BC</td><td>The tumbler lock, as well as other varieties of lock, was introduced in Greece in the 5th century BC.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Gear/9KVHRfUR">Gears</a></td><td>c. 5th century BC</td><td>Developed further than in prehistoric times for a variety of practical purposes.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Plumbing</td><td>c. 5th century BC</td><td>Although there is evidence for <a href="/facts/Sanitation_of_the_Indus_Valley_civilisation/tK4dwlTR">sanitation in the Indus Valley civilisation</a>, the <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">ancient Greek</a> civilization of <a href="/facts/Crete/VSqxTU9u">Crete</a>, known as the <a href="/facts/Minoan_civilization/bBEWlPrP">Minoan civilization</a>, was the first civilization to use underground clay pipes for sanitation and water supply.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18">18</a> Excavations at Olympus, as well as Athens, have revealed extensive plumbing systems for baths, fountains, and personal use.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Stairway/mmBBnteX">Spiral staircase</a></td><td>480–470 BC</td><td>The earliest spiral staircases appear in Temple A in <a href="/facts/Selinunte/IxSUgIS7">Selinunte</a>, Sicily, to both sides of the <a href="/facts/Cella/LDNC0NH3">cella</a>. The temple was constructed around 480–470 BC.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19">19</a></td><td>Plan of ground floor of Temple A at <a href="/facts/Selinunte/IxSUgIS7">Selinunte</a> (c. 480 BC). The remains of the two spiral stairs between the pronao and the cella are the oldest known to date.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Town_planning/dcuv8eTp">Urban planning</a></td><td>c. 5th century BC</td><td>Miletus is one of the first known towns in the world to have a grid-like plan for residential and public areas. It accomplished this feat through a variety of related innovations in areas such as surveying.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Winch/zUI7eqt0">Winch</a></td><td>5th century BC</td><td>The earliest literary reference to a winch can be found in the account of <a href="/facts/Herodotus_of_Halicarnassus/hTgRSAnv">Herodotus of Halicarnassus</a> on the <a href="/facts/Greco-Persian_Wars/avlfmxyh">Persian Wars</a> (Histories 7.36), where he describes how wooden winches were used to tighten the cables for a pontoon bridge across the Hellespont in 480 BC. Winches may have been employed even earlier in <a href="/facts/Assyria/n9pMP48S">Assyria</a>, though. By the 4th century BC, winch and pulley hoists were regarded by <a href="/facts/Aristotle/U2bDlBFW">Aristotle</a> as common for architectural use (Mech. 18; 853b10-13).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20">20</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Showers/5WlBdgPp">Showers</a></td><td>4th century BC</td><td>A shower room for female <a href="/facts/Sportsperson/DDwPug4A">athletes</a> with plumbed-in water is depicted on an Athenian vase. A whole complex of shower-baths was also found in a 2nd-century BC <a href="/facts/Gymnasium_(ancient_Greece)/l4Dtqo1y">gymnasium</a> at <a href="/facts/Pergamum/rIpRRus2">Pergamum</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21">21</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Central_heating/GsYBDLmn">Central heating</a></td><td>c. 350 BC</td><td>The Great Temple of Ephesus was warmed by heated air that was circulated through flues laid on the floor.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Lead sheathing</td><td>c. 350 BC</td><td>To protect a ship's hull from boring creatures; see <a href="/facts/Kyrenia_ship/a8xF2gcH">Kyrenia ship</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Lock_(water_transport)/rFGHXS0p">Canal lock</a></td><td>early 3rd century BC</td><td>Built into <a href="/facts/Ancient_Suez_Canal/62Gw0MR9">Ancient Suez Canal</a> under <a href="/facts/Ptolemy_II/UjxDL2h9">Ptolemy II</a> (283–246 BC).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22">22</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23">23</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24">24</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Ancient_Suez_Canal/62Gw0MR9">Ancient Suez Canal</a></td><td>early 3rd century BC</td><td>Opened by Greek engineers under <a href="/facts/Ptolemy_II/UjxDL2h9">Ptolemy II</a> (283–246 BC), following earlier, probably only partly successful attempts.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25">25</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Lighthouse/HAwW4RFW">Lighthouse</a></td><td>c. 3rd century BC</td><td>According to <a href="/facts/Homer/Xw8Ur53U">Homeric</a> legend, Palamidis of Nafplio invented the first lighthouse, although they are certainly attested with the <a href="/facts/Lighthouse_of_Alexandria/m0X95hlW">Lighthouse of Alexandria</a> (designed and constructed by <a href="/facts/Sostratus_of_Cnidus/bdAU1Qou">Sostratus of Cnidus</a>) and the <a href="/facts/Colossus_of_Rhodes/lJGS8cmK">Colossus of Rhodes</a>. However, <a href="/facts/Themistocles/7cToVLUk">Themistocles</a> had earlier established a lighthouse at the harbor of <a href="/facts/Piraeus/VzkzdTHc">Piraeus</a> connected to Athens in the 5th century BC, essentially a small stone column with a fire beacon.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26">26</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Water_wheel/7xwQDxrP">Water wheel</a></td><td>3rd century BC</td><td>First described by <a href="/facts/Philo_of_Byzantium/w0Dm9eg4">Philo of Byzantium</a> (c. 280–220 BC).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27">27</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Alarm_clock/0jkF5sVq">Alarm clock</a></td><td>3rd century BC</td><td>The <a href="/facts/Hellenistic/q6BgQsaF">Hellenistic</a> engineer and inventor <a href="/facts/Ctesibius/sXnu7qn8">Ctesibius</a> (<a href="/facts/Floruit/T6PbpSKv">fl.</a> 285–222 BC) fitted his <a href="/facts/Water_clock/GCgGB46l">clepsydras</a> with a dial and pointer for indicating the time, and added elaborate "alarm systems, which could be made to drop pebbles on a gong, or blow trumpets (by forcing bell-jars down into water and taking the compressed air through a beating reed) at pre-set times" (<a href="/facts/Vitruv/IVnqcSzv">Vitruv</a> 11.11).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:28" href="#fn:28">28</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Odometer/SQ0cGdcy">Odometer</a></td><td>c. 3rd century BC</td><td>Odometer, a device used in the late Hellenistic time and by Romans for indicating the distance traveled by a vehicle. It was invented sometime in the 3rd century BC. Some historians attribute it to <a href="/facts/Archimedes/sIeMhSVF">Archimedes</a>, others to <a href="/facts/Heron_of_Alexandria/z1fSvztI">Heron of Alexandria</a>. It helped revolutionize the building of roads and traveling by them by accurately measuring distance and being able to carefully illustrate this with a <a href="/facts/Milestone/ot2CrxVu">milestone</a>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Chain_drive/exQgpatc">Chain drive</a></td><td>3rd century BC</td><td>First described by <a href="/facts/Philo_of_Byzantium/w0Dm9eg4">Philo of Byzantium</a>, the device powered a <a href="/facts/Repeating_crossbow/zX3tP5j0">repeating crossbow</a>, the first known of its kind.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:29" href="#fn:29">29</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Cannon/IH7VkIpm">Cannon</a></td><td>c. 3rd century BC</td><td><a href="/facts/Ctesibius/sXnu7qn8">Ctesibius</a> of Alexandria invented a primitive form of the cannon, operated by compressed air.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Double-action principle</td><td>3rd century BC</td><td>Universal mechanical principle that was discovered and first applied by the engineer Ctesibius in his double-action piston pump, which was later developed further by Heron to a <a href="/facts/Fire_hose/aPIMpnKt">fire hose</a> (see below).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:30" href="#fn:30">30</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Lever/HYDtMuAq">Levers</a></td><td>c. 260 BC</td><td>First described about 260 BC by the ancient Greek mathematician <a href="/facts/Archimedes/sIeMhSVF">Archimedes</a>. Although used in prehistoric times, they were first put to practical use for more developed technologies in Ancient Greece.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:31" href="#fn:31">31</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Water_mill/UTvzQY8S">Water mill</a></td><td>c. 250 BC</td><td>The use of <a href="/facts/Water_power/Adx1E5ha">water power</a> was pioneered by the Greeks: The earliest mention of a water mill in history occurs in <a href="/facts/Philo_of_Byzantium/w0Dm9eg4">Philo's</a> Pneumatics, previously been regarded as a later Arabic interpolation, but according to recent research to be of authentic Greek origin.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:32" href="#fn:32">32</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:33" href="#fn:33">33</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Three-<a href="/facts/Mast_(sailing)/fA4p9N56">masted</a> ship (<a href="/facts/Mizzen/fA4p9N56">mizzen</a>)</td><td>c. 240 BC:</td><td>First recorded for <a href="/facts/Syracusia/3y5m2xEu">Syracusia</a> as well as other <a href="/facts/Syracusan/d6TtVugX">Syracusan</a> (merchant) ships under <a href="/facts/Hiero_II_of_Syracuse/K1I1MTtx">Hiero II of Syracuse</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:34" href="#fn:34">34</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Gimbal/FI8hEuss">Gimbal</a></td><td>3rd century BC</td><td>The inventor <a href="/facts/Philo_of_Byzantium/w0Dm9eg4">Philo of Byzantium</a> (280–220 BC) described an eight-sided <a href="/facts/Ink/Y7Wj0YQS">ink</a> pot with an opening on each side, which can be turned so that any face is on top, dip in a pen and ink it-yet the ink never runs out through the holes of the side. This was done by the suspension of the inkwell at the center, which was mounted on a series of concentric metal rings which remained stationary no matter which way the pot turns itself.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:35" href="#fn:35">35</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Dry_dock/x0brADPo">Dry dock</a></td><td>c. 200 BC</td><td>Invented in <a href="/facts/Ptolemaic_Egypt/sAg88Lvs">Ptolemaic Egypt</a> under <a href="/facts/Ptolemy_IV_Philopator/38GC6xN5">Ptolemy IV Philopator</a> (reigned 221–204 BC) as recorded by <a href="/facts/Athenaeus_of_Naucratis/qDV1DyQ9">Athenaeus of Naucratis</a>(V 204c-d).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:36" href="#fn:36">36</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:37" href="#fn:37">37</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Fore-and-aft_rig/CI8uA4CC">Fore-and-aft rig</a> (<a href="/facts/Spritsail/PcFEQd8U">spritsail</a>)</td><td>2nd century BC</td><td>Spritsails, the earliest fore-and-aft rigs, appeared in the 2nd century BC in the <a href="/facts/Aegean_Sea/Vx4Gg5CT">Aegean Sea</a> on small Greek craft.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:38" href="#fn:38">38</a></td><td>A spritsail used on a Roman merchant ship (3rd century AD).</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Hydraulics/KSIqLovc">Air and water pumps</a></td><td>c. 2nd century BC</td><td><a href="/facts/Ctesibius/sXnu7qn8">Ctesibius</a> and various other Greeks of Alexandria of the period developed and put to practical use various air and water pumps which served a variety of purposes,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:39" href="#fn:39">39</a> such as a <a href="/facts/Water_organ/KyS9poNX">water organ</a> and, by the 1st century AD, <a href="/facts/Heron%2527s_fountain/mMLPNW5l">Heron's fountain</a>.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Sakia/I7bsFVgk">Sakia</a> gear</td><td>2nd century BC</td><td>First appeared in 2nd century BC <a href="/facts/Hellenistic_Egypt/sAg88Lvs">Hellenistic Egypt</a>, where pictorial evidence already showed it fully developed<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:40" href="#fn:40">40</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Surveying/qchGcnRC">Surveying tools</a></td><td>c. 2nd century BC</td><td>Various records relating to mentions of surveying tools have been discovered, mostly in Alexandrian sources, these greatly helped the development of the precision of Roman aqueducts.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Analog_computers/3NhYoCML">Analog computers</a></td><td>c. 150 BC</td><td>In 1900–1901, the <a href="/facts/Antikythera_mechanism/GHqvxCwR">Antikythera mechanism</a> was found in the <a href="/facts/Antikythera_wreck/oMeC0nR4">Antikythera wreck</a>. It is thought that this device was an analog computer designed to calculate astronomical positions and was used to predict lunar and solar eclipses based on Babylonian arithmetic-progression cycles. Whereas the Antikythera mechanism is considered the proper analog computer, the <a href="/facts/Astrolabe/BctVIEm4">astrolabe</a> (also invented by the Greeks) may be considered as a forerunner.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:41" href="#fn:41">41</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Fire_hose/aPIMpnKt">Fire hose</a></td><td>1st century BC</td><td>Invented by Heron based on Ctesibius' double-action piston pump.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:42" href="#fn:42">42</a> Allowed for more efficient fire fighting.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Vending_machine/3YNz3yKU">Vending machine</a></td><td>1st century BC</td><td>The first vending machine was described by <a href="/facts/Heron_of_Alexandria/z1fSvztI">Heron of Alexandria</a>. His machine accepted a coin and then dispensed a fixed amount of <a href="/facts/Holy_water/DdSyufrY">holy water</a>. When the coin was deposited, it fell upon a pan attached to a lever. The lever opened up a valve, which let some water flow out. The pan continued to tilt with the weight of the coin until it fell off, at which point a counter-weight would snap the lever back up and turn off the valve.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:43" href="#fn:43">43</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Wind_vane/y2LpsITs">Wind vane</a></td><td>50 BC</td><td>The <a href="/facts/Tower_of_the_Winds/18xArzCe">Tower of the Winds</a> on the <a href="/facts/Ancient_Rome/cGqIuxPd">Roman</a> <a href="/facts/Agora/ea2UmXSe">agora</a> in <a href="/facts/Athens/mBxlp8X1">Athens</a> featured atop a wind vane in the form of a bronze <a href="/facts/Triton_(mythology)/DhS8o3WY">Triton</a> holding a rod in his outstretched hand rotating to the wind blowing. Below, its <a href="/facts/Frieze/jltsW5LW">frieze</a> was adorned with the eight wind deities. The 8 m high structure also featured <a href="/facts/Sundial/RWM823m2">sundials</a> and a <a href="/facts/Water_clock/GCgGB46l">water clock</a> inside dates from around 50 BC.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:44" href="#fn:44">44</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Clock_tower/jtdLDPXY">Clock tower</a></td><td>50 BC</td><td>See <a href="/facts/Clock_tower/jtdLDPXY">Clock tower</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:45" href="#fn:45">45</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Tower_of_the_Winds/18xArzCe">Tower of the Winds</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Automatic_door/XwAQyDyr">Automatic doors</a></td><td>c. 1st century AD</td><td><a href="/facts/Heron_of_Alexandria/z1fSvztI">Heron of Alexandria</a>, a 1st-century BC inventor from <a href="/facts/Alexandria/hdg1twWA">Alexandria</a>, <a href="/facts/Egypt/8Ttg0JwB">Egypt</a>, created schematics for automatic doors to be used in a temple with the aid of steam power.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:46" href="#fn:46">46</a>[dead link]</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Museum_of_Ancient_Greek_Technology/L23ajNMH">Museum of Ancient Greek Technology</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Roman_technology/mhEB7rUJ">Roman technology</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Medieval_technology/oxqDMmjX">Medieval technology</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_Byzantine_inventions/wekIJqy1">List of Byzantine inventions</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_Greek_inventions_and_discoveries/dgp0zYpH">List of Greek inventions and discoveries</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="sources">Sources</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/John_Peter_Oleson/pkqAEG9B">Oleson, John Peter</a> (1984), Greek and Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices: The History of a Technology, University of Toronto Press, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 90-277-1693-5</li></ul>
<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>
<ul><li>Kotsanas, Kostas (2009) - "Familiar and Unfamiliar Aspects of Ancient Greek Technology" (<a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-9963-9270-2-9)</li>
<li>Kotsanas, Kostas (2008) - "Ancient Greek Technology" (<a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-960-930859-5)</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgRvJMKMuD8">What the Ancient Greeks did for us</a>, BBC documentary</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Angelfish, A. N.; Outsourcing, D. (2003). "Urban water engineering and management in ancient Greece". In Stewart, B.A.; Howell, T. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Water Science. New York: Decker. pp. 999–1007. ISBN 0-8247-0948-9. <a href="0-8247-0948-9" target="_blank">0-8247-0948-9</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Mays, Larry (2010). Ancient Water Technologies. Dordrecht: Springer. p. 16. ISBN 9789048186310. <a href="9789048186310" target="_blank">9789048186310</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Mays, Larry (2010). Ancient Water Technologies. Dordrecht: Springer. p. 16. ISBN 9789048186310. <a href="9789048186310" target="_blank">9789048186310</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Wood, J.R. (2022). "Other ways to examine the finances behind the birth of Classical Greece". Archaeometry. 65 (3): 570–586. doi:10.1111/arcm.12839. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Farcm.12839" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1111%2Farcm.12839</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Wood, J.R.; Hsu, Y-T.; Bell, C. (2021). "Sending Laurion Back to the Future: Bronze Age Silver and the Source of Confusion". Internet Archaeology. 56 (9). doi:10.11141/ia.56.9. <a href="https://doi.org/10.11141%2Fia.56.9" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.11141%2Fia.56.9</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Forbes, Robert (1966). Studies in Ancient Technology, Volume 4. Leiden: Brill Archive. p. 145. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Oleson, John Peter (2000), "Water-Lifting", in Wikander, Örjan (ed.), Handbook of Ancient Water Technology, Technology and Change in History, vol. 2, Leiden, pp. 217–302 (242–251), ISBN 90-04-11123-9{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) <a href="90-04-11123-9" target="_blank">90-04-11123-9</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">David Sacks (2005) [1995]. Oswin Murray and Lisa R. Brody (eds), Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World. Revised Edition. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 0-8160-5722-2, pp 303-304. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Alex C. Purves (2010). Space and Time in Ancient Greek Narrative. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-19098-5, pp 98–99. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Lewis, M. J. T. (2001). "Railways in the Greek and Roman world". Archived 16 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine. In Guy, A., & Rees, J., eds. Early Railways. A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways Conference. pp. 8–19 (8 & 15). ISBN 090468508X. <a href="http://www.sciencenews.gr/docs/diolkos.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.sciencenews.gr/docs/diolkos.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">Wright, M. T. (2007). "The Antikythera Mechanism reconsidered" (PDF). Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 32 (1): 27–43. Bibcode:2007ISRv...32...27W. doi:10.1179/030801807X163670. S2CID 54663891. Retrieved 20 May 2014. <a href="http://fsoso.free.fr/antikythera/DOCS/TheAntikytheraMechanismReconsidered.pdf" target="_blank">http://fsoso.free.fr/antikythera/DOCS/TheAntikytheraMechanismReconsidered.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Bernd Ulmann (2013). Analog Computing. Munich: Oldenbourg Verlag München. ISBN 978-3-486-72897-2, p. 6. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Bound, Mensun (1991). The Giglio wreck: a wreck of the Archaic period (c. 600 BC) off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology, Athens. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Ulrich, Roger B. (2007). Roman woodworking, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, pp. 52f., ISBN 0-300-10341-7. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:15">Hodge, A. Trevor Paul (1960) The Woodwork of Greek Roofs, Cambridge University Press, p. 41. <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:16">Coulton, J. J. (1974), "Lifting in Early Greek Architecture", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 94: 1–19 (7), doi:10.2307/630416, JSTOR 630416, S2CID 162973494 <a href="/wiki/The_Journal_of_Hellenic_Studies" target="_blank">/wiki/The_Journal_of_Hellenic_Studies</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:17">Lewis, Michael (2000). "Theoretical Hydraulics, Automata, and Water Clocks". In Wikander, Örjan (ed.). Handbook of Ancient Water Technology. Technology and Change in History. Vol. 2. Leiden. pp. 343–369 (356f.). ISBN 90-04-11123-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) <a href="90-04-11123-9" target="_blank">90-04-11123-9</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:18">"The History of Plumbing – CRETE". theplumber.com. Retrieved 26 March 2014. <a href="http://www.theplumber.com/crete.html" target="_blank">http://www.theplumber.com/crete.html</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:19">Ruggeri, Stefania. Selinunt. Edizioni Affinità Elettive, Messina 2006 ISBN 88-8405-079-0, p.77 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:20">Coulton, J. J. (1974). "Lifting in Early Greek Architecture". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 94: 1–19 (12). doi:10.2307/630416. JSTOR 630416. S2CID 162973494. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:21">"Ancient Inventions: Showers". inventions.org <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080509052435/http://www.inventions.org/culture/ancient/showers.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20080509052435/http://www.inventions.org/culture/ancient/showers.html</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:22">Moore, Frank Gardner (1950). "Three Canal Projects, Roman and Byzantine". American Journal of Archaeology. 54 (2): 97–111 (99–101). doi:10.2307/500198. JSTOR 500198. S2CID 191374346. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:23">Froriep, Siegfried (1986): "Ein Wasserweg in Bithynien. Bemühungen der Römer, Byzantiner und Osmanen", Antike Welt, 2nd Special Edition, pp. 39–50 (46) <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:24">Schörner, Hadwiga (2000): "Künstliche Schiffahrtskanäle in der Antike. Der sogenannte antike Suez-Kanal", Skyllis, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 28–43 (33–35, 39) <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:25">Schörner, Hadwiga (2000): "Künstliche Schiffahrtskanäle in der Antike. Der sogenannte antike Suez-Kanal", Skyllis, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 28–43 (29–36) <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:26">Elinor Dewire and Dolores Reyes-Pergioudakis (2010). The Lighthouses of Greece. Sarasota: Pineapple Press. ISBN 978-1-56164-452-0, pp 1–5. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:27">Oleson, John Peter (2000): "Water-Lifting", in Wikander, Örjan, Handbook of Ancient Water Technology, Technology and Change in History, Vol. 2, Brill, Leiden, ISBN 90-04-11123-9, pp. 217–302 (233) <a href="/wiki/John_Peter_Oleson" target="_blank">/wiki/John_Peter_Oleson</a> <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:28">Landels, John G. (1979). "Water-Clocks and Time Measurement in Classical Antiquity". Endeavour. 3 (1): 32–37 [35]. doi:10.1016/0160-9327(79)90007-3. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:28" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:29">Werner Soedel, Vernard Foley, "Ancient Catapults", Scientific American, Vol. 240, No. 3 (March 1979), pp. 124–125 <a href="#fnref:29" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:30">Jaffe, Eric (December 2006). "Old World, High Tech: World's First Vending Machine". Archived 6 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Smithsonian magazine. <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html" target="_blank">http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html</a> <a href="#fnref:30" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:31">Usher, A. P. (1988) [1st pub. Harvard University Press 1929]. A History of Mechanical Inventions. Dover Publications. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-486-14359-0. OCLC 514178. Retrieved 7 April 2013. <a href="978-0-486-14359-0" target="_blank">978-0-486-14359-0</a> <a href="#fnref:31" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:32">Wilson, Andrew (2002). "Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy". The Journal of Roman Studies. 92: 1–32 (7f.). doi:10.1017/s0075435800032135. JSTOR 3184857. <a href="/wiki/Andrew_Wilson_(classical_archaeologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Andrew_Wilson_(classical_archaeologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:32" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:33">Lewis, M. J. T. (1997) Millstone and Hammer: the origins of water power, University of Hull Press, pp. 1–73 especially 44–45 and 58–60, ISBN 085958657X. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:33" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:34">Casson, Lionel (1995). Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World. Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 242, fn. 75, ISBN 978-0-8018-5130-8. <a href="/wiki/Lionel_Casson" target="_blank">/wiki/Lionel_Casson</a> <a href="#fnref:34" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:35">Sarton, G. (1970), A History of Science, The Norton Library, Vol. 2., pp. 343–350, ISBN 0393005267. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:35" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:36">"Athenaeus: Deipnosophists – Book 5 (b)". www.attalus.org. <a href="http://www.attalus.org/old/athenaeus5b.html" target="_blank">http://www.attalus.org/old/athenaeus5b.html</a> <a href="#fnref:36" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:37">Oleson 1984, p. 33 - Oleson, John Peter (1984), Greek and Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices: The History of a Technology, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 90-277-1693-5 <a href="#fnref:37" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:38">Casson, Lionel (1995): "Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World", Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 243–245, ISBN 978-0-8018-5130-8. <a href="/wiki/Lionel_Casson" target="_blank">/wiki/Lionel_Casson</a> <a href="#fnref:38" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:39">David Sacks (2005) [1st ed. 1995]. Oswin Murray and Lisa R. Brody (eds), Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World. Revised Edition. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 0-8160-5722-2, p. 303. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:39" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:40">Oleson, John Peter (2000): "Water-Lifting", in: Wikander, Örjan: Handbook of Ancient Water Technology, Technology and Change in History, Vol. 2, Brill, Leiden, pp. 217–302 (234, 270), ISBN 90-04-11123-9. <a href="/wiki/John_Peter_Oleson" target="_blank">/wiki/John_Peter_Oleson</a> <a href="#fnref:40" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:41">Bernd Ulmann (2013). Analog Computing. Munich: Oldenbourg Verlag München. ISBN 978-3-486-72897-2, pp 5–6 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:41" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:42">Jaffe, Eric (December 2006). "Old World, High Tech: World's First Vending Machine". Archived 6 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Smithsonian magazine. <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html" target="_blank">http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html</a> <a href="#fnref:42" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:43">Jaffe, Eric (December 2006). "Old World, High Tech: World's First Vending Machine". Archived 6 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Smithsonian magazine. <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html" target="_blank">http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html</a> <a href="#fnref:43" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:44">Noble, Joseph V.; De Solla Price, Derek J. (1968). "The Water Clock in the Tower of the Winds" (PDF). American Journal of Archaeology. 72 (4): 345–355 (353). doi:10.2307/503828. JSTOR 503828. S2CID 193112893. <a href="http://hist.science.online.fr/antikythera/MORE-DOCS/waterclock-windstower-DSPrice.pdf" target="_blank">http://hist.science.online.fr/antikythera/MORE-DOCS/waterclock-windstower-DSPrice.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:44" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:45">Noble, Joseph V.; de Solla Price, Derek J. (1968). "The Water Clock in the Tower of the Winds" (PDF). American Journal of Archaeology. 72 (4): 345–355 (349). doi:10.2307/503828. JSTOR 503828. S2CID 193112893. <a href="http://hist.science.online.fr/antikythera/MORE-DOCS/waterclock-windstower-DSPrice.pdf" target="_blank">http://hist.science.online.fr/antikythera/MORE-DOCS/waterclock-windstower-DSPrice.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:45" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:46">Jaffe, Eric (December 2006). "Old World, High Tech: World's First Vending Machine". Archived 6 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Smithsonian magazine. <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html" target="_blank">http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html</a> <a href="#fnref:46" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Ancient Greek technology open-in-new

Ancient Greek technology