🔗 Elephant Clock

🔗 Arab world

The elephant clock was a medieval invention by Al-Jazari (1136–1206), an Arab engineer and inventor of various clocks. The device consisted of a weight powered water clock in the form of an Asian elephant. This horological technology was derived from earlier Indian clocks and Chinese clocks.

In China clock escapement mechanism was invented by the polymath and Buddhist monk Yi Xing as well as the hydraulic powered waterwheel and water clock in the mechanically-driven and rotated equatorial armillary sphere of the polymaths Zhang Heng and Ma Jun. The Elephant clock had some design differences compared to earlier Indian and Chinese clocks and the various elements of the clock are in the housing (howdah) on top of the elephant.

Al-Jazari upon finishing the development and construction of his Elephant clock wrote: "The elephant represents the Indian and African cultures, the two dragons represents Chinese culture, the phoenix represents Persian culture, the water work represents Greek culture, and the turban represents Islamic culture" signifying the multicultural mentality of the intellectual Al-Jazari.

In addition to its mechanical innovations, the clock itself is seen as an early example of multiculturalism represented in technology.