Engineering and technology

Family: Knowledge: science, medicine, astronomy and the rest · 5 entries

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Entries on this theme

Object

• The Elephant Clock

  A water clock designed by al-Jazari and described in his book of ingenious devices around 1206 CE; an emblem of Ayyubid-era engineering.

• Blacas ewer

  A silver-inlaid brass ewer from Mosul made in 629 AH/1232 CE by Shuja' ibn Man'a al-Mawsili; a masterpiece of Mosul metalwork in the British Museum.

Building

• The Maʾrib Dam

  The great dam of the Sabaean kingdom whose construction began in the Mukarrib era; its repeated breaches, and final burst around 450 CE, are the Sayl al-Arim of Surat Saba in the sira’s account.

Concept

• Islamic lustreware

  Metallic-sheened pottery developed in Iraq and Fatimid Egypt, then travelling to Persia and Islamic Spain; among the most prized Islamic ceramics.

• Joining the Red Sea to the Mediterranean

  The ancient canal-joining dossier: a Roman king's failed cut between Qulzum and the Mediterranean at the Crocodile's Tail bridge, the silted al-Zabr canal that once let boats relay goods between the seas, Harun al-Rashid's two attempts — abandoned when Yahya ibn Khalid warned that Roman squadrons would then land near Jeddah and snatch pilgrims from the Haram — and Umar's veto on Amr ibn al-As for the same reason.

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• Sexuality and gender diversity
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