Greek and Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices: The History of a Technology

625 Pages·1984·55.441 MB·English

by  John Peter Oleson

O
L
E
S
O
N
Greek and Roman
Mechanical Water-Lifting
G
r
e
e
Devices
k

a
n
d
The History of a Technology
R
L
io
f
tm
i
na
gn

DM
e
e
vc JOHN PETER OLESON
i
ch
ea
sn
i
c
a
l

W
a
t
e
r
-
T
h
e

H
is
t
o
r
y

o
f

a

T
e
c
h
n
o
lo
g
y
Greek and Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices
JOHN PETER OLESON is a member of the Department of Classics at the
University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia.
Water is fundamental to human life, and the ways in which a society uses it
can tell us a great deal about a people. The ancient Greeks and Romans had
at their disposal several mechanical water-lifting devices. The water-screw,
the force pump, the compartmented wheel, and the bucket-chain were devel-
oped by scientists associated with the great school at Alexandria. Application
of these devices was sporadic in the Hellenistic world, but they, and the later
sifqiya gear, were used in a wide range of rural and urban settings in many
parts of the Roman Empire.
Professor Oleson has prepared a definitive study of mechanical water-
lifting devices in the Greek and Roman world. He systematically and thor-
oughly examines the literary, papyrological, and archaeological evidence for
the devices and considers the design, materials, settings, costs, effectiveness,
and durability of the many adaptations of the small basic repertoire of
models. The literary and papyrological materials range from Deuteronomy
to papyri of the seventh century AD, and the archaeological sites discussed
range from Babylon to Wales.
An extensive collection of illustrations complements the literary, papyro-
logical, and archaeological evidence for this remarkable ancient technology.
PHOENIX
Journal of the Classical Association of Canada
Revue de la Societe canadienne des etudes classiques
Supplementary Volume XVI
Tome supplementaire XVI
JOHN PETER OLESON
Greek and Roman Mechanical
Water-Lifting Devices:
The History of
a Technology
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
C> University of Toronto Press 1984
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
Reprinted in 2018
ISBN 0-8020-5597-4
ISBN 978-1-4875-7885-5 (paper)
Published in the United Kingdom and Europe
by D. Reidel Publishing Company
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Oleson, John Peter, 1946-
Greek and Roman mechanical water-lifting devices
=
(Phoenix. Supplementary volume; 16 Phoenix. Tome
supplementaire, ISSN 0079-1784; 16)
Bibliography: p.
l. Hydraulic machinery-History. I. Title.
II. Series: Phoenix (Toronto, Ont.). Supplementary
volume; 16.
TJ840.43 62 l.2'0422'09 C83-094085-5
This book has been printed on acid-free paper.
To my mother and the memory of my father,
who first showed me the living water
Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water
that I give him will never be thirsty again.
John4: 13-14

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
ABBREVIATIONS xii
ILLUSTRATIONS between xiv and l
l Introduction 3
Significance of the subje¢t 3
Organization of the study 5
Rabbinical literature 7
Choosing terms 9
PART ONE
THE PRIMARY MATERIAL
2 Literary evidence 15
Introduction 15
List of texts, by author 17
List of texts, by device 19
Catalogue of texts 22
3 Papyrological evidence 126
Introduction 126
List of texts, by device 13 l
Catalogue of texts 140
viii Contents
4 Archaeological evidence 172
Introduction 172
List of sites 174
List of sites, by device 178
Catalogue of sites 181
PART TWO
THE HISTORY OF A TECHNOLOGY
5 Origins and development 285
Introduction 285
The water-screw 291
The force pump 30 I
The compartmented wheel 325
The bucket-chain and pot-garland 350
The saqiya gear 370
6 The social context 386
Chronological survey 386
Personnel 392
Reassessing classical technology 397
NOTES 409
BIBLIOGRAPHY 429
INDEXES 447
Index of Greek words 447
Index of Latin words 450
Index of literary passages 451
Index of papyri and inscriptions 453
General index 454
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My research was generously supported by the American Council of Learned
Societies, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada,
and the Faculty Research Committee of the University of Victoria. To these
institutions and their committees I am very grateful. I would like to thank the
staff of the library of the American Academy in Rome, where much of this
book was written, for their generous hospitality and assistance, and the staffs
of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, the British School in Rome,
and the French Academy. In addition, I was accorded visiting privileges at
the libraries of Harvard University, the University of British Columbia, the
University of Washington, and the University of California at Berkeley which
greatly facilitated my research.
Numerous individuals assisted me in one way or another in my research,
and to all of them I willingly acknowledge my debt: Dr J.-Ch. Baity, Brussels;
Professor I. Berciu, Alba Julia; Professor G. Boon, Cardiff; Dr W.V. Davies,
London; Professor J. Eames, Liverpool; Miss Deborah Gascoyne, Toronto;
Dr Dia Abou Ghazi, Cairo; Mr L. Ghobrial, Victoria; Dr A. Haffner, Trier;
Dr Mariano del Amo y de la Hera, Huelva; Professor Herbert H. Huxley,
Victoria; Professor J.G. Landels, Reading; Dr L. Langouet, St-Malo; Dr F.
Foerster Laures, Barcelona; Professor W.L. MacDonald, Northampton; Dr
G.T. Martin, London; Mr T.J. Oertling, College Station, Texas; Ms Karen
Oleson, New York; Dr Susan Read, Reading; Dr Brent Shaw, Lethbridge;
Professor A.F. Shore, Liverpool; Dr Jane Waldbaum, Milwaukee; Dr M.
Warhurst, Liverpool; Dr 0 . Wikander, Lund; Mr V. Wollmann, Cluj-
Napoca; Dr L.C. Zoreda, Madrid; and several anonymous readers for
University of Toronto Press.
I am particularly grateful to Dr Roger S. Bagnall of Columbia University
and Professor David A. Campbell of the University of Victoria, who read
significant portions of this work in an earlier version and made many useful