Editing Water wheel (section)

===== Water-lifting =====
[[File:WaterwheelsSp.jpg|thumb|Sequence of wheels found in [[Riotinto-Nerva_mining_basin#From_Antiquity_to_the_Middle_Ages|Rio Tinto mines]]]]

The compartmented water wheel comes in two basic forms, the wheel with compartmented body ([[Latin]] ''tympanum'') and the wheel with compartmented rim or a rim with separate, attached containers.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 229"/> The wheels could be either turned by men treading on its outside or by animals by means of a [[sakia]] gear. While the tympanum had a large discharge capacity, it could lift the water only to less than the height of its own radius and required a large torque for rotating.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 230">{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|p=230}}</ref> These constructional deficiencies were overcome by the wheel with a compartmented rim which was a less heavy design with a higher lift.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=231f.}}</ref>

The earliest literary reference to a water-driven, compartmented wheel appears in the technical treatise ''Pneumatica'' (chap. 61) of the Greek engineer [[Philo of Byzantium]] ({{Circa|280|220 BC}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|p=233}}</ref> In his ''Parasceuastica'' (91.43−44), Philo advises the use of such wheels for submerging siege mines as a defensive measure against enemy sapping.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234">{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=234}}</ref> Compartmented wheels appear to have been the means of choice for draining [[dry dock]]s in [[Alexandria]] under the reign of [[Ptolemy IV]] (221−205 BC).<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234"/> Several Greek [[papyri]] of the 3rd to 2nd century BC mention the use of these wheels, but do not give further details.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234"/> The non-existence of the device in the [[Ancient Near East]] before [[Wars of Alexander the Great|Alexander's conquest]] can be deduced from its pronounced absence from the otherwise rich oriental iconography on irrigation practices.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=235}}: {{blockquote|The sudden appearance of literary and archaological evidence for the compartmented wheel in the third century B.C. stand in marked contrast to the complete absence of earlier testimony, suggesting that the device was invented not long before.}}</ref>{{failed verification|reason=could not find mention of Alexander or conquests|date=January 2022}}<ref>An isolated passage in the Hebrew [[Deuteronomy]] (11.10−11) about Egypt as a country ''where you sowed your seed and watered it with your feet'' is interpreted as an metaphor referring to the digging of irrigation channels rather than treading a waterwheel ({{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=234}}).</ref><ref>As for a Mesopotamian connection: {{harvnb|Schioler|1973|p=165−167}}: {{blockquote|References to water-wheels in ancient [[Mesopotamia]], found in handbooks and popular accounts, are for the most part based on the false assumption that the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] equivalent of the logogram GIS.APIN was ''nartabu'' and denotes an instrument for watering ("instrument for making moist").}}{{blockquote|As a result of his investigations, Laessoe writes as follows on the question of the saqiya: "I consider it unlikely that any reference to the saqiya will appear in ancient Mesopotamian sources." In his opinion, we should turn our attention to Alexandria, "where it seems plausible to assume that the saqiya was invented."}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Water architecture in the lands of Syria: the water-wheels|author=Adriana de Miranda|publisher=L'Erma di Bretschneider|year=2007|isbn=978-8882654337|pages=48f}} concludes that the Akkadian passages "are counched in terms too general too allow any conclusion as to the excat structure" of the irrigation apparatus, and states that "the latest official [[Chicago Assyrian Dictionary]] reports meanings not related to types of irrigation system".</ref> Unlike other water-lifting devices and pumps of the period though, the invention of the compartmented wheel cannot be traced to any particular Hellenistic engineer and may have been made in the late 4th century BC in a rural context away from the metropolis of Alexandria.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 235">{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=235}}</ref>

[[File:Archscrew2.jpg|thumb|left|Drainage wheel from Rio Tinto mines]]

The earliest depiction of a compartmented wheel is from a tomb painting in [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] which dates to the 2nd century BC. It shows a pair of yoked oxen driving the wheel via a [[sakia]] gear, which is here for the first time attested, too.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234, 270">{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=234, 270}}</ref> The Greek sakia gear system is already shown fully developed to the point that "modern Egyptian devices are virtually identical".<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234, 270"/> It is assumed that the scientists of the [[Musaeum at Alexandria|Museum of Alexandria]], at the time the most active Greek research center, may have been involved in its invention.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=271f.}}</ref> An episode from the [[Alexandrian War]] in 48 BC tells of how Caesar's enemies employed geared waterwheels to pour sea water from elevated places on the position of the trapped Romans.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|p=271}}</ref>

Around 300 AD, the [[noria]] was finally introduced when the wooden compartments were replaced with inexpensive ceramic pots that were tied to the outside of an open-framed wheel.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 235"/>