Editing Water wheel (section)

=== Islamic world ===
{{See also|Arab Agricultural Revolution}}
[[File:Hama-3 norias.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The [[Norias of Hama]] on the [[Orontes River]]]]

After the spread of Islam engineers of the Islamic world continued the water technologies of the ancient Near East; as evident in the excavation of a canal in the Basra region with remains of a water wheel dating from the 7th century. [[Hama]] in [[Syria]] still preserves [[Norias of Hama|some of its large wheels]], on the river [[Orontes river|Orontes]], although they are no longer in use.<ref>al-Hassani ''et al.'', p. 115</ref>  One of the largest had a diameter of about {{Convert|20|m||abbr=}} and its rim was divided into 120 compartments. Another wheel that is still in operation is found at [[Murcia]] in [[Spain]], La Nora, and although the original wheel has been replaced by a steel one, the [[Moors|Moorish]] system during [[al-Andalus]] is otherwise virtually unchanged. Some medieval Islamic compartmented water wheels could lift water as high as {{Convert|30|m||abbr=|sigfig=1}}.<ref>{{citation|first=Adam|last=Lucas |year=2006|title=Wind, Water, Work: Ancient and Medieval Milling Technology|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|isbn=978-90-04-14649-5|page=26}}</ref> [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi]]'s ''Kitab al-Hawi'' in the 10th century described a [[noria]] in Iraq that could lift as much as {{Convert|153,000|l/h|impgal/h|abbr=}}, or {{Convert|2550|l/min|impgal/min|abbr=}}. This is comparable to the output of modern norias in [[East Asia]], which can lift up to {{Convert|288000|l/h|impgal/h|abbr=}}, or {{Convert|4800|l/min|impgal/min|abbr=}}.<ref>{{citation|title=A history of engineering in classical and medieval times|author=Donald Routledge Hill|publisher=Routledge |year=1996|isbn=978-0-415-15291-4|pages=145–6}}</ref>

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Kintjir of waterschepwiel in Djambi Sumatra TMnr 10007886.jpg|thumb|upright|Water wheel in [[Djambi]], [[Sumatra]], c. 1918]]

The industrial uses of watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-wheeled and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use by the 9th century. A variety of industrial watermills were used in the Islamic world, including [[gristmill]]s, [[huller]]s, [[sawmill]]s, shipmills, [[stamp mill]]s, [[steel mill]]s, [[Sugar refinery|sugar mills]], and [[tide mill]]s. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial watermills in operation, from [[al-Andalus]] and [[North Africa]] to the [[Middle East]] and [[Central Asia]].<ref>Lucas, p. 10</ref> Muslim and Christian engineers also used [[crankshaft]]s and [[water turbine]]s, [[gear]]s in watermills and water-raising [[machine]]s, and  [[dam]]s as a source of water, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.<ref>Ahmad Y Hassan, [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2071.htm Transfer Of Islamic Technology To The West, Part II: Transmission Of Islamic Engineering] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425010214/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles |date=2019-04-25 }}</ref> Fulling mills and steel mills may have spread from Islamic Spain to Christian Spain in the 12th century. Industrial water mills were also employed in large [[factory]] complexes built in [[al-Andalus]] between the 11th and 13th centuries.<ref>Lucas, p. 11</ref>

The engineers of the Islamic world developed several solutions to achieve the maximum output from a water wheel. One solution was to mount them to [[pier]]s of [[bridge]]s to take advantage of the increased flow. Another solution was the shipmill, a type of [[water mill]] powered by water wheels mounted on the sides of [[ship]]s [[Mooring (watercraft)|moored]] in midstream. This technique was employed along the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]] rivers in 10th-century [[Iraq]], where large shipmills made of [[teak]] and [[iron]] could produce 10 [[ton]]s of [[Gristmill|flour from grain]] every day for the [[granary]] in [[Baghdad]].<ref name=Hill2>Hill; see also [http://home.swipnet.se/islam/articles/HistoryofSciences.htm Mechanical Engineering] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001212015400/http://home.swipnet.se/islam/articles/HistoryofSciences.htm |date=2000-12-12 }})</ref> The [[flywheel]] mechanism, which is used to smooth out the delivery of power from a driving device to a driven machine, was invented by Ibn Bassal ([[floruit|fl.]] 1038–1075) of [[Al-Andalus]]; he pioneered the use of the flywheel in the [[Sakia|saqiya]] ([[chain pump]]) and noria.<ref>[[Ahmad Y Hassan]], [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Notes/Notes%204.htm Flywheel Effect for a ''Saqiya''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213234545/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Notes/Notes%204.htm |date=2007-12-13 }}.</ref> The engineers [[Al-Jazari]] in the 13th century and [[Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf|Taqi al-Din]] in the 16th century described many inventive water-raising machines in their technological treatises. They also employed water wheels to power a variety of devices, including various [[water clock]]s and [[Automaton|automata]].