Aug 24, 2022
— Katherine Larson, from 'Water Clocks', Radial Symmetry
Ancient Persian Water Clocks
the word for an ancient water clock sounds like a name of a Greek goddess: Clepsydra. In ancient Persia, the water clock was a bowl placed in a large pot filled with water. A small hole would be made in the bottom of the bowl so that water from the pot would slowly flow in; when the bowl became full, it would sink down into the pot, and a trusty time keeper would dump it out and place it back on top of the water inside the pot. Time was thus measured by how many times the bowl sank—a bit like an hourglass with the sand swapped out for water.
