Hierapolis sawmill
Earliest known machine combining crank and connecting rod.
The Hierapolis sawmill, a water-powered stone sawmill in the ancient Greek city of Hierapolis (in modern-day Turkey), dates to the late 200s AD. It is recognized as the earliest known machine to link a crank with a connecting rod, creating a crank-slider mechanism. Evidence comes from a raised relief on the sarcophagus of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos, a local miller. The carving shows a waterwheel, fed by a mill race, driving two frame saws through a gear train, connecting rods, and cranks to cut rectangular blocks. A Greek inscription credits the mechanism to Ammianos' "skills with wheels."
Other Roman crank and connecting rod mechanisms, though without gear trains, have been found at 6th-century AD water-powered stone sawmills in Gerasa, Jordan, and Ephesus, Turkey. A possible fourth sawmill at Augusta Raurica, Switzerland, is suggested by a 2nd-century AD metal crank. Literary references to water-powered marble saws appear in Ausonius' late 4th-century poem *Mosella* (set in Trier, Germany) and in writings by Gregory of Nyssa from Anatolia, indicating widespread use of water power across the Roman Empire. These three finds push back the invention of the crank and connecting rod system by a thousand years. For the first time, all key components of the later steam engine—Hero's aeolipile, cylinder and piston, non-return valves, and gearing—were assembled within a single technological culture.
- location
- Hierapolis, Roman Asia (modern-day Turkey)
- date
- Second half of the 3rd century AD
- type
- Water-powered stone sawmill
- known_for
- Earliest known crank and connecting rod mechanism (crank-slider)
- evidence
- Raised relief on the sarcophagus of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos
- inscription_language
- Greek
Lore & Background
The sawmill is evidenced by a raised relief on the sarcophagus of a certain Marcus Aurelius Ammianos, a local miller. On the pediment, a waterwheel fed by a mill race is shown powering via a gear train two frame saws cutting rectangular blocks by way of connecting rods and, through mechanical necessity, cranks. The accompanying inscription is in Greek and attributes the mechanism to Ammianos' 'skills with wheels'.
Reader's Guide
The Hierapolis sawmill is significant because it provides the earliest archaeological evidence of a crank and connecting rod mechanism, a key component later essential to the steam engine. The find pushes back the date of the invention of the crank and connecting rod mechanism by a full millennium. With this system, all essential components for constructing a steam engine—Hero's aeolipile (generating steam power), the cylinder and piston (in metal force pumps), non-return valves (in water pumps), and gearing (in water mills and clocks)—were known in Roman times. Further Roman crank and connecting rod mechanisms, without gear train, are archaeologically attested for the 6th century AD water-powered stone sawmills at Gerasa, Jordan, and Ephesus, Turkey. A fourth sawmill possibly existed at Augusta Raurica, Switzerland, where a metal crank from the 2nd century AD has been excavated. Literary references to water-powered marble saws in Trier, Germany, appear in Ausonius' late 4th century AD poem Mosella, and they also seem to be indicated by Gregory of Nyssa from Anatolia, demonstrating a diversified use of water-power in many parts of the Roman Empire.
Did You Know?
- The Hierapolis sawmill is considered the earliest known machine to combine a crank with a connecting rod to form a crank-slider mechanism.
- The sawmill is evidenced by a raised relief on the sarcophagus of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos, a local miller.
- The accompanying inscription on the sarcophagus is in Greek and attributes the mechanism to Ammianos' 'skills with wheels'.
- The three finds (Hierapolis, Gerasa, Ephesus) push back the date of the invention of the crank and connecting rod mechanism by a full millennium.
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