,
Dubai. ,
Mardin,
Turkey The timing mechanism is based on a water-filled basin hidden inside the elephant. In the bucket is a deep bowl floating in the water, but with a small hole in the centre. The bowl takes half an hour to fill through this hole. In the process of sinking, the bowl pulls a string attached to a
see-saw mechanism in the tower on top of the elephant. This releases a ball that drops into the mouth of a
serpent, causing the serpent to tip forward, which pulls the sunken bowl out of the water via strings. At the same time, a system of strings causes a figure in the tower to raise either the left or right hand and the
mahout (elephant driver at the front) to hit a drum. This indicates a half or full hour. Next, the snake tips back. The cycle then repeats, as long as balls remain in the upper reservoir to power the emptying of the bowl.
Automaton In the mechanism, a
humanoid automaton strikes the
cymbal and a mechanical bird
chirps, as in the
cuckoo clock, invented previously by
Archimedes.
Passage of temporal hours Another innovative feature of the clock was how it recorded the passage of
temporal hours, which meant that the rate of flow had to be changed daily to match the uneven length of days throughout the year. To accomplish this, the clock had two
tanks. The top tank was connected to the time-indicating mechanisms and the bottom was connected to the
flow control regulator. At daybreak, the tap was opened and water flowed from the top tank to the bottom tank via a float regulator that maintained a constant pressure in the receiving tank. == Modern reproductions ==