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Jola Dziubinska | all galleries >> Galleries >> MOROCCO 2011 > Water Clock In Fez
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31-OCT-2011 Jola Dziubinska

Water Clock In Fez

Fez, Morocco

Dar al-Magana (Arabic for "clockhouse") is a house in Fes, built by the Marinid Sultan Abu Inan Faris which holds a weight-powered water clock.
The building of the clock was finished on 6 May 1357. The Dar al-Magana is opposite the Bou Inania Madrasa and connected to this school.

The clock consists of 13 windows and platforms carrying brass bowls.
The motion of the clock was presumably maintained by a kind of small cart which ran from left to right behind the twelve doors.
At one end, the cart was attached to a rope with a hanging weight; at the other end to a rope with a weight that floated on the surface of a water reservoir that was drained at a regular pace.
Each hour one of the doors opened and at the same time a metal ball was dropped into one of the twelve brass bowls.
The rafters sticking out of the building above the doors (identical to the rafters of the Bou Inania Madrasa) supported a small roof to shield the doors and bowls.

The bowls have been removed since 2004 and the clock mechanism is presently being reconstructed by ADER, a foundation for the reconstruction of monuments in Fes.

Nikon D700 ,Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
1/2000s f/4.0 at 34.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Cindi Smith12-Dec-2011 03:37
How cool is that? Never heard of a water clock. Love all the info behind it too. How cool! V
J. Scott Coile11-Dec-2011 21:57
What a detail.
Tomasz Dziubinski - Photography11-Dec-2011 14:11
Good capture, Voted.
pr_rajan11-Dec-2011 13:39
...excellent details of the classic art!~V~
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