Amenemhet invents the water clock The water clock is one of the oldest time-measuring instruments. It is first mentioned around 1500 BC in an inscription on the tomb of the Egyptian court official Amenemhet, which identifies him as its inventor. Water clocks probably developed in response to the limitations of the sundial, as they enabled people to measure the time at night and on cloudy days. Evidence indicates that water clocks were used to correctly time important events such as performances of rites and sacrifices, and that variations were developed and used all over the ancient world including (but not limited to) China, India, Persia, Babylonia, Greece (the Greeks developed several inflow types, which they called clepsydra, around 325 BC) and Rome, and also by Native Americans and African peoples. Water clocks continued to be used right through the medieval and Renaissance periods. The groundbreaking scientist and astronomer Galileo even used a mercury clepsydra to time his experiments on falling bodies). Water clocks finally fell out of use with the invention of mechanical clocks. The oldest surviving water clock is from the ancient Temple of Amun-Re, part of the Karnak temple complex in ancient Egypt, and dates to around 1417–1379 BC, during the reign of Amenhotep III. Read more about water clocks in the Clocktime article The first timekeepers: Telling time before the pendulum clock. Image credit Early Egyptian water clock, 1415–1380 BC. Inventory No.: 1923-48 © Science Museum Group, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, https://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10326214&itemw=4&itemf=0001&itemstep=1&itemx=3
