Skip to main content Skip to footer site map

Archimedes’ Screw and the Date Tree of Babylon

SHARE

Archimedes of Syracuse is known for inventing a device that efficiently raised water for irrigation. Dr. Stephanie Dalley translated a cuneiform text from of the Assyrian king Sennacherib which led her to believe the Hanging Gardens of Babylon made use of a comparable device approximately 350 years before the time of Archimedes. In addition, certain ancient legends of the Hanging Gardens described screw-like irrigation devices similar to the Archimedes’ Screw.