Text Page, Arabic Prose (verso) Text from The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (Automata) of Inb al-Razza al-Jazari, 1315. The Arabic title of this work is Kitab fi marifat al-hiyal al handasiyya (The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices). According to the description of the device illustrated here, the peacock is filled with water: as it flows into the vessel below, it raises a float that opens a door in the section above, causing the little figure to move forward offering soap; as more water flows, a second door will open and another figure will move forward o

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Text Page, Arabic Prose (verso) Text from The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (Automata) of Inb al-Razza al-Jazari, 1315. The Arabic title of this work is Kitab fi marifat al-hiyal al handasiyya (The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices). According to the description of the device illustrated here, the peacock is filled with water: as it flows into the vessel below, it raises a float that opens a door in the section above, causing the little figure to move forward offering soap; as more water flows, a second door will open and another figure will move forward offering a towel. Finally, the dirty water is drawn off by means of a spigot.

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Keywords: 14th, art, century, cleveland, damascus, heritage, ink, mamluk, manuscript, museum, opaque, paper, period, syria, unknown, watercolour