This candle clock offers a masterclass in its application of mathematics as one of the most sophisticated designs of its kind from the Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, by Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari (d. 1206), which contains descriptions of 100 mechanical devices (so-called automata) with detailed instructions on their construction and operation. This ornate time-keeping device takes the form of a monkey and its keeper that is lifted by a candle-powered mechanism within a brass sheath. As the candle burns down at a constant rate, the weight below it sinks, activating pulleys to lift the monkey whose index finger gradually rises to track the passing of a night (roughly 14.5 hours). The monkey’s ascent would likewise trigger the falcon seated at the front of the device, who would drop a ball from its beak at every hour. This memorable design continued to capture the imaginations of readers long after al-Jazari’s death, sparking later illustrated copies of his text, like the present folio from an early fourteenth-century manuscript produced in the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517).

Numerous historical accounts attest to diverse forms of automata populating medieval Islamic courts, some of which relied on Classical sources, and the wondrous impressions they imparted on visitors. For instance, Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 1071) described the impressive automata witnessed during the visit of the Byzantine ambassador to the Dar al-Khalifa in Abbasid Baghdad. There, birds fashioned out of silver, whistled on trees crafted from high-quality silver. The Caliph Harun al-Rashid also sent an elaborate water clock as a diplomatic gift to Charlemagne in 807 AD. As if in dialogue with the trends of their Islamic counterparts, the tenth-century Byzantine treatise on “The Throne of Solomon,” depicted the emperor’s throne flanked by automata, like jewel-encrusted trees with mechanical singing birds, roaring lions, and moving beasts, which envoys to Byzantium corroborated in 948 and 966. These cases speak to a wider culture of competitive innovation across religious and imperial lines.

The court of the Artuqid Sultan, Nasir al-Din Mahmud (r. 1200-1222), strove to match the marvels of his earlier counterparts. Al-Jazari reveals in his rationale for the book that this royal patron asked him to record the various mechanical contrivances he had built. While demonstrating key principals of physics, all appear to respond to the everyday needs or desires of the court with charming twists meant to amuse their viewers, such as anthropomorphic clocks (seen on this folio), automaton wine-bearers and musicians, and complex hydraulic devices meant to support palatial gardens. Such marvelous creations fell under the category of ‘ilm-i hiyal, or the science of tricks and ruses, which further captures the wondrous nature of these machinations.

Around the time of this folio’s production, mechanical clocks graced the waqfs or pious endowments founded by courtly patrons. One madrasa in Yazd founded by the Ilkhanid official Rukn al-Din Muhammad (d. 1331-2) came furnished with an elaborate mechanical clock complete with astronomical tables. Candle clocks also made their way as far as medieval Spain, as one collection called Libros del Saber relates. Compiled in Toledo in 1276 by the order of King Alfonso X of Castile and Leon (r. 1252-1282), the Libros translated Arabic engineering texts for Christian readers, which included a treatise devoted to candle clocks by Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia, along with four other books by Isaac ibn Sid. Both authors offer designs closely resembling those of al-Jazari, which may suggest a wide circulation of his text or shared inspiration across engineers of Islamic courts.