Recreation of the Timekeeping Device of the Rokniyeh School in Yazd

Shahabinejad , Ali; Lookzadeh , Hadi

Danesh

Hefazat va Maremat

EN FA

Volume 8, Issue 1 (6-2025) KCR 2025, 8(1): 47-63 | Back to browse issues page

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Shahabinejad A, Lookzadeh H. Recreation of the Timekeeping Device of the Rokniyeh School in Yazd. KCR 2025; 8 (1) :47-63
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/kcr/article-1-278-en.html

Recreation of the Timekeeping Device of the Rokniyeh School in Yazd

Ali Shahabinejad ^*

, Hadi Lookzadeh

Assistant professor, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.

Abstract: (975 Views)

The timekeeping device of the Rokniyeh school complex, known as Rasad-e-vaght o saat, was built in 725 AH in the current vicinity of the Vaght-o-saat square in Yazd, at the request of Sayyed Rukn al-Din. This mechanical device was a type of tower for determining time (annual calendar) and hours (daily timekeeping) based on the gravity energy of water fluid, and it is considered a significant achievement in the history of science and technology in Iran. Although this device existed until the Timurid era and during the compilation of two important local Yazd historical books, History of Yazd and new History of Yazd, after this period, the Rokniyeh complex and its famous Rasad declined, and no trace of it has remained from the Safavid era to the present day. However, what the local history books of Yazd describe about this building indicates the grandeur, complexity, and notable technical details of this device for displaying times and hours. With regard to the importance of this device, numerous researchers have referred to it in their studies, but this device had not been recreated until now, and no image or document of its appearance and functional components had been prepared. For this reason, in 2022, the project for the recreation of this device was undertaken with the support of the Yazd Regional Water Company, and it was completed in 2024 through the joint cooperation of Mazdabad Company and Yazd University. In the recreation of this device, for the first time, the overall appearance of the device along with all its main functional elements was recreated, and the operational mechanism of each component of the clock for displaying times and hours, including the wooden wheel, day and night hour houses, the ball and cymbal and pot mechanism, the minaret of metal sign, and the rooster minaret, has been shown. In addition, a small-scale replica of this device, capable of displaying all the main functions of the clock in accordance with its historical mechanism, has been built and is displayed at the Yazd Water Museum. This article present a description of the research process and the recreation of the device, along with explanations of the functioning of the chronological elements in this clock, while also introducing the historical documentation of the research.

Keywords: Rokniyeh School, Yazd, Recreation, Water Clock, Timekeeping Device, Rasad-e-vaght-o-saat, Chronology.

Full-Text [PDF 1789 kb] (219 Downloads)

Type of Study: Research, Original, Regular | Subject: Executive reports on the conservation and restoration of objects in collections, museums, sites,
Received: 2025/04/8 | Accepted: 2025/06/15 | Published: 2025/06/21

Send email to the article author

Rights and permissions
	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.