From 320 to 30 BC Egypt was under the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty. During this period, the Hellenistic period, the Ptolemies carried out brilliant irrigation and water supply works, converted large desert areas into arable land and enriched Alexandria by building brilliant buildings: the Library, the Lighthouse, the Museum and others.
Brilliant scientists taught at the Museum, including the famous Alexandrian engineers Ctesibius, Philo of Byzantium and Hero of Alexandria. These engineers, along with Archimedes of Syracuse, invented various mechanisms and instruments for pumping water, which are still in use today. The financial support of the Ptolemies in the work of these engineers was decisive. For the first time in history, complex and highly imaginative mechanisms appear. All of them are presented in the present volume, which is the result of intensive research, using an extensive bibliography. It is the first work that deals with this issue in Greece.
