Patent Pending Blog - Patents and the History of Technology

Babylon

The Greek historian Herodotus visited the city of Babylon in 460 BC, after it had been conquered by the Persian Cyrus, and stripped or treasures, but when its walls and temples were still standing, and he described the largest city of the ancient world.  The entire city was enclosed within a wall from 14 to 10.5 miles on each side (depending on which ancient historian is referenced).   The river Euphrates passed through the city walls, and the brick lined channel was lined by waterfront, wharves, and docks along its length inside the city.   Each of the four walls were pierced by 25 fortified gates, each guarded by massive bronze gates, through which the 50 thoroughfares of the city passed, forming 625 regular city blocks, each of at least 100 acres.  The famous Ishtar Gate was a gated entrance to an inner wall in the city. 

The area inside the walls included gardens and farms, as well as buildings and a full size pyramid, all made of bricks and palm wood. The walls enclosed up to 196 square miles!  The step pyramid was the temple of Belus.  It was 600 feet on each side at the base, and rose to a height of 480 feet, which compares to the 481 feet of the Egyptian pyramid at Giza.  Stairs around the pyramid allowed worshipers to travel to the top, to place offerings at the temple there.  The view from the top of the city laid out below, with the river, parks, walls, the hanging gardens, and the surrounding agricultural areas would have been in incredible sight to visitors and residents of the great city.

The most impressive structure of the city might have been the outer walls.  Herodotus stated the walls were 85 feet wide, and 335 feet tall, topped by 250 defensive towers.  The top of the walls included a road wide enough that a four horse chariot could turn around on the road.   The top of the walls were the site of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were watered by a "huge hydraulic machine, working after the manner of the screw of Archimedes", which drew water tot he gardens.  The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which are described in the following links. 

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesis
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Pyramids of Egypt
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
The Lighthouse at Alexandria  

The Lybe Spring Motor Carriage

In 1891 a Daniel I. Lybe filed a patent application on a vehicle powered by a wound up spring.  The spring of the vechicle was given an initial winding, then would recoup winding on the downhill runs, and expend the spring energy on the level and uphill.  Both arm and foot power assisted the winding, and 30 mph was claimed.  The inventor believed his machine would "afford a mild and pleasing form of exercise, in addition to its speed advantages."  The Lybe vehicle was entered in the first motor race in the U.S., held in 1895, but it is not known if it finished.