Pioneers of Engineering Al Jazari

ِّ ِ ُ‫أَبُو ا َ ْلع ِِز ْبنُ إسْماعِي ِل ْبن‬

Abū al-'Iz Ibn Ismā'īl ibn al-Razāz al-Jazarī (kr. 1136–1206; Arab: ‫الرزاز‬
‫ )الجزري‬Was a scientist from Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia, who lived in the Middle Ages. He is the author of
Kitáb fí ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya (Knowledge Science Book) in 1206, where he explained fifty
mechanical equipment and instructions on how to assemble them.

Biography

Little is known about Al-Jazari, and most of it comes from its introduction from the book
"Knowledge of Mechanics". The name Al-Jazari originated from his birthplace, Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia -
the traditional Arabic name for the region in northern Mesopotamia and now known as the southeastern
region of Turkey, between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River. Like his father, he served as chief
engineer at the Artuklu Palace, the residence of the Mardin Artuqid Dynasty which ruled the eastern
region of Anatolia as a follower of the Zangid Dynasty and later the Ayyubid Dynasty.
 It was there that Al-Jazari
devoted his life as an engineer by creating
various machines. Explorers and
travelers who traveled to the region in the
12th century AD, admired the prosperity
achieved by the Artukid Dynasty. At that
time, peace and political stability and
security were under control. Ra'is Al-
A'mal. The title was tabled by Muslim
engineers in the 13th century AD to Al-
Jazari. No wonder, if the full name of the
phenomenal engineer is Al-Shaykh Rais
al-Amal Badi al-Zaman Abu al-Izz ibn
Ismail ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari.
Meanwhile, the title of Badi al-Zaman
and Al-Shaykh which he carried showed
that he was a unique scientist, unmatched
in his greatness, mastered high
knowledge, and had dignity.

Al-Jazari is part of the tradition

of craftsmen so it is more likely that
practitioners of engineers than inventors
[2] who seem to be "more interested in
the processing needed to build a device
than the technology behind it" and the
machines that are usually created "are
based on trial and error rather than
theoretical calculations. "[3] His book"
Knowledge of Mechanics "seems to be
very popular as it has been seen in a large number of manuscript copies, and as he repeatedly explained, he
only explained the equipment he built himself. According to Mayr, the style of language in the book is like
a modern do-it-yourself book. [4] Some of the equipment is inspired by previous equipment, such as one
of its monumental water clocks, which is based on Pseudo-Archimedes.

He also quoted the influence of the Banu Musa brothers for his fountain, al-Asturlabi for the
design of the candle clock, and Hibat Allah ibn al-Husayn (d. 1139) for musical automata. Al-Jazari went
on to describe the improvements he made to the work of his predecessor, and explained the tools,
techniques, and components which were original inventions that had never been seen before in the work of
his predecessor.
 Like his father, Al-Jazari devoted himself to the kings of the Urtuq or Artuqid Dynasty in Diyar
Bakir from 1174 M to 1200 M as an engineer. During his life, Al-Jazari experienced three times the
succession of leadership in the Artukid Dynasty, namely Nur al-Din Muhammad ibn Arslan (570 H - 581
H / 1174 M - 1185 M); Qutb al-Din Sukman ibn Muhammad (681 H - 697 H / 1185 M - 1200 M); and
Nasir al-Din Mahmud ibn Muhammad (597 H - 619 H / 1200 M - 1222 M).

At the request of Nasir al-Din Mahmud, Al-Jazari wrote down all his discoveries in a phenomenal
treatise. In the introduction to his treatise, Al-Jazari revealed that he began serving the Artuqid Dynasty in
570 H / 1174 M Based on this information, it can be concluded, possibly Al-Jazari wrote his treatise on 595
H / 1198 M, or two years before Nasir Al-Din was asked to become king.

According to
the Oxford text, Al-Jazari
summarized his treatise
which shook the modern
technical world on
January 16, 1206 M
Al-jazari's great work
was perfected by
Muhammad ibn Yusuf
ibn 'Uthman al-Haskafiat
at the end of Shaban 602
H / 10 April 1206. From
Haskapi's record, Al-
Jazari was gone. From
that note, Al-Jazari was
estimated to have died in
602 H / 1206 M - a few
months after he finished
his work.
Mohamad Taufan Akbar Razaq
1820201036