Ancient and medieval eras[edit]

Waterwheels.

Early uses of water power date back to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, where irrigation has been used
since the 6th millennium BC and water clocks had been used since the early 2nd millennium BC. Other
early examples of water power include the Qanat system in ancient Persia and the Turpan water
system in ancient Central Asia.

Persian Empire[edit]
In the Persian Empire, the Persians constructed an intricate system of water mills, canals and dams
known as the Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System. The project, commenced
by Achaemenid king Darius the Great and finished by a group of Roman engineers captured by
Sassanian king Shapur I [5], has been referred to by UNESCO as "a masterpiece of creative genius".
[5]
 They were also the inventors[6] of the Qanat, an underground aqueduct. Several of Iran's large, ancient
gardens were irrigated thanks to Qanats [7]
The earliest evidence of water wheels and watermills date back to the ancient Near East in the 4th
century BC,[8] specifically in the Persian Empire before 350 BCE, in the regions of Iraq, Iran,[9] and Egypt.
[10]

China[edit]
In ancient China there was Sunshu Ao (6th century BC), Ximen Bao (5th century BC), Du Shi (circa 31
AD), Zhang Heng (78 – 139 AD), and Ma Jun (200 – 265 AD), while medieval China had Su Song (1020
– 1101 AD) and Shen Kuo (1031–1095). Du Shi employed a waterwheel to power the bellows of a blast
furnace producing cast iron. Zhang Heng was the first to employ hydraulics to provide motive power in
rotating an armillary sphere for astronomical observation.[11][citation needed]