Water clocks were used as time keeping instruments in ancient Egypt from at least the New Kingdom until the end of pharaonic history. Most of the surviving full-sized water clocks are made of stone and are inscribed inside and out. All but one of them are 'outflow' water clocks, meaning that time was indicated by the water level falling past scale marks as the water ran out of the vessel. The remaining one is apparently an inflow water clock (water level rising past scale marks as the water ran into the vessel). Most water clocks have been found in pieces; fragments of the same vessel may currently be in different collections. The list below does not include smaller water clocks without scales, which may be models rather than real vessels.
The ID column gives a sequential number for each vessel (fragments are referred to by an additional lower-case letter, Fr.) based on the system of Lodomez (2007). Most objects are poorly provenanced, but the inscribed name gives a date reference. The exterior decoration of outflow water clocks sometimes included an astronomical representation (AR). These vessels are cross-referenced to the relevant page in the astronomical representations section of the database in the AR? column.
Click on the ID number to go to the description of the water clock.
Outflow Water Clock
| ID | AR? | Fragment | Current location | Catalogue No. | Inscribed to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WCO 1 | Yes | National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Cairo (as of 2024) | JE 37525 | Amenhotep III | |
| WCO 2 | Yes | Egyptian Museum, Cairo | JE 67096 | Nekau II | |
| WCO 3 | a | British Museum, London | BM EA933 | Alexander the Great | |
| b | Musée du Louvre, Paris | E 30890 | |||
| c | Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin | ÄM 30508 | |||
| d | In private collection | - | |||
| WCO 4 | a | Hermitage, Saint Petersburg | ДВ-2507a | Alexander the Great | |
| b | Museo Nazionale, Naples | 2327 | |||
| WCO 5 | Brooklyn Museum, New York | 57.21.1 | Alexander the Great | ||
| WCO 6 | British Museum, London | EA938 | Philip Arrhidaeus | ||
| WCO 7 | a | Museo Egizio, Turin | Supp. 8 | ||
| b | Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels | E.04782 | |||
| WCO 8 | Yes | Pushkin Museum, Moscow | I.1.a.5955 | ||
| WCO 9 | Ephesus | Unknown | |||
| WCO 10 | Yes | a | Musée du Louvre, Paris | N 664 | Ptolemy II |
| b | Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen | H351 | |||
| WCO 11 | Museo Barracco, Rome | MB 27 | Ptolemy II | ||
| WCO 12 | Hermitage, Saint Petersburg | ДВ-2507b | |||
| WCO 13 | Lost (was in Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin) | ÄM 19556 | Hadrian | ||
| WCO 14 | Museo Archeologico, Florence | 2613 | |||
| WCO 15 | Greco-Roman Museum, Alexandria | P.9619 | |||
| WC? 16 | Museo Egizio, Turin | Supp. 3524 | |||
| WCO 17 | Yes | Museo Archeologico, Florence | 12290 | ||
| WCO 18 | a | Petrie Museum, London | UC55487 | ?Nectanebo | |
| b | In private collection | - | |||
| WCO 19 | Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago | E16875 | |||
| WCO 20 | Capitoline Museum, Rome | - | |||
| WCO 21 | Yes | Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago | A7125 | Ptolemy II | |
| WC? 22 | British Museum, London | EA21736 | |||
| WC? 23 | Lost (was found in Rome) | - |
Inflow Water Clock
| ID | AR? | Provenance | Current location | Catalogue number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WCI 1 | No | Edfu | Sharm el Sheikh Museum | TR 2.12.26.16 |