Page "Clock" Paragraph 7

Water clocks, also known as clepsydrae ( sg: clepsydra ), along with the sundials, are possibly the oldest time-measuring instruments, with the only exceptions being the vertical gnomon and the day-counting tally stick.

Given their great antiquity, where and when they first existed is not known and perhaps unknowable.

The bowl-shaped outflow is the simplest form of a water clock and is known to have existed in Babylon and in Egypt around the 16th century BC.

Other regions of the world, including India and China, also have early evidence of water clocks, but the earliest dates are less certain.

Some authors, however, write about water clocks appearing as early as 4000 BC in these regions of the world.