Contrary to what is often believed, the ancient Greeks and Romans— and to a lesser extent the earlier Egyptians and Mesopotamians— possessed a great many mechanical devices: by the classical period they were familiar with levers, pulleys, rotary systems, steam and hydraulic power, gears and gear trains, and even complex pumps and valves. One of the most severe restrictions on technological progress in antiquity was the use of a very limited variety of energy sources: human power and animal power were the most significant, while water and the wind were used for only a few specific applications. Human power was employed either alone in a great number of tasks (hauling two-ton blocks for the pyramids), or in connection with various mechanical devices like the winch or lever (propelling warships by oars, for example). These devices allowed people to transmit power over a short distance, to change the direction of the power, or to multiply it through mechanical advantage. But humans in fact can produce only a small amount of usable power: it is estimated that a single person on a treadmill can put out about 0.1 hp. After animals had been domesticated in the Neolithic Age first as a food supply, they later came to be used as a source of energy, either as beasts of burden and draft animals or to power mechanical devices. In the Mediterranean region oxen were most commonly used for such purposes, since they were economical if slow; the horse (always considered a noble beast) was used only for transporting light loads (like cavalrymen); while donkeys and mules were assigned to pulling carts and turning rotary mills (Source: Ancient Technology).
Fabulous Shinashir Balconies in Bushehr
