Eupalinos (Ancient Greek: Εὐπαλῖνος) or Eupalinus of Megara was an ancient Greek engineer who built the Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos Island in the 6th century BC.
The Tunnel, presumably completed between 550 and 530 BC,[1] was 1,036 meters (3,399 ft) long. It was the longest one of its time and it still exists. Water was brought to the city, passing through limestone at the base of a hill. The construction was an undertaking for the tyrant Polycrates of Samos and it is regarded as a major feat of ancient engineering. It is the second known tunnel in history which was excavated from both ends and the first with a methodical approach in doing so.[2]
The Greek historian Herodotus describes the tunnel briefly in his Histories (3.60) and calls Eupalinos of Megara its architect:
I have dwelt rather long on the history of the Samians because theirs are the three greatest works (ergasmata) of all the Greeks. One is a tunnel (orygma amphistomon) through the base of a nine hundred foot high mountain. The tunnel's length is seven stades, its height and length (width) both eight feet. Throughout its length another cutting (orygma) has been dug (ororyktai) three feet wide and three feet deep, through which the water flowing in pipes is led into the city from an abundant spring. The builder (architekton) of the tunnel was the Megarian Eupalinus, son of Naustrophus.
Eupalinos is considered the first hydraulic engineer in history whose name has been passed down. Apart from that, though, nothing more is known about him.[3]
A large road tunnel, named after Eupalinos has been recently built under the Geraneia mountains in Corinthia, to facilitate the new expressway connection between Athens and Corinth. Eupalinos tunnel is the longest of three subsequent tunnels of the same width at this expressway.
^Harry B. Evans, Review of Hermann Kienast, p.150
^The oldest known tunnel which was dug by two teams from opposite ends was Siloam tunnel in Jerusalem, completed around 700 BC. However, numerous false starts in wrong directions, which took the tunnel 1,500 feet (460 m) to cover a distance of 1,000 feet (300 m), indicate that the work was done without a methodical approach (Burns 173). Rather, the workers followed probably an underground watercourse (Apostol, p. 33).
"How Eupalinos navigated his way through the mountain-An empirical approach to the geometry of Eupalinos" Dan Hughes: The Tunnel of Eupalinos Michael...
Eupalinos (Ancient Greek: Εὐπαλῖνος) or Eupalinus of Megara was an ancient Greek engineer who built the Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos Island in the 6th...
it would encircle half the globe. Eupalinos of Megara was an ancient Greek engineer who built the Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos in the 6th century BC, an...
Theognis (6th century BC), elegiac poet Eupalinos (6th century BC), engineer who built the Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos Theagenes (c. 600 BC), Tyrant of...
example is a construction by Eupalinos, under a public contract, of a watering channel for Samos, the Tunnel of Eupalinos. An early example of the usage...
Pasargadae the capital of Persia. Peisistratus takes power in Athens. Eupalinos of Megara, a Greek architect, builds aqueducts that supply water to Athens...
des Eupalinos auf Samos (Bonn, 1995). 20. U. Jantzen with W. Hautumm, W.-R. Megow, M. Weber, and H. J. Kienast, Die Wasserleitung des Eupalinos: die...
in 520 BC by the ancient Greek engineer Eupalinos of Megara under a contract with the local community. Eupalinos organised the work so that the tunnel was...
of the period, such as the great aqueduct (part of it is the Tunnel of Eupalinos), temple of Heraion, and Samos harbour. Today many of these works can...
399 ft) long which can still be seen and which is known as the Tunnel of Eupalinos. The tunnel was constructed by two teams tunnelling from opposite sides...
advanced architectural engineering, including the building of the Tunnel of Eupalinos, and for its riotous festival culture. It was a major center of trade...
Τοπόσημου Τεχνολογίας Πολιτικού Μηχανικού" [Designation of Tunnel of Eupalinos as a Historical Civil Engineering Landmark]. National Technical University...
Greek and Roman monuments and a famous ancient tunnel, the Tunnel of Eupalinos or Eupalinian aqueduct. Along with the Heraion of Samos, the Pythagoreion...
water to thousands of people. It is an exact replica of the Tunnel of Eupalinos in Greece that also transported water. Various archaeologists have been...
of Vathy - The capital of Samos Municipality of Pythagorion Tunnel of Eupalinos Port information Samos old port and new Marina for sailors 37°44′N 26°50′E...
were used in an ancient engineering project was the construction of the Eupalinos aqueduct tunnel in Ancient Greece. This was the first tunnel to be constructed...
settlements, including the villages of Wadi Shees and Masafi. The Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos runs for 1 kilometre through a hill to supply water to the town...
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