Unpublished Bronze Valves and A spout of Tap In the Greco-Roman Museum of Alexandria

Abstract

Roman engineers designed aqueducts in all cities of the Roman Empire for over 500 years, and construction was funded using public and private money. The aqueducts were created from a series of pipes, tunnels, channels, and bridges. Therefore, the Romans invented lead pipes, inverted siphons, tanks, valves, and taps. Despite the abundance of water, Roman water commissioners implemented controls to limit illegal taps and the flow of water to users and imposed penalties on those who violated the regulations. In many Roman archaeological excavations, bronze valves, taps, and lead pipes have been found. They were used in Rome and Pompeii and even extended to eastern cities during the Roman period. The Greco-Roman Museum has three bronze valves and a spout of tap. This paper aims to publish these valves and tap. Also, it answers many questions about how these valves and taps were formed and their types, with a comparison between them and similar examples from the Roman cities. In addition, it studies the water system in Alexandria and compares it with that of Rome and Pompeii.