Sarcophagus of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos

The Hierapolis sawmill is believed to be a water-powered stone sawmill at Hierapolis, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Dating to the second half of the 3rd century, the sawmill is considered the earliest known machine to combine a crank with a connecting rod, although neither clear ancient scripts nor engineering drawings were yet found to support this theory.

Some archaeologists believe that the watermill is evidenced by a raised relief on the sarcophagus of a certain Marcus Aurelius Ammianos, a local miller. On the pediment a waterwheel fed by a mill race is shown powering via a gear train two frame saws cutting rectangular blocks by the way of connecting rods and, through mechanical necessity, cranks (see diagram). The accompanying inscription is in Greek and attributes the mechanism to Ammianos' "skills with wheels".

Further crank and connecting rod mechanisms, without gear train, are archaeologically attested for the 6th century water-powered stone sawmills at Gerasa, Jordan, and Ephesus, Turkey, both part of the Byzantine Empire at the time. A fourth sawmill possibly existed at Augusta Raurica, Switzerland, where a metal crank from the 2nd century has been excavated.

Literary references to water-powered marble saws in Trier, now Germany, can be found in Ausonius' late 4th century poem Mosella. About the same time, they also seem to be indicated by the Christian saint Gregory of Nyssa from Anatolia, demonstrating a diversified use of water-power in parts of the Roman Empire.

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