Heron of Alexandria and the Dome of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Writings have been published under the name of Heron of Alexandria in a long period between the 1st century AD and the Byzantine middle ages. This extensive collection was issued for use by engineers, geodesists, architects as well as for other engineering related professionals and it belongs to the most important sources for the history of the ancient building trade, yet even until today it remains almost entirely overlooked.

These manuals, conceived for a wider specialised readership and broadly known, also contain the mathematical and technical prerequisites, that were essential to professionally realise the concept of a building. The groundwork for this, is found in a mathematical tradition, that has been almost consistently passed down from Old-Babylonian times to the geometrical treatises of the early modern times. The comparison between Heron's texts with singular, well-preserved buildings and especially the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, demonstrates the degree of influence this neglected source has had on the technical and built environment of antiquity.