What ancient lifting device did Leonardo da Vinci redesign for raising water?

Leonardo da Vinci redesigned the Archimedes’ screw as a device for raising water.

An Archimedes’ screw uses a helical surface inside a cylinder or around a shaft. As the screw turns, water is carried upward through the spaces between the helix and its housing. Leonardo studied and drew screw-based water-lifting machines as part of his wider investigations into hydraulics.

The underlying device predates Leonardo by many centuries and is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse. Leonardo therefore adapted and analyzed an established ancient machine rather than inventing the principle. His notebooks contain several studies of screws, pumps, channels, and other ways to control moving water.

The machine is often confused with a water wheel. A water wheel extracts power from flowing or falling water, while an Archimedes’ screw uses rotation to move water upward. Leonardo’s hydraulic studies helped connect practical engineering with his observations of water flow, turbulence, and mechanical advantage.