††A pulley is a simple machine consisting of a wheel with a groove in the rim for a rope to run over. It is used for lifting heavy weights with a small amount of force.
It is possible that the Assyrians used a kind of pulley around the year 700 BC. However, there is also evidence that Archytas of Tarentum invented the device around the year 400 BC. By about 200 BC a compound pulley had been developed, perhaps by the Greek engineer Archimedes.
