Presentation On 10 Inventions of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt managed to succeed in numerous fields, bringing a new invention some of which not only survived till nowadays, but can also, be seen in use.

Mainly the great evolution of ancient Egyptian civilization is due to its ability to adjust to the somewhat harsh conditions of the Nile River Valley.

Let us check out some of the most important inventions that appeared in ancient Egypt.

1.      Sun clock  

The first clock invented by the Egypt was the sun clock which was an obelisk that allowed Egyptians part the day into morning and afternoon.

This was made with the shadow of the obelisk that moved around the surface of the obelisk throughout the day.

With its help Egyptians managed to identify the longest and shortest days of the year .

 

2.      Surgical Instruments

The Egyptians did not carry out actual surgeries, but some small surgical operations that helped them gain more surgical knowledge.

A list of instruments used during surgeries includes lint, swabs, bandage, adhesive plaster (that took the form of letter "x"), support, surgical stitches, cauterization (use of heat to destroy abnormal cells),scalpels, scissors, copper needles, forceps, spoons, lancets, hooks, probes and pincers

3.      Water clock

Water clock was the second type of clock invented by the Egyptians.

The first known Egyptian water clock represented a stone vessel that had slopping slides to allow the liquid to drip from a tiny hole found near the bottom of the device at an almost constant rate.

Inside there were 12 columns with equal space between them. These columns were used to estimate the passage of hours while the level of water reached them.

4.      The Pyramids

The oldest pyramid to date was erected back in 2750 BC . Prior to a pyramid tomb, the Egyptian kings were buried in rectangular mud-brick tombs dubbed Mastaba (a type of  ancient Egyptian tomb) .

But the architect of King Zoser, Imhotep, decided to place several  mastabas of decreasing dimensions on top of each other and thus created the first pyramid on the planet.

 

The largest Egyptian pyramid, however, is the Great Pyramid of Giza. The area of its base measures more than 52,600 square meters.

5.      Papyrus Sheets

Papyrus sheet is a paper-like material manufactured from the pith (substance) of the papyrus plant.

The Egyptians used the plant to make a writing material, as well as to create boats, mats, sandals and baskets.

6.      Wigs

During hot summers a lot of Egyptians shaved their heads to keep them clean, which was much easier than cleaning them from pests.

At the same time looking bald in ancient Egypt was not considered to be aesthetically pleasing, which is why they invented wigs.

7.      The Ox-drawn Plow

It is a revolutionary invention in the field of Egyptian agriculture. The invention makes use of the power of oxen to pull the plow. Its modified version can still be seen nowadays, being used by farmers of third world and developing countries who do not have the possibility to acquire machinery to plow their fields.

8.      Solar Calendar

A solar calendar shows  the position of the earth on its revolution around our sun. To make it, they took the yearly sunrise recurrence of Sirius (the Dog Star) in the eastern sky as a fixed point.Ancient Egyptians developed a calendar that featured 365 days and 12 months (30 days in each month and additional 5 days at the end of the year).

9.      Black Ink

In order to make the black ink, Egyptians made a mix consisting of vegetable gum, soot and bee wax.

To be able to make ink of other colors they replaced soot with other organic materials such as object containing ferric oxide, silica, and alumina: used as yellow or red pigments). The latter allowed them to make red ink.

10.  Written Language

Egyptians contributed to the evolution of paintings into the first written language.

The first writing appeared in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The writing system of the former started with pictograms which go back to 6000 BC (Pictograms represented simple illustrations of the words they represented).

  

The famous Egyptian hieroglyphics represent a fusion of alphabetic and syllabic symbols, along with ideograms .

Ideograms are images that stand for whole words. They helped Egyptians to write about war, politics and culture.