In Antiquity, a series of Egyptian inventions played an essential role in the development of humanity. Some of them have been perfected and are widely used today . Egypt is known especially for its famous pyramids that attract more than 11 million tourists annually , but few know that it is also one of the first countries in the world, being founded in the 10th millennium before our era. What inventions are still widely used today?
The inventions of the Egyptians that are still used today
papyrus
3 thousand years BC, the Egyptians began to make paper from the papyrus plant. Strips from the core of the plant were used for this purpose. Many ancient papyrus sheets have survived to this day in perfect condition, which indicates the high quality of the material. Later, paper was obtained by processing wood and is used every day all over the world ..
written language
If we mentioned above that the Egyptians created the first writing sheets in the world, they also invented the first written signs. The first written languages appeared in Egypt and Mesopotamia around 6,000 BC. These were elementary and consisted of various pictograms that symbolized certain words: a house, a land or a tool.
Gradually, the Egyptians invented various written signs, including some letters of the current alphabet, with the aim of being able to write names of people or to explain certain abstract ideas. All these pictograms, symbols and letters of the alphabet make up what we now call Egyptian hieroglyphs.
plow
Agriculture is the basis of any civilization. The Egyptians were the first to create the technology needed for efficient agriculture. Before the invention of the plow, people walked around with digging sticks that they stuck into the ground to make holes into which they dropped seeds. Being a lot of land to plow and dig, people thought of creating a system that would help them more. Thus they designed the first plow (known as the ard).
The ardu was an ordinary digging stick with a bow-shaped handle and a stone or metal point attached to the bottom. With this invention , the Egyptians sowed the field and managed to make a deep trench in which many seeds were planted simultaneously. Although this invention is not comparable to modern plows, this innovation of theirs changed the lives of farmers of those times.
Irrigation systems
The geographical location transforms Egypt into an area with three seasons from an agricultural point of view: sowing crops, harvesting and floods. The latter was a danger to crops, so the Egyptians developed a series of canals on the banks of the Nile River to direct water away from agricultural areas. That’s how the dams where the flood water was stored appeared. Also through this system, they managed to create the first irrigation systems.
Later, the Egyptians realized that they could use that water to irrigate crops, which allowed them to do agriculture in areas further from the Nile, some of which were also arid.
The door lock
One of the most useful Egyptian inventions for everyday life was the door lock, which first appeared around 4,000 BC. The system was based on a screw with various holes that connected to a lock with several pins. When you inserted a key with a certain configuration, the pins were pushed forward and allowed the door to be opened.
The first Egyptian locks were about half a meter long. Later, the Romans invented a simplified lock, but this had the disadvantage that it could be broken relatively easily. Today, padlocks are used all over the world.
The shaver and clipper
In Antiquity, the Egyptians considered excess hair unsightly, and beards became difficult to bear during the hot months. To make shaving and head shaving easier, the Egyptians used sharp stones, which they mounted on various wooden utensils. Thus, the first razors in the world were used. In time, they discovered that copper blades were better than simple sharpened stones. Today, people all over the world use electric and high-performance razors.
Toothpaste and toothbrush
Like all people, the Egyptians had an important problem at the end of every meal: some food scraps remained between the teeth and were difficult to remove. Therefore, they created a wooden device on which they applied a powder made of buffalo hooves, eggshells and pumice stone, with which they rubbed the teeth to remove food debris. Later, during the occupation of the Roman Empire, the Egyptians improved the toothpaste recipe with salt, mint, dried flowers and even pepper.