Top 15 Egyptian Inventions and Innovations
15. Bowling – A new bowling alley has opened for public use, just outside
of Narmoutheos. This new sport is a joy for the whole family, and
kids especially love it! The rules are as follows: you aim for a hole at the end of
you lane, and roll heavy stone balls of various sizes down the lane in hopes of
getting your ball in the hole. The lanes are about 13 feet long and 8 inches wide,
so anyone can play.
14. Sickle – The sickle, or curved blade used for cutting, has aided Egyptian
farmers immensely. Harvesting grain, including wheat and barley, is a strenuous
process that uses a lot of handy work. The sickle improves the harvesting process
and makes picking wheat much easier. This is especially helpful in Egypt as the
Nile River has proved to be a valuable asset, providing yearly floods and rich
fertile soil for producing crops. Other farming tools include wooden hoes, which
are used to dig pits, as well as dikes, which are large walls of mud to keep water
flow contained.
13. Door Locks – Have you ever worried about who may sneak into your house at
night? Thanks to the Egyptians, locked doors are now a valuable luxury. The
newest door locks contain a hollowed-out bolt connected to an intricate system
of pins. When the correct key is inserted, the pins rise, and the door opens. You
will never again have to worry about being robbed or murdered. Door locks do
have their drawbacks as the average size per door lock is actually 2 feet. These
new locks are sure to keep your house secure, and are said to be even more
protective than the locks developed by the Romans, which use a simple spring
design and are fairly easy to pick.
12. Shaving and Cutting Hair – The Egyptians are one of the first societies to be
concerned about hair, and they consider hair extremely insanitary. For this
reason, they cut their hair and shaved their entire bodies regularly. The Egyptians
have created the first shaving implements, including a set of sharp stone blades
with wooden handles. There is also now the Barbering profession, though only
the wealthy can afford to use a barber. Although the Egyptians dislike
hair greatly, they have a fascination for fake beards, with various shapes that
depict their social class.
11. Makeup and Paint – Both male and female Egyptians are known to be highly
hygienic and they place great importance on the way they look. They wear unique
and elaborate eye makeup and oils that soften their skin and prevent
sun damage. The more color worn by an Egyptian, the higher their social
ranking. Statues of gods and goddesses also wear makeup. Egyptians create
makeup, paint, and dye by combining soot with minerals to create colored
pastes. Egyptians wear makeup for cosmetic, medical, religious and traditional
reasons.
10. Construction Tools – The Egyptians are the first builders and well-known for
their construction skills; they are recognized for building some of world’s most
magnificent structures including the great pyramids and the Sphinx. They create
extravagant pyramids and temples using the simplest tools, including picks,
drills, chisels, hammers, pounder stones, ramps, and saws. These tools were
made of copper, bronze, and basalt, which are made by metal workers all across
Egypt.
9. Boats and Sails – The first boats that the Egyptians developed were rafts, made
from stalks of papyrus that were tied together. They are used on the Nile for
trading and transportation. These boats are also used for fishing and
pleasure. Papyrus is used because of the scarcity of wood and the ease of
construction. Newly invented sails catch the wind and move boats at a much
quicker pace, and the boats have started to be made from wood. This aids with
the transportation of heavy freight and provisioning for war.
8. Fishing Tools – Hunting and breeding animals has become difficult, for the
Egyptians. Aside from staples and vegetables, the poor can no longer afford
meat. Fish is cheap and plentiful, and fishermen use tools such as nets, traps,
spears, and harpoons to catch different species of fish in the Nile River. Hooks are
also made from cheap metal and bones. Fisherman catch different species of fish
in the Nile including tilapia, elephant fish, perch, catfish and eels.
7. Toothpaste and Breath Mints – The Egyptians love to conceal the awful smell
that comes from our mouths. Bad breath is a symbol of poor dental health and
low income. Although the Egyptians have dentists, they cannot fix teeth that
have begun to rot and produce a stench. In order to deal with this problem, the
newly created mints were invented which contain a combination of frankincense,
myrrh, and cinnamon honey, and are sucked to relieve the sickly odors.
6. Shadoof – Farming, cultivation, and raising livestock has become a common
practice in Egpyt. Dikes and irrigation ditches are the most widespread methods
of controlling and bringing in water. The Shadoof has been invented to bring canal
water to the fields. The Shadoof is a long balancing pole with a weight on one
side and a bucket on the other. The bucket fills with water and is raised and
brought to the fields.
5. Plough – This tool has been around for hundreds of years, although it
has proven to be quite ineffective. The newest Egyptian ploughs are hooked to
oxen and are allow farmers to dig deeper into the ground than ever before. The
innovated plough has revolutionized farming in Egypt, and has arguably made
Egyptian farming easier than any other society today. It has enabled the
Egyptians to progress major advancements in agriculture.
4. Scribal Palates and Kalamos – As Egyptian writing is advancing and becoming
more complex, the sons of wealthy families are becoming scribes for reading and
writing. Only around 1% of the population in Egypt is literate. A scribe’s main
tool is the Kalamos, which is a pen that is made from a short reed. Different sized
reeds are used for varying thicknesses. Scribal palates, inkwells, and
brushes are other tools used by the scribes. They write on papyrus and
parchment which are made from reeds, parchment and animal hide respectively.
3. Irrigation – The Egyptians discovered the first methods of irrigation and the
construction of canals was a major innovation of the time. During the Nile River’s
yearly floods, water had to be directed and brought to distant fields and
highland. Egyptians thought to surround indentions that would fill with
water, with mud dams to hold the water. Canals were dug from these basins and
carried water to the fields. This proved useful so that water could be brought to
land that wasn’t close to the river and farmers could harvest crops more
frequently.
2. Hieroglyphics and Hieratic – Have you seen any of the Hieroglyphics found on
the walls of our temples, stone, pottery, ivory and papyrus? Did you know that
hieroglyphics is the earliest formal writing system comprised of symbols
and primarily used by kings? They are written in rows and columns and read
from top to bottom. More than 700 symbols are used to represent people,
objects and ideas and are combined to form words. The creation of
Hieroglyphics by the Egyptians has distinguished them from other societies and
allowed them to record the events of their lives and track important
discoveries. Hieratic is now used instead of Hieroglyphics for writing documents
as it is simpler and easier to write.
1. Calendars and Clocks - The Egyptians invented the 365-day
calendar which correlates with the flood cycle of the Nile and advises farmers
when they can best irrigate their land. Did you know that the calendar allows us
to track our three important seasons: Spring (the Nile River floods), Winter (the
land reappears from under water) and Summer (the dry
period)? The calendar is also used for astrology. The Egyptians also discovered
other ways to tell time with water clocks and sundials. Water clocks measure
time by the flow of water and sundials measure time by using a vertical pole on a
horizontal surface with marks and numbers around the clock’s edges.
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