The technological advancements of egypt

Introduction

The people of Ancient Egypt were able to develop and innovate new techniques and tools that were very advanced for their time which helped the civilization thrive. Due to the Ancient Egyptians advanced technologies many wild theories have sprung up to try and explain how they are so advanced. In truth the Egyptians simply were a society that valued the advancement of its technologies and worked to develop these throughout its many years of existence.  Egyptians had a geographic advantage of being near the Nile River which provided them with water, fertile soil, and transportation that they took ready advantage of. Having a reliable way to gain food and water meant that over their long history they were able to advance their society throughout the centuries.

STS

Ancient Egypt is a perfect example of STS in the ancient world. The Egyptians were able to build some of the most advanced structures ever seen on this planet and able to innovate in ways to make their society thrive. The first big innovation was their writing system, hieroglyphics. They were one of the first societies to develop a language and be able to write it down, using ink, another one of their inventions. Hieroglyphics helped them communicate with each other and also helped preserve their history. The Egyptians were also the first to use mathematics and geometry, which helped them plan and architect their cities and structures. Some of their most advanced structures like the pyramids and temples came from their ability to engineer with mathematics. This also led to their inventions of the ramp and lever which helped them build their great cities. They also invented the plow which increased the efficiency of farming. The people of Ancient Egypt were able to develop and innovate new techniques and tools that were very advanced for their time which helped the civilization thrive.

An example of ancient Egyptian technology and how it affects modern science is the Shaduf. The shaduf was a hand operated device for lifting water. This device was comprised of a simple lever with a counterweight opposite of the bucket which acted to help lift a bucket of water  into the air. While a relatively simple device by modern standards, evolutions of this device can be seen in well pumping technologies and is even similar to machines that are used to pump oil out of the ground.

As you can see from the images to the left, a modern oil rig shares many similarities to a shaduf while being used centuries apart from one another.

Missing voices

Unlike other ancient civilizations, women in Egypt had much more rights. Women were able to own and sell property, have businesses, and divorce and remarry. Although, lots of their hard work was still discredited and overshadowed by men. Even though women made up half of the population, there were not many biographies written about women. The main concern about these missing voices is that many of the information comes from several years after the peak of ancient Egypt. Not many records were held about women or even the role of women in society so it is hard to know what is true and what is not.

Sources

Ahmed, A. T., El Gohary, F., Tzanakakis, V. A., & Angelakis, A. N. (2020). Egyptian and Greek Water Cultures and Hydro-Technologies in Ancient Times. Sustainability, 12(22), 9760. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229760

Mark, Joshua J. “Ancient Egyptian Science & Technology.” World History Encyclopedia, Https://Www.worldhistory.org#Organization, 14 Dec. 2022, https://www.worldhistory.org/article/967/ancient-egyptian-science–technology/.

Samuels, C. (2014). Technology in ancient Egypt. Gareth Stevens Publishing.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2013, May 13). shaduf. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/shaduf

Wendorf, Marcia. “Ancient Egyptian Technology and Inventions.” Interesting Engineering, Interesting Engineering, 23 Apr. 2019, https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/ancient-egyptian-technology-and-inventions.