Things the Ancient Egyptians Invented
There is so much to be learnt from Ancient Egyptian civilization. From studying their ways you will read amazing stories, find out about their political and social idiosyncrasies, as well as see some of their amazing architectural icons; but you will also discover that they are responsible for many key inventions. What is even more amazing, however, is that these are not just weird irrelevant inventions that only a historian would be interested in. They are inventions that are still a huge part of our daily lives.
One such invention is the pen. Perhaps the most important invention in human history, their calligraphy began a tradition that has allowed humans to record their goings on so future generations can find out about it, and perhaps learn from them. It has also been an instrumental invention in our cultural developments, including art such as fiction, and poetry. We truly owe the Egyptians a great deal for the pen, for the written word is one of our most valuable assets.
This is implied by the above paragraph, but demands no less attention. The Egyptians also invented paper. Theirs was a papyrus, woven into a mat from reeds, and pounded together until it formed a hard, thin sheet. We even owe our name for it ‘paper’ to theirs. Later on, the Ancient Greeks made a similar kind of parchment, but made from the skins of animals instead. I need not explain the importance of the invention of paper.
Medicine was invented by the Egyptians, though their methods were very different. They had a mythology in which disease was an eternal struggle between good and evil, so their ideology was extremely different from our own. Regardless, however, their methodological approach at diagnoses and treating, and the detailed records they took, very much resemble our own.
There are many more inventions credited to the Egyptians, and much too much to list them all here. High heeled shoes, condoms and makeup, to name just a few, but I believe our greatest debt to them is our cultural one. After all, we would not even be able to study them and learn from them had they not written down their endeavours.
You can learn more about Egypt’s past on Sharm el Sheikh holidays.