How Did Technology Impact Ancient Egypt
Table of Contents
Step 1: Plan of Investigation 1
Step 3: OPVL 1
Step 4: Investigation and Analysis 2
Step 5: Conclusion 3
Step 6: Bibliography 5
End Notes 7
Step 1: Plan of Investigation This investigation attempts to answer the question how technology impacted ancient Egypt. This question is relevant and important because Egypt’s ancient technology is important and should be understood. The issues that will be addressed are analyzing how this technology effected the Egypt’s ancient world. The parameters of this investigation will be as broad as focusing on several aspects of technology, such as structures and construction, agriculture and irrigation, ship building, and some other developments. This investigation will focus on the …show more content…
time period of 3000 BC to 332 BC and the place(s) investigated will include ancient Egypt throughout all the different periods and investigating Egypt while under all different rulers. This will be completed through examination of print and text sources such as Building the Great Pyramid, Legacy of Ancient Egypt, online data bases, and more.
Word Count: 138
Step 3: OPVL
The origin of this source is a book that was written by Kevin Jackson & Jonathan Stamp in 2003 in Buffalo, New York. This is a credible source because it is a published book, and that means that many people have checked over it. This is a secondary source. Because this was written in 2003, that means that it is fairly recent and will be fairly accurate information. Kevin Jackson was an English writer. Its purpose was to inform people of the building of the great pyramid. Kevin Jackson was educated at Emanuel School, Battersea, and Pembroke College, Cambridge. This book does present a balanced view. And this book is not a translation. Throughout the text it is clear that the authors do have an understanding of native words and language. A value of this source is that it presents focused information on pyramids. However, a limitation is that this book was written by two authors, making the book have more of a combined feel to the information, making it slightly more difficult to obtain pure facts. Also there was a slight lacking of superscript foot/end notes.
The origin of this source is a book that was written by Charles Freeman in 1997. Its Purpose is to inform people of Ancient Egypt. The information in this book ranges from information on the kingdom to information of ancient mysteries. This is a secondary source. Since this book was written 18 years ago, this source might be lacking some newly discovered information. Also, this book was written by a United Kingdom writer. Charles Freeman is a scholar and freelance historian. However his specialty is in ancient Greece and Rome, not Egypt. This is a credible source because it is a published book and has been checked by several credible people. A value of this book is that it gives a wide view of all of Egypt. This book does present an overall balanced view, but in certain spots it does not. However a limitation of this source is that there are no primary sources in this book. Another limitation is that the publishing location is not known. And Throughout the book there are not an extensive amount of foot/endnotes.
Word Count: 370
Step 4: Investigation and Analysis Boats, and boat building had a huge impact on Ancient Egypt. Boats, in ancient Egypt were constructed barges made from reeds. Some of the boat and barges were used for trips that Egyptian families took through the marshes. Other rafts were made of papyrus and reeds. Some of the higher quality rafts and fancy and intricately bound ends. These boat were also used for hunting. The large rafts had masts and sails. The papyrus rafts were easy to make but rotted and deteriorated quickly. There were some other boats constructed from other materials. Acacia wood was used on some. However this acacia wood was only available in 1 meter sections, so boat builders learned to bind them together with dowels or rope. A common method that was used, was to bind planks, with rope, from the inside. This way, when the wood swelled from the water, the hull tightened. Builders were also knowledgeable enough to install 2 steering posts in the larger boats. The last aspect of boat technology is how they were stored. Boats were disassembled and stored in boat pits, dug into the ground. Compiling all the evidence presented above, the technology of boats and boat building obviously had a major impact on Ancient Egypt in many ways.
In Ancient Egypt the pyramids were, and still are, technological marvels, all of Ancient Egypt’s technology for pyramid building, which will be presented in the following text, was a major contributor to the building and development of the pyramids. Temporary framework was used to help build the pyramids, the Ancient Egyptians developed this. Temporary steps were set and built to get the capstone in place the capstone is the top most part of the pyramid. The capstones were chiseled on the ground to be a perfect fit. Some pyramids were built with horizontal layers, a new type of building to that age. Giant individual stones were used for the construction of the pyramids, some of these weighed up to 40 tons. The builders used ropes and A-frames to move stones up the growing pyramid. The materials source for the great pyramids was an ancient quarry. Moving stones from the quarry to the building site was a difficult task, so the Egyptians devised a method to moving the giant stone blocks better. A set of parallel tracks run from the quarry to the building site. These made moving the stone blocks much easier. These rails were coated with mud that was constantly kept wet, this made moving the blocks even easier. The Egyptian builders had tools such as knifes, drills and saws. There were several methods to cut the blocks of stone from the quarry. But one of the most effective ones was to use tiny quartz particles to sit underneath the saw, as the saw cut the stone, this would lessen wear on the saw and improve cutting efficiency. The quartz particles were mixed with gypsum and water. Another method of quarrying was, after cracks were formed, water was poured into the cracks. Then that water would expand and split the rock. Quarry works would often find hammer-sized dolomite, these made, and were used as, good hammers. After the hammers wore out (when the edges were no longer sharp or flat, now round and a very inefficient hammer) the Egyptian builders would use them as rollers under large heavy items. The ancient Egyptian builders also pioneered the pulley. What they had was very inefficient but still worked. As the pyramids grew bigger, builders constructed ramps to move blocks to the top, to continue the pyramids growth upward. When stone had to be quarried from further away, barges were used for stone block transportation. When constructing the pyramids the underground rooms were built first, followed by the core. The inner passages and chambers were added in layers. To produce the final blocks (ready to be placed) they used mallets, chisels, and wedges. The ancient builders were so accurate that they were only off by 1/10 of a degree of true north. After the construction and placement of the stones was complete, packing stone was used to give a finished look. This packing stone was the method of casting. Casting began at the top and went down. The casting was applied to a stepped core. After reading all the information presented above, it is clear that Ancient Egypt had a number of impressive technological techniques and tricks that were used for constructing the pyramids which had a large impact on Ancient Egypt.
Irrigation and agriculture, both vital systems for the survival of a culture, Ancient Egypt, in particular, had both of these systems mastered and had a number of technological advances, which will be presented in the following text, that made irrigation and agriculture work well in Ancient Egypt.
For both agricultural and irrigation construction, the ancient Egyptians used the rising and setting of stars to find true N, E, S, W. The builders also used the level surface of water for construction sighting, to build a level product. The ancient Egyptians used canals, dams, weirs, and reservoirs for the control and distribution of water, these methods originated in Egypt. King Menes ordered for an irrigation project to be constructed. This project ordered for damming rivers and digging canals to move and control water. When land is irrigated it produces twice as much crop. Egypt started irrigating land along the Nile around 5000 BC. In another project, a 12 mile long canal was dug. This canal ran from the Nile to Lake Moeris, where water was stored for yearlong use. When the Nile flooded the water moved from the flooded Nile to Lake Moeris where it was stored. The Egyptians were capable of building giant dams. One built around 2500 BC, constructed on the Nile, supplied water to the quarry of south Cairo. This dam was 40 feet high, 78 feet thick at the base, and close to 350 feet long. After analyzing the previous text, Ancient Egypt had many different technological applications to irrigation and agriculture, which greatly impacted and benefited Ancient
Egypt
Word Count: 1272
Step 5: Conclusion The technology of ancient Egypt impacted ancient Egypt in several ways. Looking through the lens of 3000 BC to 332 BC and viewing 3 different aspects of technology, boats and boat building, pyramids and pyramid construction, and irrigation/agriculture, it has become clear that ancient Egypt was impacted by its technology. Within boats and boat building, Egypt was able to move people, cargo, livestock, and more using papyrus and reed boats that they constructed. The ancient Egyptians were also able to make simple and small boats or large boats that had steering poles and masts. This helped them move even more goods. The Egyptians also greatly benefited from their technology that they used to help build pyramids. They developed simple tools that made jobs tons easier and other complex methods had an efficient pay off. Lastly, the Egyptians had, and used, the technology of irrigation. They creatively used the rich fertile soil that the Nile left after it flooded. They also constructed dams, canals, reservoirs, and weirs to make farming more producing and more efficient. After reviewing all the evidence presented, Ancient Egypt was obviously impacted by its technology.
Word Count: 191
Step 6: Bibliography
"ANCIENT EGYPT." In Ancient Agriculture (9780822529958), 39. US: Lerner Publishing Group, 2000. History Reference Center, EBSCOhost (accessed April 16, 2015).
Bierbrier, M., Janine Bourriau, Alan K. Bowman, Waltraud Guglielmi, Fayza M. H. Haikal, Jane Jakeman, Jac J. Janssen, Penelope Johnstone, C. A. Keller, Kenneth A. Kitchen, Arielle P. Kozloff, John D. Ray, D. S. Richards, Ian Shaw, Colin C. Walters. Cradles of Civilization Egypt. University of Oklahoma: Norman Publishing, 1993.
Cline, Eric and Jill Rubalcaba. The Ancient Egyptian World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Freeman, Charles. The Legacy of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Facts on File, 1997.
"Irrigation." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (December 2013): 1. Literary Reference Center, EBSCOhost (accessed April 16, 2015).
Jackson, Kevin and Jonathan Stamp. Building the Great Pyramid. Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2003.
Pace, Mildred. Pyramids Tombs for Eternity. New York: Peter Bedric Books, 1981.
End Notes
Step 1: Plan of Investigation 1
Step 3: OPVL 1
Step 4: Investigation and Analysis 2
Step 5: Conclusion 3
Step 6: Bibliography 5
End Notes 7
Step 1: Plan of Investigation This investigation attempts to answer the question how technology impacted ancient Egypt. This question is relevant and important because Egypt’s ancient technology is important and should be understood. The issues that will be addressed are analyzing how this technology effected the Egypt’s ancient world. The parameters of this investigation will be as broad as focusing on several aspects of technology, such as structures and construction, agriculture and irrigation, ship building, and some other developments. This investigation will focus on the …show more content…
time period of 3000 BC to 332 BC and the place(s) investigated will include ancient Egypt throughout all the different periods and investigating Egypt while under all different rulers. This will be completed through examination of print and text sources such as Building the Great Pyramid, Legacy of Ancient Egypt, online data bases, and more.
Word Count: 138
Step 3: OPVL
The origin of this source is a book that was written by Kevin Jackson & Jonathan Stamp in 2003 in Buffalo, New York. This is a credible source because it is a published book, and that means that many people have checked over it. This is a secondary source. Because this was written in 2003, that means that it is fairly recent and will be fairly accurate information. Kevin Jackson was an English writer. Its purpose was to inform people of the building of the great pyramid. Kevin Jackson was educated at Emanuel School, Battersea, and Pembroke College, Cambridge. This book does present a balanced view. And this book is not a translation. Throughout the text it is clear that the authors do have an understanding of native words and language. A value of this source is that it presents focused information on pyramids. However, a limitation is that this book was written by two authors, making the book have more of a combined feel to the information, making it slightly more difficult to obtain pure facts. Also there was a slight lacking of superscript foot/end notes.
The origin of this source is a book that was written by Charles Freeman in 1997. Its Purpose is to inform people of Ancient Egypt. The information in this book ranges from information on the kingdom to information of ancient mysteries. This is a secondary source. Since this book was written 18 years ago, this source might be lacking some newly discovered information. Also, this book was written by a United Kingdom writer. Charles Freeman is a scholar and freelance historian. However his specialty is in ancient Greece and Rome, not Egypt. This is a credible source because it is a published book and has been checked by several credible people. A value of this book is that it gives a wide view of all of Egypt. This book does present an overall balanced view, but in certain spots it does not. However a limitation of this source is that there are no primary sources in this book. Another limitation is that the publishing location is not known. And Throughout the book there are not an extensive amount of foot/endnotes.
Word Count: 370
Step 4: Investigation and Analysis Boats, and boat building had a huge impact on Ancient Egypt. Boats, in ancient Egypt were constructed barges made from reeds. Some of the boat and barges were used for trips that Egyptian families took through the marshes. Other rafts were made of papyrus and reeds. Some of the higher quality rafts and fancy and intricately bound ends. These boat were also used for hunting. The large rafts had masts and sails. The papyrus rafts were easy to make but rotted and deteriorated quickly. There were some other boats constructed from other materials. Acacia wood was used on some. However this acacia wood was only available in 1 meter sections, so boat builders learned to bind them together with dowels or rope. A common method that was used, was to bind planks, with rope, from the inside. This way, when the wood swelled from the water, the hull tightened. Builders were also knowledgeable enough to install 2 steering posts in the larger boats. The last aspect of boat technology is how they were stored. Boats were disassembled and stored in boat pits, dug into the ground. Compiling all the evidence presented above, the technology of boats and boat building obviously had a major impact on Ancient Egypt in many ways.
In Ancient Egypt the pyramids were, and still are, technological marvels, all of Ancient Egypt’s technology for pyramid building, which will be presented in the following text, was a major contributor to the building and development of the pyramids. Temporary framework was used to help build the pyramids, the Ancient Egyptians developed this. Temporary steps were set and built to get the capstone in place the capstone is the top most part of the pyramid. The capstones were chiseled on the ground to be a perfect fit. Some pyramids were built with horizontal layers, a new type of building to that age. Giant individual stones were used for the construction of the pyramids, some of these weighed up to 40 tons. The builders used ropes and A-frames to move stones up the growing pyramid. The materials source for the great pyramids was an ancient quarry. Moving stones from the quarry to the building site was a difficult task, so the Egyptians devised a method to moving the giant stone blocks better. A set of parallel tracks run from the quarry to the building site. These made moving the stone blocks much easier. These rails were coated with mud that was constantly kept wet, this made moving the blocks even easier. The Egyptian builders had tools such as knifes, drills and saws. There were several methods to cut the blocks of stone from the quarry. But one of the most effective ones was to use tiny quartz particles to sit underneath the saw, as the saw cut the stone, this would lessen wear on the saw and improve cutting efficiency. The quartz particles were mixed with gypsum and water. Another method of quarrying was, after cracks were formed, water was poured into the cracks. Then that water would expand and split the rock. Quarry works would often find hammer-sized dolomite, these made, and were used as, good hammers. After the hammers wore out (when the edges were no longer sharp or flat, now round and a very inefficient hammer) the Egyptian builders would use them as rollers under large heavy items. The ancient Egyptian builders also pioneered the pulley. What they had was very inefficient but still worked. As the pyramids grew bigger, builders constructed ramps to move blocks to the top, to continue the pyramids growth upward. When stone had to be quarried from further away, barges were used for stone block transportation. When constructing the pyramids the underground rooms were built first, followed by the core. The inner passages and chambers were added in layers. To produce the final blocks (ready to be placed) they used mallets, chisels, and wedges. The ancient builders were so accurate that they were only off by 1/10 of a degree of true north. After the construction and placement of the stones was complete, packing stone was used to give a finished look. This packing stone was the method of casting. Casting began at the top and went down. The casting was applied to a stepped core. After reading all the information presented above, it is clear that Ancient Egypt had a number of impressive technological techniques and tricks that were used for constructing the pyramids which had a large impact on Ancient Egypt.
Irrigation and agriculture, both vital systems for the survival of a culture, Ancient Egypt, in particular, had both of these systems mastered and had a number of technological advances, which will be presented in the following text, that made irrigation and agriculture work well in Ancient Egypt.
For both agricultural and irrigation construction, the ancient Egyptians used the rising and setting of stars to find true N, E, S, W. The builders also used the level surface of water for construction sighting, to build a level product. The ancient Egyptians used canals, dams, weirs, and reservoirs for the control and distribution of water, these methods originated in Egypt. King Menes ordered for an irrigation project to be constructed. This project ordered for damming rivers and digging canals to move and control water. When land is irrigated it produces twice as much crop. Egypt started irrigating land along the Nile around 5000 BC. In another project, a 12 mile long canal was dug. This canal ran from the Nile to Lake Moeris, where water was stored for yearlong use. When the Nile flooded the water moved from the flooded Nile to Lake Moeris where it was stored. The Egyptians were capable of building giant dams. One built around 2500 BC, constructed on the Nile, supplied water to the quarry of south Cairo. This dam was 40 feet high, 78 feet thick at the base, and close to 350 feet long. After analyzing the previous text, Ancient Egypt had many different technological applications to irrigation and agriculture, which greatly impacted and benefited Ancient
Egypt
Word Count: 1272
Step 5: Conclusion The technology of ancient Egypt impacted ancient Egypt in several ways. Looking through the lens of 3000 BC to 332 BC and viewing 3 different aspects of technology, boats and boat building, pyramids and pyramid construction, and irrigation/agriculture, it has become clear that ancient Egypt was impacted by its technology. Within boats and boat building, Egypt was able to move people, cargo, livestock, and more using papyrus and reed boats that they constructed. The ancient Egyptians were also able to make simple and small boats or large boats that had steering poles and masts. This helped them move even more goods. The Egyptians also greatly benefited from their technology that they used to help build pyramids. They developed simple tools that made jobs tons easier and other complex methods had an efficient pay off. Lastly, the Egyptians had, and used, the technology of irrigation. They creatively used the rich fertile soil that the Nile left after it flooded. They also constructed dams, canals, reservoirs, and weirs to make farming more producing and more efficient. After reviewing all the evidence presented, Ancient Egypt was obviously impacted by its technology.
Word Count: 191
Step 6: Bibliography
"ANCIENT EGYPT." In Ancient Agriculture (9780822529958), 39. US: Lerner Publishing Group, 2000. History Reference Center, EBSCOhost (accessed April 16, 2015).
Bierbrier, M., Janine Bourriau, Alan K. Bowman, Waltraud Guglielmi, Fayza M. H. Haikal, Jane Jakeman, Jac J. Janssen, Penelope Johnstone, C. A. Keller, Kenneth A. Kitchen, Arielle P. Kozloff, John D. Ray, D. S. Richards, Ian Shaw, Colin C. Walters. Cradles of Civilization Egypt. University of Oklahoma: Norman Publishing, 1993.
Cline, Eric and Jill Rubalcaba. The Ancient Egyptian World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Freeman, Charles. The Legacy of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Facts on File, 1997.
"Irrigation." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (December 2013): 1. Literary Reference Center, EBSCOhost (accessed April 16, 2015).
Jackson, Kevin and Jonathan Stamp. Building the Great Pyramid. Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2003.
Pace, Mildred. Pyramids Tombs for Eternity. New York: Peter Bedric Books, 1981.
End Notes