Tuesday, December 16, 2008

How Egyptian Inventions Compare to Modern Day




The inventions of ancient Egypt were practical and useful for their time. And although there are some similarities, our lives are SO different than the Egyptians' were. I mean, come on, we don't live in a desert (that would be MISERABLE!) or have big important pharaohs, or special ceremonies for the sun setting. However, some of the things we use to get through the day are an awful lot like what the Egyptians used.




For example:take papyrus. They used it as paper to write down history and events on scrolls. Today, we use paper instead, which is easier to make, and more available. (It's not like you could go to a handy WalMart in the middle of Egypt and ask for some papyrus!)




Another similarity is their water clocks (on top left).The water clocks told time by water dripping through the end of the funnel, but today we have clocks and watches instead. Similar, but a bit more convenient, don't you think? They serve the same purpose, but are a lot more portable and easier to use. (After all, it would be rather difficult for people to carry around a water clock!)




One very close invention is the Egyptians' calendar. (I find it amazing that people with no where near our resources and technology could put together an accurate 365 day calendar, just by their floods each year and the stars. Their only fault was the 1/4 day for leap year!) It is very similar to our 365 1/4 day calender we use today. (Of course, we have different seasons than the Egyptians because of the location and weather. Egyptian weather was generally the same all year round, but we have seasons based on weather and tilt of the earth).




Although we are in a totally different time and life style than that of the Egyptians, some of the needs we have and that they had are similar. So it is no surprise that we have inventions and technology to do the same types of jobs that the ancient Egyptians did.

2 comments:

  1. haha ya im pretty sure they didn't have walmarts in the middle of egypt. how did they even make papyrus? its not like they had a bunch of trees just laying around and a big factory...

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