Wheel and axle
One of the greatest inventions of all time, the wheel and axle was an invention of the Fertile Crescent. It revolutionized the trade business by allowing you to pull a cart rather than carrying what you could on your back. The wheel and axle worked the same as it still does though it was usually made of wood rather than rubber.
School
School is where children went to learn to read and write. They would become scribes after they were done with school. School was held outside rather than inside like we do. Rules were strict and if you talked out of turn or did not do well you were caned, which is being hit by a long cane.
Hammurabi's code
There were 282 laws in Hammurabi's code, which was the first written law. Hammurabi was a king in one of Mesopotamia's city-states, and invented a code that he believed was fair. The punishments largely depended on your social class. For example, if a low class person attacked someone in a higher class, the punishment would most likely be death, but if a high-class person attacked a low class person, he may just have to pay a fine.
Cuneiform-
Cuneiform was the first written language. The writers of this language were called scribes, who went to the first schools to learn to read and write. Cuneiform was written by breaking off part of a reed called a stylus and pressing the stylus onto a piece of wet clay. Cuneiform was a pictographic writing, using pictures instead of letters. Cuneiform was used to keep the first written law and played an important role in Mesopotamian society. All trade could now be written down, helping keep track of say, how many cows you sold that month.
Ancient Egypt
Hieroglyphics
Hieroglyphics were the writing of ancient Egypt. There were 3 main types of hieroglyphics:
- Hieroglyphics- The more ceremonial, pictographic type.
- Hieratic-The faster more common type, more lines and squiggles than pictures.
- Demotic- Later script of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, more phonetic based.
The hieroglyphic language also had alphabetic, determinative and phonetic signs along with abbreviations and ideograms.
Pyramids
Pyramids were the ancient Egyptian tombs. They were built for pharaohs after they died, to honor them. Inside of the pyramids were many false chambers to fool tomb robbers. Also the Egyptians gave the pharaoh everything they thought he would need in the afterlife, food, pets, their favorite games, anything they liked in their life. Pyramids were built from many stones, and always built on the west side of the Nile, for that was the land of the dead.
Papyrus
Papyrus was the first sort of paper. It was made from the stem of the plant. The outer layer is first stripped off, and the sticky inner pith is cut lengthwise into thin strips of about 40 cm long. The strips are then placed side by side on a hard surface, with their edges slightly overlapping, and then another layer of strips is laid on top at a right angle. The strips may have been soaked in water long enough for decomposition to begin.While still wet, the two layers are hammered together, mashing the layers into a single sheet. The sheet is then dried under pressure. After drying, the sheet of newly made paper is polished with some rounded object, probably a stone.
Mummification
The ancient Egyptians discovered a way to preserve the bodies of the called mummification. An embalmer would make a cut in the side of the body and remove all the organs except the heart. He would then remove the brain through a nostril using a hook shaped tool. After that the embalmer covered the body with natron and let it dry for 70 days. After the body dried he would stuff the body with sawdust, ashes, and salt. He then either wrapped the organs and put them back in the body, or put them in canopic jars. The embalmer would then apply cosmetics and artificial hair before it was wrapped tightly with cloth. Now wrapped with many strips of cloth, the pharaoh would then be put into his sarcophagus, where he was transported to his pyramid.
Ancient Greece
Composite Bow
The composite bow was a huge war innovation because it provided a bow with much greater strength and a much smaller size. Gluing lengths of animal tendon together on the outside and having strips of animal horn (usually bison) on the inside. It is all stretched when the bowstring is pulled launching the arrows accurately up to 200 yards. The composite bow archer fires a light arrow and can carry up to 50 to a quiver. It also has the enormous advantage of reaching only from the head of the archer down to his waist.
