Contributions
Ancient Egypt made many practical contributions that we today still use. Ancient Egypt stretched over time and made a numerous amount of contributions that involved the calendar, hieroglyphics, trading, math, paper, and keeping track of time.
Calendar
Without Ancient Egypt, we today wouldn’t have a well organized calendar. The first calendar was based off the farming season. The farming season included three seasons, the flooding season, the planting season, and the harvest season. Each season lasted for three months. The total number of days in the farming season 360 days. But, the Egyptians knew that they needed a few more days, so they added five more days to honor the gods. The final calendar was made up of a cycle of 365 days per year.
Hieroglyphics
The Egypt’s made a system of writing by scribes. The type of writing was called hieroglyphics. Each hieroglyphic had its own meaning. It took time to write down the hieroglyphic because they went into such great details. Since the hieroglyphics took a lot of time to write down, Scribes began working with a new type of writing called the Demotic Script. Years later, archeologists discovered hieroglyphics that were written on tomb walls, but the archaeologists did not understand what the different hieroglyphics meant. Two hundred years ago, archaeologists found an old stone from Ancient Egypt. The short story written on the rock was written in Greek in Demotic Script and hieroglyphics. Because archaeologists could read Greek, the were able to read the Demotic Script and then they were also able to read hieroglyphics too. The stone that was found from Ancient Egypt was called Rosetta Stone, and it is held in the British museum in England.
Trading
Today will pay money to get goods and food, but today we also trade goods. Ancient Egypt was huge on trading. They traded gold, papyrus, linen, and grain for cedar wood, ebony, copper, iron, ivory, and lapis lazuli .
The ships would trade the goods on the Nile River. Once the goods were brought to land they would then again be brought to the towns or cities by camel, cart, or sometimes even on foot. The merchants would set up their shops in a public town and sell them.
The ships would trade the goods on the Nile River. Once the goods were brought to land they would then again be brought to the towns or cities by camel, cart, or sometimes even on foot. The merchants would set up their shops in a public town and sell them.
Math
The ancient Egypt math system was made up of seven symbols. The seven symbols are, a single stroke, a heel bone (an upside-down smile), a coil of rope, a lotus plant, a finger, a frog, and a kneeling god. With addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division the seven symbols you could count millions. The Egyptians also created a system of algebraic. Algebra helped to make the pyramids.
Paper
Papyrus was a weed that grew along the Nile River. It grew 10 feet tall. Papyrus was used for many things such as paper, baskets, sandals, mats, rope, blankets, tables, chairs, mattresses, medicine, perfume, food, and clothes. Out of everything that was made out of papyrus, paper was the most popular and well known material for paper.
To make paper in ancient Egypt they first soaked the papyrus to soften it, then they mashed it. Next, they forced together the mashed papyrus into sheets. After the mashed papyrus was placed into sheets it dried. After that, the cut the dried papyrus sheets into strips. To make the paper thick they would pile the strips of papyrus sheets on top of eachother. Then, they beat the stack of sheets down with a hammer to attach the strips together. After, they placed a weight on top of the paper to make the paper thin and sturdy. Following that step, they dried the stack.
Paper was used to for books. The books that they made back in ancient Egypt are different than the books that we have today because today the pages of the book are not long, where as in ancient Egypt, there books have long pages because the stacks of paper are packed onto more strips of paper. Some books could be as long as 150 feet long. The books in ancient Egypt are also different than modern day books because the cover and the back cover are usually made out of more paper. Ancient Egypts book covers are made out of wood and if you are rich then you can get a book with the cover made out of ivory.
To make paper in ancient Egypt they first soaked the papyrus to soften it, then they mashed it. Next, they forced together the mashed papyrus into sheets. After the mashed papyrus was placed into sheets it dried. After that, the cut the dried papyrus sheets into strips. To make the paper thick they would pile the strips of papyrus sheets on top of eachother. Then, they beat the stack of sheets down with a hammer to attach the strips together. After, they placed a weight on top of the paper to make the paper thin and sturdy. Following that step, they dried the stack.
Paper was used to for books. The books that they made back in ancient Egypt are different than the books that we have today because today the pages of the book are not long, where as in ancient Egypt, there books have long pages because the stacks of paper are packed onto more strips of paper. Some books could be as long as 150 feet long. The books in ancient Egypt are also different than modern day books because the cover and the back cover are usually made out of more paper. Ancient Egypts book covers are made out of wood and if you are rich then you can get a book with the cover made out of ivory.
Keeping track of time
Ancient Egypt was one of the first to divide the day up into sections so that they could tell the time. In 3500 B.C.E. used shadows to tell what time it is. After the shadow clock, the invented a small portable timepiece that the could carry around. The rod was marked 1-12 (like the clocks today).