EVIDENCES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DURING ANCIENT TIMES

A. Sumerian Civilization
Sumer cradle of the worlds earliest known civilization; ancient region in southern
Mesopotamia (southern Iraq); inhabited by various tribes from Central Asia (Sumerians)
Emergence of cities
Cuneiform first writing system; a set of word pictures depicted in symbols made of
triangular marks
Wedge-shape tip + wet clay tablets and then sundried
They wrote their history and culture
Sexagesimal system standardized measuring for counting ang and a form of place
notation; using the number 60 as base; divided circle into 360 deg and hour into 60 min and
60 sec
Intricate system of canals, dikes, wires and reservoirs
Engraved cylinder seals, decorative inlays, bronze and copper statues and heads (w/
precious stones) of deities and kings
Ziggurats term for their magnificent palaces and temples
Harps and lyres are recovered from excavation
Houses are a one-storey mud structure made of bricks
Woolen hangings, reed mats or skin rugs
Potters wheel believed to be a sumerian invention
Streets ( either foot or by donkey)
Built the 1st known wheeled vehicle, made of solid wooden wheels on axles, now regarded
as the greatest mechanical invention of all time
Complex but systematized technique of farming followed the prepared farmer almanacs
Seed plow also sumerian invention
Wool of sheep made into textiles woven into fine cloth
Bleaching, dyeing, mixing pigments, preparing paints, cosmetics and perfume
Invented the sailboat brought goods to lands along Persian Gulf where precious stones,
ivory and other luxury items can be obtained
Sumerian doctors made use of assorted botanical, zoological, and mineralogical ingredients
as materia medica in their Px
Sumerian civilization was absorbed by Semitic people who migrated to Mesopotamia from
Arabia and founded the great empires of Babylonia, Assyria and Persia

B. Babylonian Civilization
Babylonia bordering Tigris and Euphrates rivers what now known as southern Iraq
Assyria was in the northern boundary, the Arabian desert on south and west and Persian
gulf on southern border.
Sumerian civilization origin or foundation
Babylon (capital) commercial and religious center in the tigris-euphrates valley
Promulgation of law code greatest accomplishment of Hammurabi
Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the construction of Hanging Gardens of Babylon (1 of the 7
wonders of the world) and the Isthar Gate
System of bookkeeping, simple but adequate system of double entry accounting
Adopted sexagesimal system
Accurate predictions in solar and lunar eclipses
C. Egyptian civilization
Situated in northeastern part of African continent
Egypt is a desert country
Agricultural economy
Nile river (root)
Divided into 2 parts: Lower Egypt in the north and Upper Egypt in the south (2x large)
Agriculture was supproted by extensive irrigation systems and by taking advantage of
Niles annual inundations
Animal hunters with weapons and traps early settlers
@neolithic period, sketches of cattle and goats appeared (Change as nomadic hunters
to farmland settlers)
Eventually two main kingdoms were formed under MENES
MANETHO, Egyptian priest and historian divided the span of Egypt history into 31
dynasties or families
Scholars grouped that into 5 periods each lasting about 500 years
Archaic period, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, Late Period
Then conquered by Alexander the Great
Old, Middle, New Kingdom most important periods
People were evidently skilled craftsmen (Tools, utensils, weapons made of metal as well
as pottery)
Weavers, used horizontal looms to weave linen
Houses made of sun-dried mud bricks
Temples and boats made of reeds
Paper made of papyrus reeds; ink made in solid blocks to be mixed with water
Hieroglyphics, egyptian writing in the form of pictorial symbols representing individual
objects or actions
Napoleon Bonaparte invaded and intend making it a part of French republic
Rosetta stone found in Nile delta by french soldiers w/ inscriptions in three languages:
hieroglyphics, demotic (simplified common script of ancient egypt) and ancient greek
Time, calculate distances/directions, forecast, predict annual flooding of Nile river
Earliest Egyptian calendar based on Sirius, brigthest star, and another base on phases of
the moon with 29 and days
1st 365-day calendar was devised by IMHOTEP , in old kingdom
Julius caesar brought it to rome and adapted it (Known in Roman empire as Julian
calendar)
1st to divide the day into 24 hrs
Calculated time using a water clock , a conical earthen vessel with hrs equally marked
off on the inside and spout at the bottom
Canals store floodwater; canals and ditches have outlet system
Gauges checking water levels
Wheat and barley made into bread and beer
Potters wheel
Drinking cups