Discoveries, Inventions, and Proliferations of Ideas Prior

¶ … discoveries, inventions, and proliferations of ideas prior to 500 B.C.E. While some of those inventions simply make our lives today easier and more efficient, there are others that have changed the world in dramatic ways. This paper will explain five inventions prior to 500 CE, and will explain how those inventions have altered the course of history.

One major invention prior to 500 CE was that of the wheel, thought to be invented prior to 7000 BCE. The oldest wheel discovered was located in Mesopotamia, and dates to 3,500 BCE, but evidence suggests the use of the wheel far before this time. The original wheel was made by the Sumerians, and consisted of planks of word joined together. Over time, the wheel was improved by the Egyptians, and the Greeks (Katsiavriades, 2004). Obviously, without the wheel, the world today would be far different. The wheel allowed for faster and easier travel, increased agricultural production, increased carrying capacity, and increased military strength. The wheel was vital in the spreading of cultures and ideas, as well as farming and relocation in the ancient world, and is still vital today for those same purposes.

Another important idea was that of irrigation. The earliest records of irrigation date back to ancient Egypt, in 5000 BCE. By 2100 BCE, elaborate systems were used to transfer water from the Nile River through a 12-mile channel that flowed to Lake Moeris (Katsiavriades, 2004). Irrigation was vital to those societies in areas of low water supply. Without irrigation, farming on the grand scale we see today would have been impossible. Since farming still makes up so much of not only our income, but also as a supply of food, and since without irrigation, individuals would have to travel long distances to obtain water supplies, the invention of irrigation helped to make most civilizations prosper and survive.

A third major invention was that of the written language, thought to be created by the Sumerians in 3,200 BCE. Cuneiform writing, as it was called, was a system of hieroglyphics consisting of over 550 characters. The language was used throughout the Middle East for thousands of years. Since the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia traded extensively with Egyptians and Indians, it is thought that writing spread to other cultures via the Sumerians (Katsiavriades, 2004). Without this written language, civilizations would not have been able to write detailed accounts of their societies. Wit writing, it was possible to teach and learn through writing, rather than relying on one-on-one communication. Since many of our current technologies are based on ideas in ancient times, it was vital to have the ability to write those ideas, to avoid the loss of information over time. Additionally, the written language allowed for cross cultural communication, a vital piece of the world, even today.

A fourth major invention was that of the numbering system, originally developed by the Sumerians in 3100 BCE. The numbering system created introduced the base 60 system we still use today to divide the hour into minutes, and the circle into 360 degrees (Katsiavriades, 2004). Additionally, the creation of the number system allowed for astronomical calculations and distance calculations, vital to farming and industry. Since the system was adopted by almost every Mediterranean nation, and was adapted into the system we know today, the numbering system was primarily responsible for the later development of geometry, and all mathematically based inventions.