Inventions Search Results

Years : 2,000 BC to 1,000 BC

31 Items listed

Generated : 3rd September 2010

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When	Invention	Place	Notes
2000 BC	Glass Tools	Africa	Njoro River in East Africa from black volcanic glass
2000 BC	Medical Prescriptions	Sumeria	recorded on stone tablets
2000 BC	Obelisk	Egypt	in Heliopolis (near modern Cairo)
2000 BC	Paved Roads	Crete	by the Minoans
2000 BC	Sanitation	Crete	by the Minoans
2000 BC	Underwater Tunnel	Babylonia	under River Euphrates (modern day Iraq) connecting king's palace with temple
2000 BC	Wooden Locks	Egypt
1850 BC	Contraceptives	Egypt
1800 BC	Corset	Crete	dated from a statue
1800 BC	Dyes	Crete	permanent purple dye for cloth from a marine snail
1800 BC	Positional Notation	Babylonia	based on 60s improved the writing of numbers
1800 BC	Use of Iron	Hittite	in modern Turkey
1750 BC	Formal Medicine	Babylonia	formalisation of its study and practice
1700 BC	The Alphabet	Phoenicia	in Ugarit (present day Syria) simplified learning to write
1600 BC	Chocolate	Central America	in modern Honduras
1600 BC	Rubber	Central America	from a tree sap - balls used in modern Mexico
1500 BC	Glazed Pottery	China	waterproof containers
1500 BC	Kiln Fired Bricks	Mesopotamia	for stronger buildings
1500 BC	Shoes	Egypt	left and right feet different
1500 BC	The Oar	Phoenicia	may have been used in China c2700BC
1500 BC	Water Tap	Egypt
1400 BC	Brush	Egypt	using hogs hair, later horse hair
1400 BC	Chariot	Egypt	introduced by the invading Hyksos (nomadic Asians)
1400 BC	Steel	Hittite	adding carbon to iron
1300 BC	Fertility Tests	Egypt
1200 BC	Metal Swords	Egypt
1200 BC	Ships With Keels	Phoenicia
1200 BC	Stellar Navigation	Phoenicia	using the pole star
1150 BC	Topographic Maps	Egypt
1000 BC	Dictionary	China	re-invented by Samual Johnson (England, 1604)
1000 BC	Kite	China

Key Moments

Iron began being used by the Hittites, who later invented steel, a harder alloy of iron. The Hittites are the first speakers of an Indo-European language known to history. Bronze arrived in Egypt around 1900 BC while copper was used in the Niger region of West Africa around 1730 BC. Bronze scythes were used in Europe in 1500 BC; bronze swords and armour reached Europe around 1250 BC.

Two other Indo-European speaking peoples make their appearance around 1600 BC. The Greeks, reached the Mediterranean area from the north. The Sanskrit speaking Ayrians invaded the the Indus Valley, destroying the existing civilisation; they would become the ancestors of the north Indians. Around 1000 BC, another Indo-European people, the Tocharians, reached western China; they are unknown apart from a few written tablets.

The invention of the alphabet allowed writing to become accessible to all. Far fewer symbols were required to express complex ideas. It could also be easilly adapted to other languages.

The original consonant-only alphabet of the Semitic-speaking Phoenicians spread West to Cyprus where vowels were added to adapt it to the Greek language. The Greek alphabet was adapted by the Etruscans and finally ended up in the Roman Empire as the Latin alphabet, used by many languages in the modern era (including on this web page).

The alphabet also spread East to give the modern Arabic and Hebrew alphabets as well as the many scripts of India and East Asia. Apart from China, all writing now uses alphabetic based writing.

The Babylonians developed positional notation based on the number 60 for writing numbers. This is the origin of 60 seconds in a minute (both for time and angles), 60 minutes in an hour, and 360 degrees in a complete turn. They also worked out the concept of squares and square roots. Hammurabi, king of Babylon, was born 1792 BC. He set up one of earliest law codes. His 282 laws included "an eye for an eye" and "let the buyer beware".

The Hindu calendar dates from c1000 BC.

Civilisation arrived in Palestine c1800 BC. The Canaanites founded Urusalim (the modern Jerusalem) around 1400 BC. Judaism began around 1200 BC. The nomadic Hebrews defeated the Canaanites 1125 BC. According to the Jewish and Christian Bible, the prophet Moses was active around 1250 BC while David ruled a large Jewish empire around 1000 BC. Most historians consider both characters to be mythical.

Ahmose was an Egyptian scribe who compiled a book on Egyptian mathematics around 1650 BC. Around 1490 BC Egypt had a female Pharoah: Hatshepsut. The Egyptian boy king, Tutankhamun (19) died in 1325 BC and was buried at Thebes; it would remain undisturbed for over 3200 years. Ramases II built the great temple at Abu Simbel in 1270 BC. After being hidden by sand, it was re-descovered in 1813 AD. In 1964 the whole structure was moved to save it from flooding caused by the Aswan High Dam. During his reign, the world's oldest peace treaty was signed with the Hittites.

Stonehenge was completed in England c1500 BC.

Kabul was founded (in modern Afghanistan) around 2000BC. Athens was founded in 1235 BC. Troy (in modern Turkey) fell in 1184 BC. Bishkek (modern Kyrgyzstan) dates from 1000 BC.

Civilisation began in Central America with the Olmecs (Mexico, Guatemala in 1250 BC) and in South America with the Chavin culture (Peru, 1200 BC) and the Paracas (also in Peru, 1100 BC). Irrigation canals were being used in North America (modern Arizona) c1000 BC.

In 1645 BC the Mediterranean island of Thera exploded destroying the Minoan civilisation on Crete. This was the origin of the legend of Atlantis.

Books From Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

KryssTal Related Pages

History of Writing

From the invention of pictographs, through the alphabet and to all the world's modern scripts and writing systems. Also displays samples of many of the world's writing systems, old and modern.

Borrowed Words From Egyptian

These are ancient words found in English from the Egyptian language of Pharoaic Egypt.

Borrowed Words From Phoenician

Some words found in English from the language of the Phoenicians.

The Indo-European Family

The most widely studied family of languages and the family with the largest number of speakers. Languages include English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian, German, Hindi, Bengali; and the classical languages of Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, and Persian.

Biographies

Biographies of Hammurabi, Ahmose, Hatshepsut and Tutankhamun.

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