advent of some of the earliest iron working
Ancient Period
technology in the Aïr Mountains region of what is
today Niger and the erection of some of the
During the growth of the ancient
world's oldest monuments, pyramids and towers
civilizations, ancient technology was the result
in Egypt, Nubia, and North Africa. In Nubia and
from advances in engineering in ancient times.
ancient Kush, glazed quartzite and building in
These advances in the history of technology
brick was developed to a greater extent than in
stimulated societies to adopt new ways of living
Egypt. Parts of the East African Swahili Coast
and governance.
saw the creation of the world's oldest carbon steel
This section includes the advances in creation with high-temperature blast furnaces
technology and the development of several created by the Haya people of Tanzania.
engineering sciences in historic times before the
Middle Ages, which began after the fall of the
1. Stone Age
Western Roman Empire in AD 476, the death of
Justinian I in the 6th century, the coming of Islam The Stone Age is contemporaneous with
in the 7th century, or the rise of Charlemagne in the evolution of the genus Homo, with the
the 8th century. For technologies developed in possible exception of the early Stone Age, when
medieval societies, see Medieval technology and species prior to Homo may have manufactured
Inventions in medieval Islam. tools.
A significant number of inventions were
developed in the Islamic world; a geopolitical
region that has at times extended from al-Andalus
and Africa in the west to the Indian subcontinent
and Malay Archipelago in the east. Many of these
inventions had direct implications for Fiqh related
issues.
Obsidian projectile point
I. Ancient civilizations
A. Africa
Technology in Africa has a history stretching
to the beginning of the human species, stretching
back to the first evidence of tool use by hominid
ancestors in the areas of Africa where humans
are believed to have evolved. Africa saw the
A
variety of stone tools
areas proto-writing, and other early features of
2. Bronze Age urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second
principal period of the three-age Stone-Bronze-
The Bronze Age is a historical period that
Iron system, as proposed in modern times by
was characterized by the use of bronze, in some
Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, for classifying and Late 3rd Millennium BC silver cup from
studying ancient societies. Marvdasht, Fars, with linear-Elamite inscription.
Harrapan face of Indus Valley, one of the earliest
Bronze Age Civilizations
Master of Animals in chlorite, Jiroft culture, c.
2500 BC, Bronze Age I
Bronze mirror with a female human figure at the
base, Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1540–1296
BC)
Chalcolithic copper mine in Timna Valley,
Negev Desert, Israel
Sphinx-lion of Thutmose III 1479–1425 BC
A Shang dynasty two-handled bronze Gold 'Mask of Agamemnon' produced during
gefuding gui (1600–1046 BC) the Mycenaean civilization, from Mycenae,
Greece, 1550 BC
3. Iron Age
Bronze artifacts from Daegok-ri, Hwasun,
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-
Korea
age division of the prehistory and protohistory of
humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age
(Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, and
Chalcolithic) and the Bronze Age. The concept
has been mostly applied to Europe and the
Ancient Near East, and, by analogy, also to other
parts of the Old World.
Silla chest and neck armour from National
Museum of Korea
2nd century BC Yayoi dōtaku bronze bell.
Lingling-o earrings from Luzon, Philippines Ljubljana Marshes Wheel with axle
Three spoked wheels on an antique tricycle
B. Mesopotamia
They were one of the first Bronze Age
people in the world. Early on they used copper,
bronze and gold, and later they used iron.
Palaces were decorated with hundreds of
kilograms of these very expensive metals. Also,
copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as
well as for different weapons such as swords, A depiction of an onager-drawn cart on the
daggers, spears, and maces. Sumerian "battle standard of Ur" (c. 2500 BC)
A large cuneiform inscription
Spoked wheels on the ancient Etruscan
Monteleone chariot, 2nd quarter of the 6th
century BC
Six Simple Machines
C. Egypt
The Egyptians invented and used many Bronze Chariot
simple machines, such as the ramp to aid
construction processes. They were among the
first to extract gold by large-scale mining using
fire-setting, and the first recognizable map, the
Turin papyrus shows the plan of one such mine in
Stone chariot
Nubia.
D. Greece
The Great Pyramid of Giza, the only one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still The latter Greeks of the first millennium BC
standing had a (still not very effective) cavalry arm (indeed,
it has been argued that these early horseback
riding soldiers may have given rise to the
development of the later, heavily armed foot-
soldiers known as hoplite), and the rocky terrain
of the Greek mainland was unsuited for wheeled
vehicles. Consequently, in historical Greece the
chariot was never used to any extent in war.
Nevertheless, the chariot retained a high status
and memories of its era were handed down in
epic poetry. Linear B tablets from Mycenaean
palaces record large inventories of chariots,
sometimes with specific details as to how many
chariots were assembled or not (i.e. stored in
Papyrus modular form). Later the vehicles were used in
games and processions, notably for races at the
Olympic and Panathenaic Games and other engineering practices utilized and developed by
public festivals in ancient Greece. the civilization of ancient Rome (753 BC – 476
AD).The Roman Empire was a technologically
E. Ancient China advanced civilization of antiquity. The Romans
incorporated technologies from the Greeks,
The Four Great Inventions of China: the
Etruscans, and Celts. The technology developed
compass, gunpowder, paper making, and printing
by a civilization is limited by the available sources
were among the most important technological
of energy, and the Romans were no different in
advances, only known in Europe by the end of the
this sense. Accessible sources of energy
Middle Ages.
determine the ways in which power is generated.
According to the Scottish researcher Joseph The main types of power accessed by the ancient
Needham, the Chinese made many first-known Romans were human, animal, and water.
discoveries and developments. Major
Artistic rendition of the Pantheon
technological contributions from China include
early seismological detectors, matches, paper,
the double-action piston pump, cast iron, the iron
plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the suspension
bridge, natural gas as fuel, the magnetic
compass, the raised-relief map, the propeller, the
crossbow, the south-pointing chariot, and
gunpowder. Other Chinese discoveries and
inventions from the Medieval period, according to
Joseph Needham's research, include: block
printing and movable type, phosphorescent paint,
Roman baths
and the spinning wheel.
II. The Middle Ages
Gunpowder
The Middle Ages, far from being miserable
and bloody, was a period of great invention and
innovation., far from being miserable and bloody,
was a period of great invention and innovation.
F. Roman Empire
Roman technology is the collection of
techniques, skills, methods, processes, and
1. The Printing press was revolutionary 6. The hourglass was a great way of keeping
time
2. The Coffee House was ahead of its time
3. The heavy plow led to the Agricultural 7. Gunpowder changed the world
Revolution
4. Verge escapement/mechanical clocks
replaced hourglasses
8. The Blast furnace first appeared in
Switzerland and Germany
5. Paper 'money' is older than you think
9. Liquor was a Medieval thing
10. The wheelbarrow was invented in the 13. The Tidal Mill first appeared in Ireland
Middle Ages
14. Pintle-and-gudgeon Stern-Mounted
Rudders shrank the world
11. The flying buttress is an iconic Middle Age
development
15. Eyeglasses made everything clear
12. The spinning wheel was invented in India
16. Treadmill cranes made building easier III. MODERN AGES
A, Philippines
Panabas. is a curved-blade weapon.
17. Cannon changed warfare forever
Balisong
18. The Astrolabe was an early computer
A kampilan hilt is sometimes wrapped with
rattan to improve the grip. The two holes on
the crossguard are where the metal "staples"
(C- or U-shaped) go, as additional protection
for the wielder's hand.
Two lantakas Jeepneys around Manila
The model of a Torogan
The balangay replica docked at CCP Harbor
Manila after its South East Asian expedition
A lute or Kutiyapi from Mindanao bearing
Ukkil motifs
Chicken adobo
A five-key bamboo version regularly used in
performances by Kontra-Gapi, a modern
ethnic music ensemble from the Philippines
Sinigang
a bowl of Halo-halo. Eskrima masters along with students in Cebu
City, Philippines
Puto wrapped in a banana leaf.
A cup of Taho
