Located in the Nile valley in the northeast of Africa, an ancient civilization dominated by agriculture, the Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, appeared before 4000 BC. It is the country with the longest history of slavery in the world and was occupied by foreigners in 525 BC. In terms of technology, ancient Egypt has long influenced neighboring nationalities and left a precious legacy for human civilization. Ancient Egypt was the first country in the world to enter the slave society, so its origin and science and technology based on ideological externalization must be at the highest level of development in the world at that time.

1。 Astronomy and mathematics

Agricultural production in ancient Egypt needs to know the exact date of the Nile flooding, so it is very important to determine the seasons according to the astronomical phenomena, and astronomical knowledge is constantly accumulating and enriching. The ancient Egyptians founded the earliest solar calendar in human history in 2787 BC. The formulation method is to set the day when Sirius and the sun rise on the horizon at the same time (when the Nile begins to flood) as the beginning of a year, with three seasons *** 12 months, 30 days per month, plus 5 days of year-end festivals * * * 365 days a year. This calendar only has a difference of 1/4 days every year, which is the original basis of the Gregorian calendar in the world today. Because the Nile floods every year, it is necessary to re-measure and demarcate the land. After years of work, the ancient Egyptians did more practical exercises in geometry than any other nation at that time, and accumulated a lot of mathematical knowledge. With the construction of water conservancy facilities, temples and pyramids, these mathematical knowledge has been applied and further enriched and developed. The ancient Egyptians used the counting system of 10 to calculate the area of rectangle, triangle, trapezoid and circle, as well as the volume of regular cylinder and truncated square cone. They use pi = 3.1605. Algebraically, the ancient Egyptians could solve linear equations with one variable and some simple quadratic equations with one variable. This knowledge later became the basis for the ancient Greeks to develop mathematics.

2。 Anatomy and medicine

The ancient Egyptians believed that people could continue to live in another world after death, so they dissected the dead and painted them into mummies. As a result, they have accumulated a lot of knowledge about human physiology and anatomy, which is undoubtedly beneficial to their medical development. Doctors in ancient Egypt were able to perform surgical operations to treat eye diseases, toothache, diarrhea, lung diseases and many gynecological diseases. They use all kinds of plants, animals and minerals to make medicines. Medicine in ancient Egypt was the most advanced in the world at that time, and this knowledge later had a great influence on western medicine through the ancient Greeks.

3。 Handicraft technology

Egypt's handicraft industry has also developed to a considerable extent. As early as 2700 BC, the ancient Egyptians built 47-meter-long ships. The technology of making glass was invented in 1600 BC, and the manufacturing technology of pottery, linen fabric, leather, papyrus (used for writing) and jewelry also reached a high level. Ancient Egyptians learned bronze smelting technology before and after the completion of 1500 BC, but copper resources were not rich. Iron was used late, and it was not until the 7th century BC that bronze was generally replaced.

4。 building technology

Architectural technology is a comprehensive technology, which can largely reflect the overall technical level of a society, especially in ancient times. The most remarkable technological achievement in ancient Egypt in human history is the construction of huge pyramids and temples with stones that still exist today. The pyramids are the tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs (kings). The largest of the more than 70 existing pyramids is pyramid of khufu, which was built in 2600 BC. The tower height 146.5 meters, and the bottom is a square with a length of meters. It is made of polished boulders, each weighing an average of 2.5 tons and using about 2.3 million boulders. The stones were not bonded with plaster, and the joints were tight. Temple architecture in ancient Egypt is also amazing. For example, in the 4th century BC/kloc-0, a temple was built in the Karnak Temple near the Nile. Its main hall covers an area of about 5,000 square meters and stands 134 huge circular stone pillars, of which the largest 12 is 3.6 meters in diameter and about 2 1 meter in height, which shows its spectacular degree. Under the condition of using stone tools and bronzes three or four thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians actually built such magnificent buildings as pyramids and temples, which is really a miracle of human history.