Cuneiform writing

Towards the end of the fourth millennium a. C. the Sumerians

began to write their language by means of pictograms, which
were symbols that represented words and objects. Towards
2600 a. C. the symbols were already different from the original
ideogram, and at the end of the millennium, they were different.

This writing was used on tablets of wet clay, by means of a

vegetable stem beveled in the shape of a wedge, which is where
the name comes from. It was adopted by several languages, such
as Akkadian, Elamite or Hittite, and also inspired the alphabets of the ancient Persian and the
Ugaritic.

Currency

Although we usually think that the coin is a more or less modern piece, in fact the first ones that
were printed are from the VII-VI century BC. C. and the 1st century d. C., that is to say, that makes
at least twenty centuries that the humanity pays with currencies.

Where were they created? According to the American historian Will Durant, the king of Assyria
Senquerib coined the first. Subsequently, the currencies expanded throughout all developed
countries.

Whell, one of the greatest inventions

Another of the important inventions of Mesopotamia is the wheel. It consists of a mechanical piece
of circular shape that rotates on an axis. It is very simple, but tremendously useful. Proof of this are
the cars that allow us to travel kilometers away, the shopping carts that we can fill completely
without our back suffering from it, or the bicycles thanks to which we can feel the fresh air on our
faces while giving a ride or exercise.

As well. All this we can do thanks to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, who invented it around 2500
a. C.

Mathematics and the sexagesimal system

The Sumerian civilization distinguished itself quickly from the others by its development of
mathematics, both in arithmetic and in algebra. The mathematicians of the time created the tables
of multiplication, division, square roots and cubic, and began to solve algebraic equations.

They developed a sexagesimal system, based on the number 60, so they could divide the sky in 360
degrees, the hours in 60 minutes, and the minutes in 60 seconds.

Astrology

Although at present it is considered a pseudoscience, for the Mesopotamian civilization it was very
important. They needed to orient themselves in the sky, so they associated some closer stars in
groups. Thus, they invented the oldest constellations, such as Leo, Taurus, Scorpio and Capricorn.
A more systematic approach is described in Mul Apin tablets, dating from
the Assyrian era, around 1000 BC. C. Stars and constellations are classified
into three well-defined groups associated with three gods: Enlil, the god
of the wind; Anu, the god of Heaven; and Ea, the god of sweet waters.

Astronomy

Once they had the first notions of astrology, they could begin to orient
themselves better in the sky, so that as time passed, they began to study
the stars, and all the celestial objects visible from Earth.

Calendar, one of the important inventions

In Mesopotamia one of the first was created - there are those who think it was the first - calendar,
around 4000 BC. C. The months had four weeks of seven days, the last two days of each month being
out of account.

The boat and the sail

Being between two rivers, it was inevitable that they wanted to be able to navigate them,
transporting food or other objects to different points of the territory as quickly as possible. Thus,
they created several types of wooden boats, to which they gave them a name, such as the sailboat,
which they called guffa.

Plow

To get a better harvest, it is important to prepare the land beforehand. Therefore, we must remove
the wild grass that is growing at those times, and open furrows to be able to sow the seeds. If you
have animals, such as horses or oxen, the task is much simpler and you do not get tired as much.

In Mesopotamia the plow was created, towards 3500 a. C., thus allowing agriculture to develop
rapidly, first in the Middle East, and then in the rest of the world.

Metallurgy

The human being has been working copper since the Neolithic, it is a mineral that is in almost pure
state. However, it was not towards the middle of the III millennium a. C., in Mesopotamia, where
metallurgy flourished, since the first techniques of forging and obtaining metal from metal ores
appeared.

Around 1200-1000 a. C., the use of iron was incorporated. Although it was very difficult to find and
the price was very high, so its use was restricted to the military.
tHe origin of some utensils

Did you know that many of the household utensils we used were invented or used by the ancient
Egyptians? Among them are the key and lock, combs, scissors, wigs, makeup, deodorants,
toothbrush and even toothpaste. Curious, right?

Mummies

The common Egyptians were not mummified, but they were buried in pits where the heat and dry
conditions of the desert mummified them naturally.

The great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza, the only one of the Seven

Wonders of the Ancient World, which has survived to this
day, consists of 2,300,000 individual stone blocks, each with
a weight of around 2.5 tons.

Perfume in the head

The Egyptian women of antiquity, instead of wearing

perfume on their skin, wore it on their heads in the form of
perfumed cones.

They preferred dogs

Contrary to popular belief, dogs and not cats are the most common mascot in Egypt. Cats were
considered too special to be the pets of normal people.

Duel for your pets

The Egyptians loved their pets. But what happened when one died? There was great desolation
among the inhabitants of the house for the death of the pet. According to the Greek historian
Herodotus of Halicarnassus, who visited Egypt in the middle of the fifth century BC, they plucked
their eyebrows as a sign of affliction when their cat died, and they shaved the whole body, including
the head, if the one that died was a dog .

Mummified pets

Since embalming was expensive, the fact that a pet was mummified indicated that it had been very
special to its owner. They were also buried in their own graves. It is known of an Egyptian who
introduced the mummy of his most beloved animal inside his own sarcophagus. Dogs have also been
carefully mummified and huddled at the feet of their masters. It is possible that in life the pet slept
at the feet of his master, so the owner decided to remain so until after his death.

Your future

Since they were born, they were saving and keeping some of the goods they had to pay for a good
tomb, a good mummification, and if they could afford it, a copy as extensive as possible of the "book
of the dead" which appeared a series of magical spells that They cheated the gods to let them
through.
The book of the dead

The Book of the Dead was a fundamental work of ancient Egyptian

culture. It was a very extensive text: some specimens preserved
in rolls of papyrus reach forty meters. It was also an expensive
product, for which one could pay a silver one, half the annual
payment of a peasant. But, for the Egyptians, the value of this text
was incalculable, since its formulas allowed the deceased to reach
the Hereafter.

Calendar

Finally, to the ancient Egyptians we owe the preparation of a 365-day calendar that subsists until
now, only modified twice; in the 1st century BC when the Julian Calendar was drawn up and in 1582
when the Gregorian Calendar was established (Gregory XIII).