Antiguo egipto

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SCIENCE

Egyptian

scientists

were

interested in:

•observing nature
•practical engineering
From left to right, Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu

The pyramids and temples,for

example,

show

good

knowledge of geometry and engineering.
Dimensions of the Great Pyramid in royal cubits.

Because the Nile flood was so important to
Egyptian farming,scientists:

•Measure how high the flood was going
each year The device they used to measure the height of the Nile flood is called a Nilometer (ny-LA-muh-terr).

They also worked out good ways to movewater from the Nile to outlying farms in

the desert, using hand-powered irrigation
pumps and canals.

TECHNOLOGY
 Faience and glass
• The ancient Egyptians had developed a glassy materialknown as faience, which they treated as a type of artificial semi-precious stone. Faience is a non-clay ceramic made of silica, small amounts of lime and soda, and a colorant, typically copper. Thematerial was used to make beads, tiles, figurines, and small wares. •The ancient Egyptians could fabricate a wide variety of objects from glass with great skill. They did have technical expertise inmaking objects, as well as adding trace elements to control the color of the finished glass. A range of colors could be produced, including yellow, red, green, blue, purple, and white, and the glasscould be made either transparent or opaque.

MEDICINE
 The medical problems of the ancient Egyptians stemmed directly from their environment. Living and working close to the Nile brought hazards frommalaria and debilitating schistosomiasis parasites, which

caused liver and intestinal damage.
 The life-long labors of farming and building put stress on the spine and joints, and traumaticinjuries from construction and warfare

all took a significant toll on the body.

 Herodotus remarked that there was a high degree of specialization among Egyptian physicians, with some treating...