Did Ancient Egypt lack use of the wheel or were late comers?
Nov 8, 2013 0:50:02 GMT -5
anansi and locdiva like this
Post by zarahan on Nov 8, 2013 0:50:02 GMT -5
It is accepted as axiomatic in some quarters that
the Egyptians lacked the wheel until the coming of
the Semitic Hyskos incursion. Some modern books
like Paul Johnson's The Civilization of Ancient Egypt
1999, repeats this view of late wheel users. But data
from other scholars calls this claim into question: QUOTE:
Sledges and Siege equipment
"Interestingly, the earliest representation of
wheeled vehicle from Egypt (tomb of Sebeknekht at
El Kab, Dynasty XIII) shows sledges, mounted on
four disk wheels rather than rollers."
-- Wheeled vehicles and ridden animals in the
ancient Near East (1997), By M. A. Littauer, J.
H. Crouwel. p14
Wheeled vehicles not of much use in heavy, large-scale monumental
building projects like pyramids
"Little is known about the raising of loads using ropes,
but stone grooves and pulleys, around which ropes
would have passed, are preserved from the 4th Dynasty,
and wooden wheels for simple rope pulleys existed from
the Middle Kingdom onwards."
"Much earlier forerunners are shown in tomb paintings of the late
Old Kingdom and the 11th Dynasty showing siege towers with
wheels; depictions of movable siege towers exist from the 6th
Dynasty onwards.) This indicates that the wheel was used in the
transport of heavy loads more frequently than assumed..
The use of wheeled equipment in building is not yet attested
to but may have been fairly common. The soft surface of the
desert sand and the mud of the cultivation may have been a
serious obstacle for heavy carriages but not so much for sledges."
--The encyclopaedia of ancient Egyptian architecture
By Dieter Arnold. 2002. p 195
"In all probability wheels would have been of little practical use,
for the building blocks used were far too large and too heavy to
be carried on a wooden-wheeled cart. The relative scarcity of
wood in ancient Egypt would have made the building of such
carts difficult and overcoming the practical and technical difficulties
of building carts to carry and move great weights would have probably
proved impossible.
Wheels would have been, in any event, a far from practical method
of transport on either agricultural land or the desert where they would
have become quickly bogged down in either mud or sand."
--R. Partridge. (1996) Transport in ancient Egypt. p76
Wheeled vehicles exist as far back as the Old Kingdom
like 4 wheeled carts or carriages used to move coffins or
religious regalia (the bark or ship of a particular god for example)
during his festival processions. Hyskos may have brought different
wheel VARIANTS, and their deployment in transport, but the wheel
and its use (including transport when deemed useful) is old news in Egypt
long before said Asiatics appeared
"The solid wooden wheel existed from the Old Kingdom,
but it was too heavy for regular transport use over rough
ground surfaces and was only employed on four wheeled carriages,
which sometimes carried coffins or the god's sacred bark during
his festival procession."
--Rosalie David 1999. HANDBOOK TO LIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT. p260
the Egyptians lacked the wheel until the coming of
the Semitic Hyskos incursion. Some modern books
like Paul Johnson's The Civilization of Ancient Egypt
1999, repeats this view of late wheel users. But data
from other scholars calls this claim into question: QUOTE:
Sledges and Siege equipment
"Interestingly, the earliest representation of
wheeled vehicle from Egypt (tomb of Sebeknekht at
El Kab, Dynasty XIII) shows sledges, mounted on
four disk wheels rather than rollers."
-- Wheeled vehicles and ridden animals in the
ancient Near East (1997), By M. A. Littauer, J.
H. Crouwel. p14
Wheeled vehicles not of much use in heavy, large-scale monumental
building projects like pyramids
"Little is known about the raising of loads using ropes,
but stone grooves and pulleys, around which ropes
would have passed, are preserved from the 4th Dynasty,
and wooden wheels for simple rope pulleys existed from
the Middle Kingdom onwards."
"Much earlier forerunners are shown in tomb paintings of the late
Old Kingdom and the 11th Dynasty showing siege towers with
wheels; depictions of movable siege towers exist from the 6th
Dynasty onwards.) This indicates that the wheel was used in the
transport of heavy loads more frequently than assumed..
The use of wheeled equipment in building is not yet attested
to but may have been fairly common. The soft surface of the
desert sand and the mud of the cultivation may have been a
serious obstacle for heavy carriages but not so much for sledges."
--The encyclopaedia of ancient Egyptian architecture
By Dieter Arnold. 2002. p 195
"In all probability wheels would have been of little practical use,
for the building blocks used were far too large and too heavy to
be carried on a wooden-wheeled cart. The relative scarcity of
wood in ancient Egypt would have made the building of such
carts difficult and overcoming the practical and technical difficulties
of building carts to carry and move great weights would have probably
proved impossible.
Wheels would have been, in any event, a far from practical method
of transport on either agricultural land or the desert where they would
have become quickly bogged down in either mud or sand."
--R. Partridge. (1996) Transport in ancient Egypt. p76
Wheeled vehicles exist as far back as the Old Kingdom
like 4 wheeled carts or carriages used to move coffins or
religious regalia (the bark or ship of a particular god for example)
during his festival processions. Hyskos may have brought different
wheel VARIANTS, and their deployment in transport, but the wheel
and its use (including transport when deemed useful) is old news in Egypt
long before said Asiatics appeared
"The solid wooden wheel existed from the Old Kingdom,
but it was too heavy for regular transport use over rough
ground surfaces and was only employed on four wheeled carriages,
which sometimes carried coffins or the god's sacred bark during
his festival procession."
--Rosalie David 1999. HANDBOOK TO LIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT. p260
