A testament of human ingenuity

How did the Ancients wake up? 12 inventions that changed the world

Image: Chiara Vannoni

Surely many of the tools and devices you have in your home seem so common that you never stop to think about their origin. However, despite being somewhat basic, some of the items included in this article are the cornerstone of many other inventions that sustain life as we know it today. And even more interesting, they were developed by ancient civilizations thousands of years ago! Can you think of 12 ancient inventions that survived to modern times? Find out now!

Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The wheel is one of the most important technological advances of mankind, however, the details surrounding its origin are still a matter of debate. One of the most widely accepted theories establishes its roots in Mesopotamia around 4000 BC. Others suggest the Pontic coast, in northern Turkey, around 3800 BC, while a more recent theory places its invention in the Carpathian Mountains between 4000 and 3500 BC.

Whatever the exact origin of the wheel, what is certain is that ancient civilizations already knew that the easiest way to move a heavy object was to roll it. The advent of the wheel opened up new possibilities and allowed people and goods to be transported more easily. Since its invention, the wheel has undergone successive improvements and had more and more uses.

Image: Ann H

Nowadays, waking up at a specific time is very simple, you only need to set the alarm on your cell phone. But how did the Ancients do it? The first alarm clock is attributed to Ctesibius, a Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt.

This device used water to measure time and was designed to sound a whistle at a predetermined time. Ctesibius' invention represented a significant advance in time measurement technology, illustrating the Ancients' ability to develop practical solutions to everyday problems.

Image: Polina ⠀

Just like today, the Ancients also sought ways to keep themselves clean. The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soaplike materials can be traced back to ancient Babylon. A formula for soap consisting of water, alkali, and cassia oil was found written on a clay tablet from around 2200 BC.

Furthermore, an important medical document dating to 1550 BC, indicates that ancient Egyptians bathed regularly and combined animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to create a soaplike substance. The first record of soap used as a detergent is described by the Greek physician Galen who made a cleaning substance using lye, and prescribed it to wash the body and clothes.

Image: Ryūryūkyo Shinsai, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Inclement weather has existed forever, so it is not surprising that the Ancients invented devices that allowed them to protect themselves from the rain or the sun. It is believed that the first umbrellas come from China and date back as far as 3500 BC. However, there are records of the use of these artifacts in other cultures.

In the sculptures at Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, the parasol appears frequently. In Egypt, the parasol is found in various shapes, sometimes depicted as a fan of palm leaves or colored feathers fixed on a long handle. Its use declined after the fall of the Roman Empire and did not resurface until the 15th century when it was popularized again by the French nobility.

Image: Photo By: Kaboompics.com

Soap was not the only resource used by ancient civilizations to maintain good personal hygiene. People used different forms of toothbrushes since before recorded history. Excavations all over the world have found chewsticks, tree twigs, bird feathers, animal bones, and porcupine quills used for these purposes.

For example, Indian medicine has used the neem tree and its products to create toothbrushes and similar products for millennia. In the Muslim world, a device made from a twig or root with antiseptic properties has been widely used since the Islamic Golden Age. The Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, used toothpicks to clean their teeth.

Image: Photo By: Kaboompics.com

If there were toothbrushes, how could there not be toothpaste? Although toothpaste or powders did not come into general use until the 19th century, the earliest known reference of a product used for teeth cleaning appears in an Egyptian manuscript from the 4th century AD that describes a mixture of iris flowers. Other ancient formulations were based on urine.

The Greeks and the Romans, in turn, improved the recipes for toothpaste by adding abrasives like crushed bones and oyster shells. Later, in the 9th century, the Persians invented a type of toothpaste popularized throughout Islamic Spain.

Image: Anna Tarazevich

If the wheel helped different civilizations to move and communicate with each other, paper served to leave a testament to these relationships. Historians attribute the invention of paper to Ts'ai Lun, a Chinese dignitary who in the 2nd century A.D. began producing sheets of paper using tree bark, scraps of used cloth, and fishing nets.

Paper was introduced to the West in the 13th century through the city of Baghdad where the Arab world had abundant crops of hemp and flax, two high-quality raw materials ideal for making this material. From the end of the 15th century, with the invention of movable type printing, paper production experienced remarkable growth.

Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Scissors are common tools that we tend to take for granted. You've probably never wondered how long they've been around, they've always been there to help you complete the simplest household and gardening tasks. Well, the first known scissors were invented in Mesopotamia nearly 4,000 years ago.

While these scissors were a bit different than the ones we know today, the principle is similar. They had two bronze blades connected at the handles by a thin, flexible, curved strip that served to keep the blades aligned. This type of scissors was in use in Europe at least until the 16th century.

Image: Miguel Acosta

The discovery of gunpowder was a milestone in the history of mankind. This formula allowed men to marvel with pyrotechnics but also opened the door to other forms of defense and attack.

Gunpowder originated in the 9th century in China. According to Taoist notes, Chinese alchemists came up with this formula in search of a treatment for eternity. For many years gunpowder was used exclusively for fireworks. It would be some centuries before it was applied in warfare. It is presumed that the formula was taken from China to India and from there to the Middle East. Finally, around 1,200, it arrived in Europe.

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Believe it or not, physicians have used sutures to close wounds for at least 4,000 years, and the fundamental principles of suturing have changed little over time. Archaeological records from ancient Egypt mention methods for closing wounds and preventing infections that go back to between 3,000 and 2,500 B.C.

Ancient societies of different cultures used materials such as horsehair, intestines, dried tendons or hair, as well as gold and silver threads as suture material. The oldest well-preserved sutures in a human body were found in a mummy of the 21st Egyptian dynasty (around 1100 BC).

Image: Jakob Braun

In an age where we can access a map with a single click and find the route to where we need to go within seconds, it may sound strange that maps have been around for thousands of years. The earliest-known map is a Babylonian clay tablet small enough to fit in the palm of your hand —just like the modern smartphone!

This map-tablet is dated from the dynasty of Sargon of Akkad (2300-2500 BC). The surface is drawn with cuneiform characters and stylized symbols impressed, or scratched, on the clay. These inscriptions allow us to identify some features and places, like two ranges of hills bisected by a water course.

Image: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Did you know the name Olmec means "rubber people" in the Aztec language? Ancient Mesoamericans extracted latex from Castilla elastica, a type of rubber tree found in the area. The juice of another local vine, Ipomoea alba, was then mixed with this latex to create an ancient processed rubber as early as 1600 BC.

This rubber had many uses, but rubber balls, both for offerings and for ritual ballgames, were the primary products made by Olmecs and Aztecs way before the Spanish Conquest.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Discover The Unique Meanings Of These Ten Untranslatable Words!

Image: Sandy Millar

Each language is its very own unique galaxy of phrases, grammar, and vocabulary. Every language is different and has its own quirks, rules, and even personalities that sometimes get lost to a non-native speaker. It could be argued that the most difficult task for a translator is being able to properly convey these tiny nuisances that truly reflect the soul of every language on Earth.

Having said that, there are hundreds of words that not even the most skilled translator would be able to communicate. We have selected ten of the strangest, most beautiful, and unique words from all around the world. And while it is true that these words have no English equivalent, we are sure that the feelings they convey are truly universal. Enjoy!

Image: Zachary Nelson

They say that "Distance makes the heart grow fonder" and we believe that this is definitively the case. The feeling of catching up with a dear friend you haven’t seen in months, maybe years, is truly one that can’t be completely described. Luckily, the Basque language has provided us with a word that perfectly reflects this feeling, and that word is "Aspaldiko."

This word describes the happiness one feels when catching up with someone they haven’t seen in a really long time. If you ever happen to travel to the Basque Country in Spain, you might see that several restaurants and bars are named "Aspaldiko", and with good reason: What’s better than catching up with good friends over a nice meal?

Image: Héctor J. Rivas

Ailyak is one of the most beautiful entries on this list and we could have easily started with it, but if this Bulgarian word has taught us anything is that good things can’t be rushed. Ailyak is a truly heartwarming term used to describe doing everything with calm and patience, in order to truly enjoy the experience.

What’s truly beautiful about this word is that it perfectly encapsulates two of the most common English idioms: it mixes the joy of "stopping and smelling the roses", with the unparalleled wisdom of "practice makes perfect."

Image: Annie Spratt

So far we have focused on heartwarming, wholesome meanings, so why don’t we take on a word that might actually help you save money? Let’s say that you have a close friend who lives far away, maybe even someone who makes you feel aspaldiko when you see them. You might want to call them and chat for a bit, but your phone plan isn’t the best, or maybe you just don’t have any minutes left. Well, you might be interested in learning the subtle art of prozvonit from the good people of the Czech Republic.

In the Czech language, the word proznovit recounts the action of calling someone over the telephone, but only letting it ring once to make the other person call back, in order to save money or minutes.

Image: Elijah Hail

Taking a long, nice walk all by yourself can be the perfect way to clear your mind from the woes of the day. Now, if you were to think about the perfect weather for taking a stroll, your mind would probably go to the clear, blue sky of a Spring day. However, if the Dutch language is to be believed, walking in cold, windy weather might be exactly what you need to clear your mind.

The Dutch expression uitwaaien means a refreshing state of mind achieved by going out in cold and windy weather. This word is usually attributed to long walks in nature, like parks or forests.

Image: Lee Myungseong

Many tourists feel weird whenever an American waiter unpromptedly brings them the check: In most of these nations, customers usually ask for the check whenever they are done. In Spanish-speaking countries, there’s a timeless tradition behind it: the period after finishing a meal is reserved for casually chatting and relaxing with friends and family. There’s even a word for this period: Sobremesa, which literally means "over the table."

Sobremesa is a truly wonderful habit, and one we believe the whole world should embrace. That extra time after a meal can help everyone bond, listen, and learn so much more about those close to us.

Image: Jonathan Borba

Try this word next time you are playing Scrabble. Granted, you’ll need nine Ys, but it's guaranteed to get at least 53 points! Now, if another player remains unconvinced by this eccentric Finnish word, allow us to give you its definition: it describes the joy one feels after sitting on a particularly bouncy cushion.

While it does look as if a cat walked over our keyboard, this word is actually particularly literal, since it translates to "bouncy cushion satisfaction". So, be sure to keep it in mind for the next time you sit down on a delightfully comfy couch… Especially if you are about to play a round of Scrabble.

Image: Arturo Castaneyra

Similar to uitwaaien, the adjective flaneur involves taking long, solitary walks that broaden your mind. However, the main difference between them is that a flaneur is necessarily someone who walks around a big metropolis and carefully observes the nuances of city life.

This term was first popularized during 19th-century France, particularly in the city of Paris. Many iconic French writers described this subtle art in many of their works: Perhaps most famously, Charles Baudelaire wrote several poems about flaneurs. Curiously, the word comes from the Old Norse flana, which means "to wander around without purpose."

Image: Brandi Alexandra

"Yaourt" or "Chanter in yaourt" is a French term that definitively is lost in translation, since its literal meaning in English would be "singing in yoghurt". And while that might sound like the low-stakes challenge of a bad game show, this expression actually involves a fun way to deal with the stress of performing.

Yaourt involves singing a song, usually in a foreign language, without fully knowing the words and compensating for it by using nonsensical sounds that vaguely resemble the lyrics to the song. If you are one of those people who don’t take karaoke too seriously, then you might want to try it next time you hit the stage.

Image: Toni Tan

German has an (unjust, in our opinion) reputation as a harsh language: An angry, difficult menagerie of harsh sounds and unspellable words. And while German grammar can be daunting, there’s a lot of beauty to be found in the beautiful pronunciation and, perhaps more importantly for this piece, the unique meaning of some words. Case in point: the gorgeously specific word fahrvergnügen.

Fahrvergnügen describes the unique joy one feels just by simply driving around. Like sauerkraut and kindergarten, this word is well known in the United States, made famous in the 90s by a successful Volkswagen ad. Fahrvergnügen comes from the verb fahren (to drive) and vergnügen (pleasure).

Image: Simon Maage

We’ll end this list with perhaps the most wholesome term we could find. Few feelings are as hard to describe as whenever we see someone we love achieve a major milestone in their lives. Think how you felt on graduations, promotions, and weddings of those dear to you: Don’t you think there’s some connective tissue between all the different emotions you probably felt on those events? Well, the Hebrew language believes so at least, as it has a word to describe just that.

Firgun is a Hebrew term that describes the genuine and pure happiness you might feel seeing another person’s accomplishments. This word describes joy without ulterior motives, just for the sake of seeing those you love happy and content.