Ancient Technology

Researchers in Egypt have discovered a 4,500-year-old ramp system used to haul alabaster stones out of a quarry, and news reports have suggested that it could provide clues as to how Egyptians built the pyramids. Yet while the ramp system is a significant technological discovery, ...read more

For millennia, edged weapons such as swords, knives and daggers were the arms of choice for warriors around the globe. These razor-sharp blades inspired fear and fascination and helped change the course of military campaigns. In some cases, individual weapons were even given ...read more

1. PaperAs early as 3000 B.C., Egyptians had developed a technique for making paper from the pith of the papyrus plant, a common sight along the bank of the Nile. Long strips were woven together and weighted down to bind them into a strong, thin sheet. The Egyptians also invented ...read more

1. They were the key to Rome’s military might. The first major Roman road—the famed Appian Way, or “queen of the roads”—was constructed in 312 B.C. to serve as a supply route between republican Rome and its allies in Capua during the Second Samnite War. From then on, road systems ...read more

In a December 19 announcement at the Vatican’s Pontifical Archaeological Academy, a team of virtual archaeologists revealed that digital mapping has corrected a decades-old misconception about the famous relationship between the Ara Pacis, consecrated in 9 B.C., and the Obelisk ...read more

History contains many references to ancient concrete, including in the writings of the famous Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, who lived in the 1st century A.D. and died in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Pliny wrote that the best maritime concrete was made from volcanic ...read more