| Revision as of 16:02, 6 July 2015 editLesgasser (talk | contribs)12 editsm →Further reading: Corrected bad (404) URL to this one which is correct← Previous edit | Revision as of 14:36, 28 March 2016 edit undo24.35.58.157 (talk) →HistoryNext edit → | ||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
| ==History== | ==History== | ||
| The first ]s to use ropes and plumbs may have been ]ian.<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', op.cit.'', p.828</ref> Rope stretching technology spread to ] and ], where it stimulated the development of ] and ]. Some think that it was India |
The first ]s to use ropes and plumbs may have been ]ian.<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', op.cit.'', p.828</ref> Rope stretching technology spread to ] and ], where it stimulated the development of ] and ]. Some think that it was India that influenced Greece.<ref>Chattopadhyaya, ''op.cit.'', p.153</ref> | ||
| ==The Egyptian rope trick== | ==The Egyptian rope trick== | ||
Revision as of 14:36, 28 March 2016
In ancient Egypt, a rope stretcher (or harpedonaptai) was a surveyor who measured real property demarcations and foundations using knotted cords, stretched so the rope did not sag. When performed by a king to begin building a temple the stretching of the rope was probably a religious ceremony. On artefacts as ancient as the Scorpion Macehead, Egyptians documented the royal surveyors' procedure for restoring the boundaries of fields after each flood.
History
The first surveyors to use ropes and plumbs may have been Egyptian. Rope stretching technology spread to ancient Greece and India, where it stimulated the development of geometry and mathematics. Some think that it was India that influenced Greece.
The Egyptian rope trick
Rope stretchers used 3-4-5 triangles and the plummet, which are still in use by modern surveyors. The plummet can be used with a square ruled off into intervals on tongue and blade to get a unit rise and run or angle when taking an elevation to a distant point as with a modern sextant.
See also
References
- Wilson, op.cit., p.38
- Breasted: From the Great Karnak Building Inscription (Year 24 of the reign of Thutmose III), op.cit. § 608
- Encyclopædia Britannica, op.cit., p.828
- Chattopadhyaya, op.cit., p.153
- Petrie Museum website: plumbs
- Alistair Macintosh Wilson, The Infinite in the Finite, Oxford University Press 1995
- Debi Prasad Chattopadhyaya, Environment, Evolution, and Values: Studies in Man, Society, and Science, South Asian Publishers 1982
- The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica 1974
- James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, Chicago 1906
Further reading
- Joel F. PAULSON, "Surveying in Ancient Egypt,", FIG Working Week 2005 and GSDI-8, Cairo, Egypt April 16-21, 2005.
External links
- rope stretchers
- surveying instruments
- proportions "The knowledge of pleasing proportions of the rope stretchers was incorporated by the Greeks"
- Sangaku and The Egyptian Triangle
.png){kind=small} | This article about subjects relating to ancient Egypt is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |