The Mechanical Triumphs of the Ancient Egyptians (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1900. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... the mechanical triumphs of the ancient egyptians. chapter' I. egyptian knowledge of mechanics. All our knowledge of the ancient Egyptians goes to show that they were eminently a scientific and mechanical people. Thoth was the God of Science, and Tosorthros or Nebka, second king of the iii. Dyn., B.C. 3766, was "skilled in the art of erecting solid masses of hewn stone" long before Cheops built the great pyramid, and the art never died out. Though there were civil wars and almost a blank in Egyptian history from B.C. 3133 to B.C. 2466, still when history does reappear, we find Usertesen I., B.c. 2433, erecting obelisks at Heliopolis, and each king thereafter for a thousand years surpassing his predecessor. Moreover the ancient monarchs of all nations were for some unknown reason much given to erecting monolithic monuments of enormous size, and of using monstrous blocks in composite buildings. That it was considered a matter B of great merit is mentioned both in the Bible and in Josephus. This passion appears to have reached its maximum in Egypt, and the then known world, from the xviii. Dyn., B.c. 1600, to the xx. Dyn., B.c. 1200. Whereas Cheops was content with stones weighing fifty to sixty tons in his pyramid, the two huge statues of Amenhotep iii. (figs. xxi. and xxii.), wrought 2,300 years afterward, and even after 3,300 more years still sitting so solemnly in the great plain of Thebes, each weigh from 800 to 1,000 tons, and were only two of the many that formed the avenue leading to his mausoleum. A tablet found there dwells upon the magnificence of th...