page_title: List of Egyptian inventions and discoveries
section_title: Disputed
hierarchical_section_title: List of Egyptian inventions and discoveries / Ancient Egypt / Disputed
caption_attribution_description: English: Design of the Abydos token glyphs dated to 3400-3200 BCE
context_page_description: Egyptian inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques which owe their existence either partially or entirely to an Egyptian person. Often, things which are discovered for the first time, are also called "inventions", and in many cases, there is no clear line between the two. Below is a list of such inventions.
context_section_description: Invention of Writing - Disputed with Sumer. Writing was invented in the Middle East, however there's no consensus among scholars where exactly it was invented. Formerly, Scholars used to consider Cuneiform script as the oldest known writing system dating back to (3,400 – 3,100 BC.). It was even thought that the idea of writing travelled from Mesopotamia to Egypt. This changed however with the discovery of Tomb U-j. Archaeologists found clay labels inscribed with fully developed Hieroglyphs dating back to 3,400 – 3,200 BC. This discovery started a debate over whether writing began in Egypt or Mesopotamia. Today, the general consensus among scholars is that both civilizations developed writing system independently and during the same period. Modern discoveries even revealed possibly undeciphered scripts such as the Vinca symbols in the Balkans (5,000 BC.) or the Jiahu symbols in china (6,000 BC.).
  Carbon - Disputed with Sumer. By 2,500 BC, Carbon was used in both Ancient Egypt and Sumer.
  Circumnavigation of Africa - A tale told by Herodotus that Pharaoh Necho II commissioned a naval expedition to circumnavigate Africa. However, the origin of this story is questioned by modern scholars.
  Dockyard - Egypt's oldest harbour is Wadi al-Jarf, which is contemporary with Lothal in the Indus Valley Civilization.
  Proto-Currency - Long before the first currency (which was invented in the Kingdom of Lydia), The Egyptians used a system of Proto-currency based on metal weighs. The Deben was often used.
  Banks and Central banks – Since there was no coins at the time of Ancient Egypt, Banks during that time were similar to grain warehouses. Some scholars suggest that the Egyptian grain-banking system became so well-developed that it was comparable to major modern banks, both in terms of its number of branches and employees, and in terms of the total volume of transactions. During the rule of the Greek Ptolemies, the granaries were transformed into a network of banks centered in Alexandria, where the main accounts from all of the Egyptian regional grain-banks were recorded. This became the site of one of the earliest known government central banks, and may have reached its peak with the assistance of Greek bankers.
  Lute, Harp and Lyre – The origin of these instruments are not known but they were used in Sumer and Ancient Egypt as early as the 4th millennium BC.
  Frozen desserts – The origins of frozen desserts are unknown. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs show a snow-filled vessel next to fruit juice.
  Plough
  Candle – Ancient Egyptians developed torches that were similar to candles. However, the invention of the candle is given to the Romans.
  Ben oil
  Tattoo - In 2018, the oldest figurative tattoos in the world were discovered on two mummies from Egypt which are dated between 3351 and 3017 BCE.
  Precession of equinox - The credit of this discovery is given to the greek Hipparchus. However, claims have been made that precession was known in Ancient Egypt during the dynastic era, prior to the time of Hipparchus (Ptolemaic period). However, these claims remain controversial. Some buildings in the Karnak temple complex, for instance, allegedly were oriented toward the point on the horizon where certain stars rose or set at key times of the year.
caption: Designs on some of the labels or token from Abydos, carbon-dated to circa 3400–3200 BC and among the earliest form of writing in Egypt.[246] They are virtually similar to contemporary clay tags from Uruk, Mesopotamia.[247]
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