TechnologyNorth Africa

The sail

4,001 BCE

Wind becomes humanity's first engine

In depth

The Nile was almost purpose-made for sail: the current runs north, the prevailing wind south, so a boat could drift one way and sail the other. This bound Egypt into a single realm long before any other state of comparable extent existed. The earliest depictions are on Egyptian pots from around 4000 BCE.

For children

Before the sail every boat had to be rowed or poled. With a sail the wind did the work, and a boat could carry far more than its crew could row. Almost all long-distance trade for the next five thousand years ran on wind.

Connects to

Farming along the Nile5,001 BCE
The Lapita strike out east1,501 BCE – 801 BCE
The Sultanate of MalaccaJan 1400 – Jan 1511

Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org