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Article: Tutankhamen's tribology: mechanical problem had to be solved even back in the days of wooden chariots and leather bindings.
- Article from:
- Mechanical Engineering-CIME
- Article date:
- November 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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An all-too-familiar sight today is that of military vehicles operating in the Middle Eastern deserts. However, long before the tank, the Humvee, or the jeep, wheeled war machines were no novelty in that region. They, have appeared there on and off in history for at least 4,000 years.
It can be argued that the wheel was invented in that region. The earliest documented use of wheels exists in the form of pictogaphs on clay tablets from Uruk. These tablets have been dated to 3000 B.C. They depict primitive carts fitted with what are unmistakably wheels. It did not take long to adapt the wheel to warfare.
External views of wheels are depicted on numerous ...