Ancient Egypt Provides an Early Example of How a Society's Worldview Drives Engineering and the Development of Science

2 Unlike the Greeks, who later benefited from the advances of Egyptian and Mesopotamian scholars and who developed an abstract theory of knowledge, the Egyptians used knowledge for the practical accomplishment of goals tied to their religious worldview. An examination of Egyptian engineering and science, principally during the Old Kingdom (c. 2670-2150 BCE) and Middle Kingdom (c. 2040-1650 BCE), shows that religion drove the development of, and was reflected by, their monumental architecture. These architectural wonders served as a societal organizing principle and demonstrated the power of the state, which was believed to be run by either an incarnate god on earth or the son of a heavenly god. In addition, the supporting sciences, such as mathematics, astronomy, geography, and medicine all had practical purposes in support of the Egyptian religious worldview. One also finds that the most accomplished practitioners of engineering and science were accorded high status as priests and established a role model for later cult heroes. Finally, one can observe how ancient Egyptian engineering and