Ancient Egyptian Locks
Yul Brenner in "The Ten Commandments"
Ancient Egyptian Locks
One of the earliest evidence of the use of mechanical locks
is by the ancient Egyptians, as found in the ruins of the ancient city of
Nineveh. It utilized a crossbar set into two surface mounts that was completely
enclosed save for a small opening for the key. Moveable pins were dropped by
gravity into cavities on the crossbar and locked the door. As the key was
inserted into the lock it would move hidden pins out of the way and allow the
crossbar to be removed (see figures below).
This is considered to be the forerunner of the modern pin
tumbler style of lock that we use today.
