How did sickle cell originate?
Sickle cell affects millions of people around the world, particularly those whose ancestors come from sub-Saharan Africa, parts of the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In the United States, for instance, approximately 100,000 people live with the disease ...
Who discovered sickle cell?
“Peculiar elongated and sickle-shaped” is how sickle cells were first described in 1904 by intern Ernest Edward Irons when examining the blood of Walter Clement Noel, a 20-year-old first-year dental student from a wealthy Black family in Grenada.
What is the prognosis of sickle cell disease?
Sickle cell disease is a recessive condition because you need to inherit a mutated gene from each parent to develop it. The median life expectancy of people with sickle cell disease is between 42- and 47-years-old, according to the American Society of Hematology.
Where did sickle cell disease (SCD) originate?
This historical finding was the first time a genetic disease was linked to a mutation of a specific protein. The origin of the mutation that led to the sickle-cell gene derives from at least four independent mutational events, three in Africa and a fourth in either Saudi Arabia or central India.
Is the sickle still used today?
Harvesting with a sickle is very slow, but because of its simplicity and low cost, it is still widely used over the world, especially to reap cereals such as wheat and rice and also as a gardening tool.
Why do farmers use a sickle?
The sickle is general purpose harvesting hand tool. It is used for the harvesting of vegetables, cereal crops and cutting of the grass and other vegetative matters. Sickle is one of the most common hand tools used for harvesting of the crops, grass and cutting of other vegetative matters.
Is a scythe and sickle the same thing?
A sickle has an almost circular blade and a short handle—it's designed to be held with one hand. A scythe has a long, slightly curved blade that's attached to a long pole, often with two handles attached—it's designed to be held with two hands.
What is a sickle blade?
A sickle is a curved blade usually used to cut many stalks of a plant at once. Sickles are widely used to cut grasses. Very large sickles are called scythes. Neolithic sickle blades were typically a composite of small stone blades that were hafted in a long row into a handle and used much as modern sickles are used.
Are scythes real?
As an infantry weapon, the military scythe had practical applications both in offensive actions against enemy infantry and as a defensive measure against enemy cavalry.
Can a sickle be used as a weapon?
To some extent, yes. In the late eighteenth century, Polish revolutionary Tadeusz Kościuszko organized a peasant corps called the "Kosynierzy," roughly translated as "the Scythers." Due to shortage of war material, they were armed with modified scythes.
Does the Grim Reaper carry a scythe or a sickle?
In Greek mythology, Chronos, called Father Time, was the king of titans and the father of Zeus. Cronus was a harvest god and carried a sickle, which is a tool used in harvesting grain. The Grim Reaper carrying a scythe is derived from a combination of Chronus and Cronus.
What is a sickle in Harry Potter?
A Sickle or Silver-Sickle ( ) was the second-most valued coin of the wizarding currency used in Great Britain. Made out of silver, one Sickle was equal to 29 Knuts, and 17 Sickles made up a Galleon.
Who invented the scythe?
Joseph Jenckes was awarded on March 6, 1646 the first patent in North America by the General Court of Massachusetts, for making scythes. This basic scythe design remained in use for over 300 years.
What was a sickle used for in ancient Egypt?
Ancient Egyptians used sickles made from flint and wood to reap grain. Pieces of flint such as this one were shaped to fit into a wooden haft along with a number of other such inserts, and secured with an adhesive. The flint pieces provided a sharp edge to cut the grain stalks.
Is a sickle a sword?
Sickle-shaped swords were typically cast from bronze and were believed to have made their way to Egypt via the Middle East. During the New Kingdom period, they became a common military weapon and were prized for their gruesome slashing ability in close-quarters combat.
What does a sickle symbolize?
In ancient Greece, sickles were also used to harvest crops, and are symbolic of agricultural bounty and the changing of seasons. The sickle's symbolic significance is twofold, then, as it is both the tool for violent, life-defying action, and a tool of harvest and natural plenty.
When was the sickle invented?
Pre-Neolithic. A very early sickle, c. 7000 BC, flint and resin, Tahunian culture, Nahal Hemar cave, now in the Israel Museum. The development of the sickle in Mesopotamia can be traced back to times that pre-date the Neolithic Era.
Where did the sickle come from?
The sickle remained common in the Bronze Age , both in the Ancient Near East and in Europe. Numerous sickles have been found deposited in hoards in the context of the European Urnfield culture (e.g. Frankleben hoard ), suggesting a symbolic or religious significance attached to the artifact.
What is a sickle?
A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent for age chiefly for feeding livestock, either freshly cut or dried as hay. Falx was a synonym but was later used to mean any of a number ...
How did the sickle impact agriculture?
The sickle had a profound impact on the Agricultural Revolution by assisting in the transition to farming and crop based lifestyle. It is now accepted that the use of sickles led directly to the domestication of Near Eastern Wild grasses. Research on domestication rates of wild cereals under primitive cultivation found that the use of the sickle in harvesting was critical to the people of early Mesopotamia. The relatively narrow growing season in the area and the critical role of grain in the late Neolithic Era promoted a larger investment in the design and manufacture of sickle over other tools. Standardization to an extent was done on the measurements of the sickle so that replacement or repair could be more immediate. It was important that the grain be harvested at the appropriate time at one elevation so that the next elevation could be reaped at the proper time. The sickle provided a more efficient option in collecting the grain and significantly sped up the developments of early agriculture.
How to use a sickle?
The inside of the blade's curve is sharp, so that the user can either draw or swing it against the base of the crop, catching the stems in the curve and slicing them at the same time. The material to be cut may be held in a bunch in the other hand (for example when reaping), held in place by a wooden stick, or left free. When held in a bunch, the sickle action is typically towards the user (left to right for a right-handed user), but when used free the sickle is usually swung the opposite way. Other colloquial/regional names for principally the same tool are: grasshook, swap hook, rip-hook, slash-hook, reaping hook, brishing hook or bagging hook.
Which country has the highest production of sickles?
Today, Italy remains the world's first regarding sickle quality, and China regarding numbers produced per year. The present global demand is about 75% serrated to 25% smooth-edged, and the majority (of both types of sickles combined) is used in cereal harvesting.
Where was the first serrated sickle made?
England appears to have been the first to develop the industrial process of serration-making. Then, by 1897, the Redtenbacher Company of Scharnstein, in Austria—at that time the largest scythe maker in the world—designed its own machine for the job, becoming the only Austrian source of serrated sickles.
What is a sickle tool?
Sickle, one of the most ancient of harvesting tools, consisting of a metal blade, usually curved, attached to a short wooden handle. The short handle forces the user to harvest in a stooped or squatting position.
What is a sickle scythe?
Sickle, one of the most ancient of harvesting tools, consisting of a metal blade, usually curved, attached to a short wooden handle. The short handle forces the user to harvest in a stooped or squatting position. The longer-handled scythe, the user of which remains upright, evolved from the sickle. Harvesting with a sickle is very slow, but ...
Why is it so slow to harvest with a sickle?
Harvesting with a sickle is very slow, but because of its simplicity and low cost, it is still widely used over the world, especially to reap cereals such as wheat and rice and also as a gardening tool. Learn More in these related Britannica articles: origins of agriculture: Tools and techniques.
Where did the sickle originate?
The precise origin of the sickle is unknown , but it has been used in various forms for many thousands of years in Europe, Africa, the East and South, and Central America.
Where did the Sickle Come From?
The word sickle seems to have its origins in ancient Germanic sicel, which was then used in old English as sicol. The term can also be found in Dutch sikkel and Latin secula and comes from secare, meaning ‘to cut.’
What is a Sickle Used for?
All around the globe today, many people still use sickles to harvest crops, including rice, wheat, and field beans. They are also helpful in cutting grass and clearing land.
How to Sharpen a Sickle?
Before using your sickle, you must first ensure it is sharp. A blunt sickle won’t cut much, and it can actually be more dangerous as you’ll put force behind it.
How many sickles did Redtenbacher make in 1970?
In 1970 Redtenbacher was still making one and a half million serrated sickles each year, sold mainly to Latin America and Africa.
What is the most common sickle?
Today there are a wide variety of different types of sickle available, but still, the most recognized is the semi-circular metal blade fixed to a wooden handle.
What is the practice of sharpening a sickle?
With a sickle, you need to ensure you are sharpening the entire length of the blade. This practice, known as honing , will need doing frequently on both sides.
What was the first paper-like material?
Papyrus sheets are the earliest paper-like material – all other civilisations used stone, clay tablets, animal hide, wood materials or wax as a writing surface. Papyrus was, for over 3000 years, the most important writing material in the ancient world. It was exported all around the Mediterranean and was widely used in the Roman Empire as well as the Byzantine Empire. Its use continued in Europe until the seventh century AD, when an embargo on exporting it forced the Europeans to use parchment.
What diseases did the Egyptians suffer?
The Egyptians were so expert at preserving the bodies of the dead that after thousands of years we know of the diseases they suffered such as arthritis, tuberculosis of the bone, gout, tooth decay, bladder stones, and gallstones; there is evidence, too, of the disease bilharziasis (schistosomiasis), caused by small, parasitic flatworms, which still exists in Egypt today. There seems to have been no syphilis or rickets.
What did the Egyptians and Mesopotamians discover?
The Egyptians as well as the Mesopotamians independently discovered that by mixing a small quantity of tin ore with copper ores they could make bronze which is harder and more durable. This set off a chain of connected innovations that could not have happened without the primary discovery.
How did the Egyptians create the solar calendar?
The Egyptians devised the solar calendar by recording the yearly reappearance of Sirius (the Dog Star) in the eastern sky. It was a fixed point which coincided with the yearly flooding of the Nile. Their calendar had 365 days and 12 months with 30 days in each month and an additional five festival days at the end of the year. However, they did not account for the additional fraction of a day and their calendar gradually became incorrect. Eventually Ptolemy III added one day to the 365 days every four years.
What did the Greeks learn from the Egyptians?
For example the Greeks sometimes take the credit for inventing mathematics but they learned their math from the Egyptians then later developed and improved upon what the Egyptian achieved. 3000 BC appears to have been a critical time for the development of technology, especially metal making.
Why did the Egyptians build canals and irrigation ditches?
The Egyptians constructed canals and irrigation ditches to harness Nile river’s yearly flood and bring water to distant fields.
What is the ingredient in ancient Egyptian toothpaste?
Its ingredients included powdered of ox hooves, ashes, burnt eggshells and pumice. Another toothpaste recipe and a how-to-brush guide was written on a papyrus from the fourth century AD describes how to mix precise amounts of rock salt, mint, dried iris flower and grains of pepper, to form a “powder for white and perfect teeth.”
About Scythe
Earlier, the scythe was invented for the purpose of cutting grass. It was later used to reap crops. It replaced the use of the sickle which made the user stoop low or hunch a bit. The Scythe consists of a long handle with a blade attached to it at right angles.
About Sickle
The sickle was invented during the Neolithic era. The earliest civilization of the Mesopotamia region started using this tool. It was made of flint and had jagged edges which were straight. Later on, the straight blade was changed to a curved one. The curved blade allowed the user to easily swing the tool against the base of the plant.
Scythe Vs Sickle
The blade of the scythe is attached to the handle at a right angle. In the case of a sickle, the blade is semicircular in shape.
Summary
These two tools have multiple differences but are used for the same purpose of cutting grass. Both the Scythe and the Sickle have been replaced by modern-day machines and tractors. These ancient tools are no longer much in use in Industrial nations.
Overview
History
The development of the sickle in Mesopotamia can be traced back to times that pre-date the Neolithic Era. Large quantities of sickle blades have been excavated in sites surrounding Israel that have been dated to the Epipaleolithic era (18000-8000 BC). Formal digs in Wadi Ziqlab, Jordan have unearthed various forms of early sickle blades. The artifacts recovered ranged from 10 t…
Nepal
Called Hasiya (or Aasi), a sickle is very common in Nepal as the most important tool for cutting used in the kitchen and in the fields. Hasiya is used in the kitchen in many villages of Nepal where its used to cut vegetables during food prep. The handle of Hasiya (made of wood) is held pressed by the toe of one's foot and the curve inverted so vegetables can be cut with two hands while rocking the v…
Serrated or "toothed" sickles
The genealogy of sickles with serrated edge reaches back to the Stone Age, when individual pieces of flint were first attached to a “blade body” of wood or bone. (The majority among the well-documented specimens made later of bronze are smooth-edged.) Nevertheless, teeth have been cut with hand-held chisels into iron, and later steel-bladed sickles for a long time. In many countri…
Use
The inside of the blade's curve is sharp, so that the user can either draw or swing it against the base of the crop, catching the stems in the curve and slicing them at the same time. The material to be cut may be held in a bunch in the other hand (for example when reaping), held in place by a wooden stick, or left free. When held in a bunch, the sickle action is typically towards the user (left t…
Bagging hook
A bagging hook, badging hook, fagging hook, reap hook or rip hook, is a large sickle usually with an offset handle so that the user's knuckles do not make contact with the ground. The Oxford dictionary gives the definition of the word to bag, or badge, as the cutting of grain by hand. The blade is heavier than that of a normal sickle and always without serrated blades. It is usually about 1.5" (40 mm) wide with an open crescent shaped blade approx 18" (450mm) across. It dev…
See also
• Aruval, an Indian instrument similar to the billhook
• Billhook, a version of the sickle used for cutting woody stems
• Brush hook
• Kaiser blade or sling blade