A lock from 445 B.C.

[Double_Chin]

Hey, so I stumbled upon a really interesting article concerning the history and evolution of locks and keys. I was quite surprised to find that the oldest locks ever found dated back to 445 B.C., and even had mention in the bible:

"In the Book of Nehemiah, chapter 3, it is stated that when repairing the old gates of the City of Jerusalem - probably in 445 B.C. - they "set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof." At this time, locks were made of wood. They were large and crude in design; yet their principle of operation was the forerunner of the modern pin-tumbler locks of today."

And, luckly for me, I managed to find a picture of one of these ancient monoliths. I'm especially fond of the keyway for this lock, and the size and orientation of the key, it's all so bizzare.





I also found a photo of an ancient roman house lock and the key which is meant to open it. I'd love to get my hands on this thing and give it a go with picking.



The Roman lock astounds me in its craftsmanship and how modern it appears to be, this baby is over 2000 years old! As far as we have come in lock technology today, it's amazing that we really haven't made more progress in the 2,400 years that we've had to do all of this.

J

[dmux]

nice pictures guy, i have never seen those before

[mrdan]

Wow that's kinda cool! Although I would like to see the janitors keychain from back then.

[illusion]

This a testament to human progression.

Depite all our self-pronounced cleverness, and all out new ideas with fancy names... We haven't really progreesed much at all.

We strut around in suits, and call outselves sophistacated, yet we know we're merely a single step away from crawling on our hands and knees like animals.

Hehehe.... nothing to do with picking... Sorry.

[keysman]

ancient roman keys are on e-bay all the time ... cheep .. like under $10.00 @ locks .. well, I haven't seen any in a while , but they go for a MUCH higher price.

[Shrub]

Be very careful of the stuff on ebay, 99% of it is cheap modern copies from asia somewhere and is pretty worthless, a lot of the padlocks you see are whats often called fantasy locks in that they arent even copies of an old lock but rather somthign made in an old styleing,

Be careful,

[n2oah]

ancient roman keys are on e-bay all the time ... cheep .. like under $10.00 @ locks .. well, I haven't seen any in a while , but they go for a MUCH higher price.

Those are all replicas.

[cL4y]

i wonder if they had to call "Ye Old Locksmith" to get in

[Legion303]

I really like that first picture. I'm trying to get more into woodworking and I might try making something similar.

-steve

[greyman]

Hey, so I stumbled upon a really interesting article concerning the history and evolution of locks and keys. I was quite surprised to find that the oldest locks ever found dated back to 445 B.C., and even had mention in the bible:
[...]
The Roman lock astounds me in its craftsmanship and how modern it appears to be, this baby is over 2000 years old! As far as we have come in lock technology today, it's amazing that we really haven't made more progress in the 2,400 years that we've had to do all of this.

J

Roman locks are one thing, but the lock in the first picture is an Egyptian lock. I think these are more like 2000 years BC, ie 4000 years old...

[jb68]

Can I just clarify, we are saying that the top one is a replica and not an original.
Just that given the aging and general discolouration that occurs to wood over even a hundred years never mind thousands I,d be supprised if you would even be able to make out the grain of the wood, which brings up another thing.
I noticed that the lever is cut from one piece and goes diagonaly accross the grain which over time due to the way that timber dries out, I would have expected at the very least to have warped some and more likely than not to have split into a couple of pieces, especialy with the force exerted on the furthest right part where it pivots.
If they were like this then the local chippy would have been kept busy just repairing or renewing these parts alone.
One last thing, and this is more to do with the mechanics so I may well be wrong, but as the lever is pushed wouldn't the left pin of the lever hit its lock pin before the right lever pin made contact, giving an uneven lift.
Unless the whole handle was lifted which again puts strain on the handle.
I don't mean to be neggative about this and would be genuinely interested in more info.

[RenderMan]

Is it possible to post links to the article mentioned as well as the source for the pics? looks like an interesting read.

[Double_Chin]

Yeah, here you go:

http://www.locks.ru/germ/informat/schlagehistory.htm
it mentions a hilarious alternative to locks, which the middle easterers applied

http://www.nokey.com/ankeymus.html
general history with some ill photos

JAY

[lockedin]

Roman locks are one thing, but the lock in the first picture is an Egyptian lock. I think these are more like 2000 years BC, ie 4000 years old...

Yup, you are correct. Page 3 of The Complete Book of Locks and Locksmithing Fifth Edition by Bill Phillips:

[Raccoon]

Huh. Locks, Safes & Security starts off with a chapter on the history of locks, and describes much the same thing. The only thing I don't remember it mentioning was "arm holes". I'm pretty sure it stated that the Egyptions left their locks on the exterior of the door for all to observe, where as the romans were the first to create a keyhole.

I love how the "spare key" illustrated above is within arm's reach.