Locks

Getting around on water has always been a bit tricky. It’s bad enough just working out how to sail on the wind, but, when you are part of a society that derives nearly all its worth from one particular river, you have a vested interest in sorting things out as quickly as possible.

Which is what the ancient Egyptians and Chinese did. They dammed their rivers and sailed up and down them in the pursuit of trade as much as they could. Except for the bits they dammed. Which was a whole new trick they had to learn. So they invented locks.

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