An Airplane from Ancient Egypt

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These days we don't have to wait very long before we hear some nonsense about how flight or - more recently - space travel are but stages in human evolutionary development. As Christians we know that when Adam, the first man, is described as perfect, he is perfect in every way - spiritually, morally and intellectually. This probably explains why Scripture says that within the first few generations of human existence on earth the arts and sciences were flourishing.

In 1898 an object that was thought to be a small wooden model of a bird was discovered in Egypt. The "unremarkable" find was tossed into a box marked "wooden bird models" and was rediscovered in more recent times. The Egyptian Ministry of Culture set up a special panel to study the object. As a result of that study, the object is on display at the Cairo Museum today as the centerpiece of a special exhibit. It is now officially labeled as a model airplane.

The plane's design shows that it is an excellent glider, and with a small engine it could carry huge loads because of the unique design of its wings. This 2,200 year old model airplane had wings that angle slightly downward at the ends - exactly the same improved wing design that was first used in modern times on the supersonic Concorde!

Everyone agrees that humans have always been interested in flight. But now it appears that we creationists were right - we have always been smart enough to do something about our interest in flight as well!