EARLY SURVEYING AND SURVEYORS

Every since people have wanted to possess land, the need for surveying  became necessary. This practice, art and industry is as old as the Bible  and has become more dependent with time.

Cavemen protected  their caves with clubs. Boundary questions or disputes have been  relevant in religion, politics, taxes and personal worth's. It is of  historical significance that over 5000 years ago, the boundaries of  northern Mesopotamia, now Iran, had a map of the dynasty of Sargon of  Akkad marked on clay tablets. The ancient Egyptians developed precise  methods of measurement to build the Great Pyramids. The Nile river had  to be surveyed constantly because of its annual flooding.

The  Babylonians used boundary stones. The stones were carved with the land  description and even the name of the surveyor upon them. These stones  also had warnings and curses upon them if anyone was to infringe on the  land or move the stones. When the first five books of the Old Testament  were written, they made reference to land survey's. The Pentateuch, as  these first five books were formally known, combines four major  documents into a single literary unit about 400 B.C.

AS FOLLOWS:

And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border; this shall be your west border. Numbers 34: 6

And the border shall go down to Jordon, and the goings out of it shall  be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof  round about. Numbers 34: 12

Then said I, Whither goest thou?  And he said unto me. To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the bresdth  thereof, and what is the length thereof Zechariah 2: 2

And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and  he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length  and the breadth and the height of it are equal. Revelation 21: 16

And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits,  according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. Revelation  21: 17

These measurements used in biblical times were simple  and not very precise, but they were the standards to be used. Thus the  areas described did have a measurable limit. There are many more of  these biblical references to surveying or surveying measurements.

The Romans used a device called the groma which had four arms set at 90  degrees. The Greeks believed in their mathematician Pythagoras. He  believed the earth might be spherical instead of flat. Eratosthenes used  units called stadia. In the Middle Ages the church used and prepared  maps showing Jerusalem as the center of the world.

William the  Conqueror ordered a survey of the lands of England so that he could  more accurately assess the sums he should receive from the lords of the  manors. The results of this survey were called the "Doomsday Book". It  was a cadastral survey of the land with names of the owners and the  extent, nature, and value of their holdings.