Expert: Maria - 3/30/2007

Question
Who invented the wheel and where was it invented?

Answer
Hello,

Nobody can say who invented the wheel since there is no name related to this invention which probably dates back to 3500 BC.

As for where the wheel was invented, we can say  that the oldest wheel known was discovered in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).
In fact according to archaeologists, the wheel is believed to have been made first by the Sumerians, the earliest known people of the Ancient Near East, who lived  in southern Mesopotamia by the 5th millennium BC.

On ancient clay tablets found exactly in southern  Mesopotamia, we see that the earliest known function of this important invention was as a potter’s wheel.

In fact a potter's wheel is depicted on a clay tablet which dates back to around 3500 BC, while only about 300 years later a wheeled cart is depicted on another clay tablet.
Such wheels were originally solid, while  a wheel with spokes first appeared only around 2000 BC on chariots in Asia Minor and in Egypt.
Later wheels developed in Europe by 1400 BC .

Hope this can be helpful to you.

Best,
Maria
________________________________________________
For a depiction of onager-drawn carts on the Sumerian "battle standard of Ur" (circa 2600 BC)see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Standard_of_Ur_chariots.jpg