The 4,000 Year Old History of Locks
![The 4,000 Year Old History of Locks](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/x7f88v7w-NnPT1XvQAtKoEAyUdo=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-767985235-5c79532346e0fb0001a5f010.jpg)
Archeologists found the oldest known lock-in ruins near Nineveh. The lock is estimated to be 4,000 years old. Discover more about the history of locks.
![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/09/06/multimedia/06SCI-VAMPIRE-06-chkg/06SCI-VAMPIRE-06-chkg-superJumbo.jpg)
Undying Dread: A 400-Year-Old Corpse, Locked to Its Grave - The New York Times
![](https://commercial.schlage.com/content/dam/schlage-commercial/images/SCH_NDE_SFIC_LAT_626_1000x1000_HO.png)
NDE Mobile Enabled Cylindrical Wireless Lock
![](https://www.worldatlas.com/upload/dd/dd/4f/shutterstock-1841799628.png)
Ancient Egyptian Inventions That Are Still Used Today - WorldAtlas
![](https://v4-upload.goalsites.com/365/image_1567735333_1.jpg?imageView2/1/w/400/h/300)
History of Locks
![](https://cdn.britannica.com/65/2165-004-69F9558D/Barron-tumbler-lock-1778.jpg)
Lock, Types, Mechanisms & Benefits
![](https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/locks-and-keys.jpg)
Security: The Long History of the Lock and Key
![](https://aaregistry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Lock-blueprint.png)
The First Lock Improvement is Patented - African American Registry
History of Locks & Locksmithing
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Master Lock Has Had a Hold on the Industry for 100 Years, Innovation
![](https://image-res-platform.s3.amazonaws.com/m_brasskeylocksmith2/keyholejpeg.jpeg)
locks, safe, padlock
![](https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/13things/files/5992909.jpg)
A Brief History of the Key
![](https://schuylertowne.com/media/pages/research/rethinking-the-origins-of-the-lock/1151991784-1677555110/door-seal.jpg)
Schuyler Towne Rethinking the Origins of the Lock
State-Wide Lock & Safe, Inc.