History of locksmithing

Locksmithing is an ancient profession which dates back as far as 4,000 years ago in and around Babylon and Egypt, where ancient locksmiths would put their skills towards securing the property of rich and royalty of the eras in life as well as in death. The innovations that the middle Eastern civilisations developed with regards to Locksmithing progressed the technology into the combined use lock and key, where the use of levers and ridged keys where produced to make securing items even more abundant. This technology soon became very popular and spread across into Europe and Asia to eventually be commonplace all over the world. The oldest lock ever discovered was believed to have been made 4000 years ago in the ruins of Khorsabab Palace in Nineveh. However, the oldest lock ever discovered that operated on a key dates back approximately to 704bc. It was found in the ruins of the Palace of Sargon, also in Khorsabab. The term Locksmith took its origins similarly to that of a blacksmith, a smith being a worker of metals and a locksmith being a worker of metals who specialises in that of a lock and key. One famous locksmith can be found in the likes of Harry Houdini the world famous Escapologist, who started his career working as a locksmith’s apprentice to become a fully trained locksmith, where he gained a great understanding of the mechanics of a lock the methods used to bypass the need for key through manipulating the levers, pins and springs to open the lock. He would later put his skills into use further use by becoming the greatest and most famous escapologist of all time. Over time locksmithing has evolved to encompass elements of many trades such as ironmongery, carpentry, electrical and computer programming to assist in supporting the modern-day world with keeping their property and family safe.