When was the inclined plane discovered?

The first recorded use of inclined planes in construction happened around 2600 B.C. when ramps were used in the construction of the Great Pyramids. It is likely, however, that both natural and artificial inclined planes have been used since antiquity.

Causeways and sloping roads built by the Romans and other ancient civilizations are some of the oldest surviving examples of an inclined plane. The Romans also utilized inclined planes in war, such as the usage of an earth ramp, which still exists as of 2014, during the invasion of Masada, Israel in 72 A.D. The inclined plane is one of the six classical machines as defined by Greek philosophers.