Tools in ancient Egypt

The knowledge of the ancient Egypt starts before the predynastic period (towards -5000). So the tools used evolved/moved during the centuries. At the origin, for materials, not of iron bronze nor: the first appears in Egypt only to III, and the second, very expensive, becomes frequent only from -1600; remain copper, soft metal to sharpen constantly, wood and the stone, in particular the Dolérite or the Silex, but not only.

Tools of the stone mason

One used, to extract the stones, of the corners out of wooden, inserted using mallets also out of wooden (some specimens were found in Tourah, in the limestone quarries) and inflated water to make burst the stone. Then, the scissors could be out of copper (one found of them one in the diorite career having been useful for Khéops), but one thinks that those were only used for to engrave the hiéroglyphes, and especially out of hard stone (dolerite, dolerite, pegmatite, flint). One also undoubtedly found already pins and huntings. One also knows rammers (from 1,5 to 4 kg) and hammers edges of hard stone. The latter were fixed between two wood rods and were useful for the extraction and roughing of the tender stones.

Tools of the carpenter

According to the representations existing in the tombs and the specimens put at the day, the tools used by the Egyptians differed little from those which the carpenters of the 19th century employed. The pieces of furniture preserved in our museums prove that the craftsmen of Pharaon knew perfectly the use of the Scie, of the Hache, of the Herminette, the Chisel and the Foret.

As of the Ancient Empire, the techniques of construction and assembly of the pieces of furniture or ships are in place and known of all the workers of wood. For the demolition of the trees and work of squaring, the Egyptian loggers used an axe made up of a semicircular blade anchored in a groove of the handle. To output boards from will trons, the carpenters used doors hand saws.

The tool most characteristic of the craftsmen of the wood of the ancient Egypt is without any doubt the Herminette. A blade out of bronze or copper was fixed, by means of cords or of leather bonds, with a handle out of bent wooden whose size could vary according to the assignment of the tool. Indeed, if the adze were used for meticulous work, like the manufacture of pieces of furniture, the handle were shorter, whereas work of planing of the boards or the hulls of boats required the use of an adze with long handle.

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