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Ancient Egypt Magazine

Volume Two Issue Four -- January/February 2002

Netfishing by Hapy  

The technical and technological expertise of the ancient Egyptians provides material for endless study and fascination. Their massive constructions in stone may provide the ‘hook’ for many a would-be student, but the skill and knowledge of Egyptian workers in many fields, from the production of exquisite drilled stone vases of the early dynasties through to the glassworkers of the New Kingdom, provides lasting testament to their vision and practical skills.

In this and subsequent issues Netfishing takes a look at some ancient Egyptian products and the methods of production.

We begin with a look at the web site of Geoffrey Killen, which is devoted to his speciality, wood-working, and in particular, ancient Egyptian wood-working and furniture production. As with many early cultures, the ancient Egyptians saw the potential of all parts of the raw material available to them; in this case, every part of the tree from leaves to roots. Leaves could be used for weaving, while trunks, branches and even bark were utilised too. The relative rareness of wood, and the use of imported woods, made this an especially valuable resource.

The Egyptians also used veneers to improve the appearance of woods of inferior quality. Imported African ebony, and ivory, sometimes colour-stained, provided two sources of veneer.

From early periods, a sophisticated set of specialised tools, some of which survive, were available to the craftsmen. Copper saws, adze blades, awls and chisels were all used in the production of wooden items including the beautiful furniture which became a part of all wealthy New Kingdom households. The site provides follow-up links to individual items of note, and a useful bibliography.

At there’s reference to the Palermo Stone of Snefru and the huge quantities – forty shiploads of timber brought from overseas for shipbuilding and palace construction. This was almost certainly cedar shipped from Byblos. The site also mentions a workman’s document of the reign of Thutmose IV, which survives as a piece of fragmentary papyrus, in which the quantities of timber provided to the craftsmen at the dockyards are listed, This is a fascinating paper and again there is a number of useful follow-up references appended.

On the subject of copper processing, there’s an interesting Egyptian image of brazing at dating to the middle of the second millennium BC.

Minnesota State University provides brief but information-packed overviews of a number of Egyptian technologies including garment manufacture, quarrying, glass, furniture, papyrus making, chariot construction, and beer and wine production. (Drunk in charge of a chariot?) The web address is http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/

Egyptian writing, as hieroglyphs and in later forms, provided a means of communication and recording that was also harmonious and enduring. For a brief paper on papyrus by Meir Bar-Ilan, visit http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/archaeology/artifacts/papyrus.html

To take an entirely different departure, but into an area of supreme significance for Egyptian royalty and religion, visit where an investigation of gold mining in Coptic Egypt is outlined. This is from the Journal of Mining. In studying technology, these practical investigations, carried out by specialists in fields other than Egyptology, are vital to our understanding of the nitty-gritty of production, processing and distribution. The gold masks, jewellery and coffins that provide the instant glamour of Egypt were just the finished items at the end of a long process requiring hard labour and technical skills at every step of the way.

Hapy is indebted to Geoffrey Killen for providing information on web sites relating to Egyptian technology.

He also suggests that it is worth checking some of the information on sites of this type against an authoritative source, such as Shaw & Nicholson’s Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, Cambridge University Press.2000

Happy fishing in 2002!

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