Group of bronze tools for
woodworking
From Thebes,Egypt
New
Kingdom, around 1300 BC
A carpenter's tool
'box'
The range of tools used for woodworking in
ancient Egypt is comparable to those used today. Logs could be
split or trimmed with an axe consisting of a rounded blade set into
a wooden handle. Lengths of wood were cut or shaped using a saw
with its teeth set so that it cut on the pull rather than the push
of the blade. There were many different sizes and shapes of adze
with which to shape, plane and smooth the wood. These were used in
conjunction with wooden mallets. Small holes could be bored with
bradawls, but larger ones required drilling with a bow drill, the
bow rotating the metal bit through the
wood.
Some of the tools in
this group were found together in a basket in a Theban tomb of the
New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC). This was the equivalent of a
carpenter's toolbox. These tools enabled craftsmen to
produce strong and elaborate boxes, furniture and coffins.
Techniques such as dovetailing, mitre joints, tenon and mortice,
wooden dowels were all known and extensively used. Pins and glue
were used to fix inlays.
S. Quirke and A.J. Spencer, The British Museum book of anc (London, The British Museum Press, 1992)