Through the Eras

Architecture and DesignModel rocker. BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, 02.226, GIFT OF THE EGYPT EXPLORATION FUND. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.tuhotep III emphasizes this reality in that the leadercounts among his major accomplishments the fact thatthe entire crew returned safely to Egypt. This success isassociated with miracles, but clearly the Egyptians’ carefulstudy of the technical side of quarrying should receivemuch of the credit. For example, the Egyptiansdeveloped methods for quarrying both hard and softstones.CHISELS AND AXES. There was a development intools during the roughly 2,300 years from the Old Kingdom(2675–2170 B.C.E.) to the Ptolemaic Period(332–30 B.C.E.) as is evident in the different marks thechisels or axes left in different time periods. In the earlierperiod—the Old and Middle Kingdom—the marksare irregular lines that all curve in one direction. RosemarieKlemm, a German geologist who extensively studiedancient Egyptian quarries, suggested that these linesare compatible with the soft copper chisels discovered byarchaeologists in Egypt, but Dieter Arnold, the Germanarchaeologist, posited that these lines were more likelythe marks of stone axes or picks. Early in the New Kingdomthe lines left by tools in quarries are longer thanthose lines made during the Old and Middle Kingdoms.These New Kingdom lines also alternate in direction ina type of herringbone pattern, unlike the earlier lineswhich all curve in the same direction. R. Klemm suggestedthese patterns match the harder bronze chiselswhich had already been in use in Egypt for other purposessince the Middle Kingdom (2008–1630 B.C.E.).Arnold again refuted Klemm’s chisel theory and attributedthe marks to stone picks or axes. In Ramesside timesand later (1292–1075 B.C.E.), the lines left by the toolschanged yet again, this time as closely set together lines,longer than the marks made in previous times but againall curving in the same direction. These lines suggestedto Arnold the use of a pick-like instrument made of stonesince the only bronze chisel in use during this time periodwas shaped like a bar. Marks that match the barchisel are commonly found in rock-cut tombs; apparentlythe builders used the tool to cut a tunnel that theyformed into a tomb, rather than to cut blocks for building.Arnold’s suggestion would mean that only the tunnelingtool is currently known from archaeologicalArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 53