Through the Eras

Architecture and DesignWooden tools from the 18th-dynasty tomb of the royal architect Kha at Deir el-Medina. GIANNI DAGLI ORTI/CORBIS.examples. The stone axe or pick that Arnold suggestedas a quarrying tool has not yet been recognized in thearchaeological record.TRANSPORTING BUILDING MATERIALS. The Egyptianstransported stone through both human and animalpower. A basic understanding of physics and balance allowedEgyptian workmen to lift and lower heavy loadsusing, in different periods, pulleys, wedges, ramps, andconstruction roads. The use of the shaduf in the RamessidePeriod to raise water demonstrates that the Egyptiansunderstood the basic physics of lifting heavyweights. Measuring from the beginning of Egyptian historythrough the New Kingdom, engineers moved increasinglylarger stone loads through innovation. ManyEgyptian relief sculptures depict men carrying sand,gravel, mud, bricks, timber, and even small stones overlong distances from their source near the river to constructionsites. Men carried bricks or single small blocksof stone on their shoulders or in slings attached to poles.In the tomb of Rekhmire (reign of Thutmose III,1479–1425 B.C.E.) drawings depict workmen haulingthree bricks on each side in carrying slings. Groups ofmen also carried bricks and stones in handbarrows withhandles on four sides. The oldest known handbarrowdates to Dynasty 3 (2675–2625 B.C.E.). Donkeys stillhaul building materials in Egypt in the early twenty-firstcentury, carrying up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) forshort distances.HEAVY LOADS. The Egyptians moved extremelyheavy weights beginning as early as the reign of Khufu(2585–2560 B.C.E.) in the Old Kingdom. Some of theheaviest blocks moved by the Egyptians include stonesfrom the Great Pyramid weighing up to sixty tons andspanning as much as eight meters (26 feet) in width. Bythe reign of Ramesses II (1279–1213 B.C.E.) the Egyptiansregularly moved colossal statues weighing up to54 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)