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Experiments in Egyptian Archaeology: Stoneworking Technology in Ancient Egypt
93. Another test for flint chisels, punches and scrapers was devised. A flat surface was prepared on a piece of hard, fine-grained sandstone. A test bronze chisel was used to produce the surface, but the chisel’s edge became badly damaged. Flint produces a flat surface in such stone at a quicker rate. The Egyptian word for ‘flint’, the semi-ideogram ds, meaning ‘sharp stone’, consists of four signs; these are the consonants d (hand) and s (bolt), followed by the determinative signs for ‘knife’ (sharp) and ‘stone’. The four symbols, each averaging 2 cm in length and 1 mm in depth, were cut into the sandstone with small flint chisels, punches and scrapers (Figures 3.19, 3.20) in 20 minutes. The floors of the signs had, at first, a pitted surface, which was caused by the pointed tools. Scraping with a flint microlith completely eradicated the pitting. A copper, or bronze, point small enough to have cut this type of hieroglyph, would not have stood up to the stresses imposed upon the metal.