♦Livre♦
Experiments in Egyptian Archaeology: Stoneworking Technology in Ancient Egypt
106. The archaeological evidence for abrasives is inextricably linked to the evidence for copper stonecutting saws and tubular drills and, therefore, both matters need investigating together. The ancient use of saws and tubular drills upon stone in Egypt was first recognized and recorded by W.M.F. Petrie. In the early 1880s, he examined saw marks on the basalt pavement on the eastern side of the Fourth Dynasty pyramid of Khufu at Giza,8 and also investigated saw marks on the rose granite sarcophagi of Khufu and Khafre.9 On Khufu’s sarcophagus, Petrie noticed that straight, parallel striations ran horizontally along the sides. He stated that a saw about 9 feet10 (2.7 m) in length was used to cut the granite to shape, allowing for the stroke of the tool.
The pyramids and temples of Gizeh
57. The coffer in the King's Chamber is of the usual form of the earliest Egyptian sarcophagi, an approximately flat–sided box of red granite. It has the usual under–cut groove to hold the edge of a lid along the inside of the N., E., and S. sides; the W. side being cut away as low as the groove for the lid to slide over it; and having three pin–holes cut in it for the pins to fall into out of similar holes in the lid, when the lid was put on. It is not finely wrought, and cannot in this respect rival the coffer in the Second Pyramid. On the outer sides the lines of sawing may be plainly seen: horizontal on the N., a small patch horizontal on the E., vertical on the S., and nearly horizontal on the W.; showing that the masons did not hesitate at cutting a slice of granite 90 inches long, and that the jewelled bronze saw must have been probably about 9 feet long. On the N. end is a place, near the W. side, where the saw was run too deep into the granite, and was backed out again by the masons; but this fresh start they made was still too deep, and two inches lower they backed out a second time, having altogether cut out more than 1/10 inch deeper than they intended. On the E. inside is a portion of a tube drill hole remaining, where they tilted the drill over into the side by not working it vertically. They tried hard to polish away all that part, and took off about 1/10 inch thickness all round it; but still they had to leave the. side of the hole 1/10 deep, 3 long, and 1.3 wide; the bottom of it is 8 or 9 below the original top of the coffer. They made a similar error on the N. inside, but of a much less extent. There are traces of horizontal grinding lines on the W. inside. Reference should be made to section 129 for the subject of stone-working in general.
