NOTES ON LITERATURE IN EGYPT IN THE TIME OF MOSES. 189 



products were then scarcely, if at all, known, and it is in the 

 application of these that the civilization of later times shows 

 a difference. No metal was nsed except copper, and hence 

 flint was largely needed. And glass was probably unknown, 

 although glazes were in use. But in most other respects the 

 changes of later times are rather due to economy of pro- 

 duction, and an increased demand for cheap imitations.'^ 

 Concerning the tools which were employed. Professor Petrie 

 remarks : "I found repeatedly that the hardest stones, basalt, 

 granite, and diorite were sawn ; and that the saw was uot a 

 blade, or wire, used with a hard powder, but was set with 

 fixed cutting points, in fact, a jewelled saw. The saws 

 must have been as much as nine feet in length, as the cuts 

 run lengthwise of the sarcophagi. One of the most usual 

 tools was the tubular drill, and this was also set with fixed 

 cutting points ; I have a core from inside a drill hole, broken 

 away in the working, which shows the spiral grooves 

 produced by the cutting points as they sunk down into 

 the material ; this is of red granite, and there has been no 

 flinching or jumping of the tool; every crystal, quartz or 

 feldspar has been cut through in the most equable way, 

 with a clean irresistible cut. An engineer who knows such 

 work Avith diamond drills, as well as anyone, said to me, 

 ' T should be proud to turn out such a finely cut core now ' ; 

 and truth to tell, modern drill cores cannot hold a candle 

 to the Egyptian ; by the side of the ancient work they look 

 wretchedly scraped out and irregular. That such hard 

 cutting points were known and used, is proved by clean cut 

 hieroglyphics on diorite, engraved without a trace of scrap- 

 ing; and by the lathe work of which I found pieces ot 

 turned bowls with the tool lines on them, and positive proof 

 that the surface had not been ground out." The work upon 

 the lathe is " fearless and powerful," as well as '-'surpassingly 

 delicate." The great pyramid of Gizeh is a standing monu- 

 ment of the mechanical skill of its builder. Professor Petrie 

 says : " To merely place such stones in exact contact at the 

 sides would be careful work ; but to do so with cement in 

 the joint seems almost impossible." Mr. Jomard says : '' We 

 are at a loss to know what force has moved, transported and 

 raised so great a number of colossal stones, how many men 

 were needed for the work, what amount of time was required 

 for it, what machinery they used ; and in proportion to our 

 ability to answer these questions, we increasingly admire 

 the power which regarded such obstacles as trifles." 



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