Ancient Secrets
Ancient Secrets
Mr. Denys Stocks, a
retired policeman, has just been given a B.Sc. for twelve years' research into
ancient Egyptian industrial methods. Egyptologists have often wondered how the
Egyptians were able to cut such hard stones and how they produced such fine jewelry.
Mr. Stocks has shown that the Egyptians used saws and drills. The saws and
drills were made of copper, which is very soft. But the Egyptian craftsmen
turned them into very powerful tools. First, the craftsman made a cut in a stone
with a soft saw. Then the craftsman poured sand into the cut. The hard sand got
into the teeth of the saw and did the cutting. In this way, a worker could cut
basalt, one of the hardest rocks. The sand he used turned into a very fine
powder. The powder was then used by jewelers to cut precious stones and to make
delicate jewelry.
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