The British Museum’s Egyptian Woodworking tool collection

OK, so you like old school woodworking tools. Maybe some 19th century coffin smoothing planes? How about some 17th century chisels?  How about something just a little older?

Believe it or not, the ancient Egyptians were accomplished woodworkers. And, as woodworkers, they had sweet woodworking tools. This collection at the British Museum features the bronze axes, saw and a bow drill – a standard carpenter’s tool box from approximately 1500 BCE.

While it may seem difficult to believe in such an arid place, the ancient Egyptians were proficient woodworkers, with evidence of dovetail, dowel and mortise and tenon joints in preserved furniture found in the tombs of the pharaohs.