Middle and Late Bronze Age Metal Tools from the Aegean, Eastern ...

comparable to modern rulers and tape measures are unknown from the Bronze Age,
although Romano envisions Minoan surveyors at Gournia employing the Egyptian
merkhet as a surveying instrument. 291 One would expect that measuring tools were
essential to any kit belonging to a carpenter or mason. 292
In order to cut materials into
specific lengths, some form of measure must have been employed. It was equally
important to create straight lines on materials either to guide a cut or to align blocks on
top of a foundation. A device like the modern chalk line would have been the simplest
way to create a straight line. A powdered string could make a temporary mark on wood
or stone to facilitate an even cut. Any type of straight edge may have been used, but a
powdered string was simple to work and provided a longer line and more precision.
These tool accessories and countless others would have aided craftspersons, and should
be taken into account when considering the preserved implements.
A: Shaft-hole axes (Plates 4.1-4.3)
Shaft-hole axes are blades with a single cutting edge at the tip and a circular or
oval hole at the butt end (Plate 4.1). This configuration enabled a handle to be attached or
hafted to the blade. Shaft-hole axes differ from single flat axes with the employment of a
shaft hole for the handle. Terminology for these implements differs by region, and certain
shaft-hole axes in Syria-Palestine and Egypt are probable weapons instead of tools. 293 For
the Levant, Philip differentiates axes as “narrow-bladed”, “fenestrated” and “shaft-hole”,
but all three types technically have a socketed shaft. 294
The fenestrated axes are
understood as weapons or prestige items of display, as some are made of gold or silver.
291
Romano 2003, 251. A depiction of the merkhet is preserved in the New Kingdom tomb of Menna in
Thebes (18 th dynasty). See Romano 2003, plate Lb for a representation of the device.
292
Pointed out by Evely 2000, 528.
293
Petrie 1917, 5-11; Davies 1987, 23; Philip 1989, 37-68.
294
Philip 1989, 37-44, 49-68.
130