Page 56 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

44 History and Science of Knots

tions. Not until the last twenty years has there been an increasing interest in
settlement archaeology and a focus on the life of ordinary people in ancient
Egypt. The objects of daily life, such as rope and knots, are used as a source
of information on the social context of the ancient Egyptian inhabitants. An
analysis of the artefacts is used as the basis for an interpretation of the social
context of their producers and users.
The function of knots is many-sided, from purely functional to symbolic
and religious. Information on the use of rope and knots can be found in
excavations, but also on wall paintings, reliefs and in texts. In two of the
following sections the Egyptian sources of our knowledge on knots will be
surveyed, first the archaeology, secondly the information from texts. These
sections do not pretend to be exhaustive or conclusive. Many more years of
fundamental research will be needed to come to conclusions on a more firm
basis. They merely form an introduction into ancient Egyptian knotting, by
presenting a selection of the information available at the moment.

Rope and knots from archaeological excavations

Because most excavation reports lack detailed information on rope and knots,
it is not possible to make a chronological survey of their use in Egypt. The
information referred to in this chapter has been recorded by the author during
ten expeditions to four different archaeological sites. These sites represent
several periods, types and regions (Fig. 1).
Tell el-Amarna is the earliest site, dating from 1350 B.C. It was built in
Middle Egypt as the new Capital of Pharao Amenhotep IV / Akhenaton. The
main city was built in a desolated area near the River Nile, and abandoned
less than a century after its foundation. In the main city, hardly any organic
material survived. The rope and knots were excavated at a workmen's village
which was located further inland, in the foothills of the Eastern desert. The
village was built for the workmen who made the tombs in the nearby mountains
for the Pharaoh and the Nobles of the city. The workmen and their families
lived there for a relatively short period of only one or two generations. Because
of the brief period of occupation of the village, the rope and knots can be
precisely dated.
Berenike is much later than Amarna. It was a harbour town on the
Red Sea coast, founded in 275 B.C. and abandoned in the late 5th century
A.D. Berenike was the most important harbour for trade between India, Africa
south of the Sahara, the Arabian peninsula and Rome. The merchandise had
to be transported on camel back from the Red Sea coast to the Nile, following
a route through the Eastern Desert which took 12 days. The rope and knots
referred to below, were found in a trash deposit dating from the 4th and 5th
centuries A.D.