Page 61 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

.Ancient Egyptian Rope and Knots 49

and papyrus string was often made in an opposite orientation to that used
for the grass string: sZ2 and sZ3. Very thin yarn was made of flax (Linum
usitatissimum). None of the raw materials was available to the inhabitants in
the direct vicinity of the village, but all plants could be found at an hour's
walking distance, near the Banks of the Nile.
The workmen at Amarna were not specialised in making knots. The knots
used are very basic and surprisingly similar to the standard repertoire of knots
available to ordinary people in the modern Western world. Most frequently
present is the overhand knot, in both orientations, but the Z-overhand knot
is encountered most. The half knot, reef knot and granny knot are also found
often. Because the finds are fragmentary, it is often not possible to decide
what the exact use of the knots must have been, but it is apparent that the
people in Amarna were using knots without much expertise. The `knotters'
curse' was found a number of times: using a reef knot to connect two strings
with different diameters and often made of two different materials. Many
knot constructions gave the impression of being unplanned: windings and half
knots; loops through which ends have been pulled unsystematically. These
constructions have no modern or ancient parallels and seem to have been
`invented', or rather muddled up on the spot. Many stopper knots were used,
mostly to keep strings from unravelling, but also to keep a string from slipping
through a loop. The most frequently used stopper knot is the overhand knot,
but occasionally other knots were used: combinations of overhand knots, or one
of the unsystematic newly invented constructions. None of the more complex
knots occurred and neither did splices. Loops were made by pulling a string
through the start of the ply (see below, Figs. 14, 22).
Peculiar to Amarna are large grommets made of string, or bundles of
grass, which seem to have functioned as stoppers or pads. The pad of Fig. 6
is made with sZ2 string, which was wound in Z-direction in four stages (see
Fig. 7). Lashings did occur also: the handles of brushes are lashed, and in one
case a hitched lashing is used (Fig. 8). This particular brush had been used
as a paint brush for whitewashing walls.
Nets were made with sZ3 flax yarns and mesh knots. They had a mesh
size of 30 x 32 mm. A carrying net for amphoras was made of sZ2 papyrus
string and overhand knots. From the 70 fragments found, the construction
of the net could be inferred: the base of the carrying net was formed by a
ring (Fig. 9), made of a bundle of grass, wrapped with strings. At six points,
divided equally over the ring, two strings were fastened, which formed the end
of the net (Fig. 10). The net was started at the handles and made with Z-
overhand knots in two rows of six knots. The two handles were made of sZ2S3
rope, fastened with a knot (Fig. 11). Two men were needed to carry a pole,
which was put through the handles, with its heavy load of net and amphora
in between them.