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[Page 165]

9.

Round holes were then bored along the bottom. Dry pine woodenpine plugs were then inserted. By pouring water on these plugs they swelled and cracked the block off.

It is believed that very little of the granite was quarried though. At Assuan [also spelt Aswan] the surface is strewn with huge granite boulders of a roughly squared shape. These were probably ferried down the Nile and finally squared near where they were to be used. The hammers used for the hard stones were round diorite lumps like a cricket ball. These were held in the palm of the hand.

For the softer stones such as the limestone and sandstones, chisels could be used, and the chisel marks are still to be seen on some works.

The tool used for testing the straightness  flatness of the side of a stone has also been found in certain foundation deposits. It is very simple and consists of three small wooden pegs, about the length and thickness of a finger. A cord is passed through a hole in two of the pegs: the third has no hole. The holes are bored at exactly the same distance from the end of each peg. To use, a bored peg is placed at each edge of the stone and the cord stretched. By running the 3rd peg along

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