They were quite skillful in working in wood and there was a large class of wood-workers, divided into carpenters, cabinet-makers, wheelwrights, coopers, coffin-makers, and boat-builders. There was quite a good deal more wood in Egypt in ancient times than now and yet not a great variety. The principal trees were the date-palm, used for beams; the Theban palm, used for rafts, and other purposes connected with water, and for beams and rafters; the sycamore, used for large planks for boxes, tables, doors, and the like; the tamarisk, a hard and compact wood, used for the handles of tools and wooden implements; and the acacia, used for planks and masts of boats. For ornamental purposes and where fine woods were required, they were brought in from other countries, as, the cedar, cypress, cherry, walnut, and deal from Syria, and ebony and other rare woods from Ethiopia.
Wood was used for buildings and parts of buildings, for furniture, boxes, barrels, chariots, traveling cars, palanquins, coffins, statues, statuettes, and in boat-building. "Regarding the methods of woodworking, certainly the axe was the primitive tool, as shown by the royal architect being designated by the axe. In the scenes of the pyramid age we find the saw about three feet long worked with both hands, the mallet and chisel for cutting mortise-holes, and the adze in constant use for shaping and for smoothing wood. To this day the small adze is a favorite tool of the Egyptian carpenter and boat-builder. For smoothing down the caulking inside a boat, heavy pounders of stone were used, held by a handle worked out on each side of the block. Drills were also commonly used both on wood and stone, worked by a bow."[38]
As they had only the hand-saw, in making planks they usually placed the piece of timber upright and fastened it to stakes and then sawed downward through it. In joining two boards end to end, they would cut into their ends and join them and glue them and then insert a flat wooden pin through them from edge to edge and then pass a round wooden pin through the boards into the flat pin, thus effectually keeping the joints from opening and thereby showing the thoroughness of their work. They dovetailed and veneered and stained and painted and gilded and inlaid their woodwork, thus displaying a high degree of skill in working with wood.
One of the greatest industries with them was that of brick-making, which was wholly under the control of the government and carried on solely by it. "The use of crude bricks baked in the sun was universal throughout the country for private and for many public buildings, and the dry climate of Egypt was peculiarly suited to those simple materials. They had the recommendation of cheapness, and even of durability; and those made 3,000 years ago, whether with or 'without straw,' are even now as firm and fit for use as when first put up in the reigns of the Amunophs and Thothmes, whose names they bear. When made of the Nile mud, or alluvial deposit, they required straw to prevent their cracking; but those formed of clay (now called Háybeh) taken from the torrent beds on the edge of the desert, held together without straw; and crude brick walls frequently had the additional security of a layer of reeds or sticks placed at intervals to act as binders."[39]
The tanning and preparation and use of leather was quite a leading industry of ancient Egypt, so much so that a section of the city of Thebes was set apart for the exclusive use of the workers in skins and leather. The demand for leather was so great Egypt itself could not supply the hides necessary and great quantities of hides were imported from foreign countries and also the skins of wild animals were brought in and used. They tanned the skins and dyed them and made some fine leather and also embossed the leather.
The tools used for working in leather were a semi-circular knife, a sort of chisel, an awl, a stone for polishing, cutting table, bending form, hone, and a few others. They made shoes, sandals, coverings and seats for chairs and sofas, bow-cases, ornaments and harness for chariots, and adornments for harps. Skins were used to cover shields and other things and they were shaped into forms for carrying water, wine, and other liquids. They made thongs by twisting leather strips together, cutting the strips from circular pieces of leather as is done now.
The Egyptians were famed for their manufacture of paper, which was made from the papyrus plant. This grew almost altogether in Lower Egypt, on marshy land or in the ponds left after the inundation of the Nile. The right of growing and selling it belonged to the government and the particular species from which the paper was made was closely guarded and perhaps not allowed to grow anywhere else than in the restricted territory in the Delta. The paper was made by removing the outer covering of the stalk, cutting the interior lengthwise into thin pieces and laying these together side by side on a flat board and across them another layer, cementing the strips together with a kind of glue, then putting all under pressure, and after drying the paper was completed and ready for use.
The paper made from the papyrus differed in quality according to the growth of the plant and from which part of the stalk the pieces were taken, the stalk growing to about fifteen feet in height. The breadth of the paper differed, running from six inches under an early Dynasty to fourteen and a half inches under a later Dynasty. When a sheet of papyrus had been used for writing, it was rolled up, and if important and to be preserved for any length of time, tied round the middle and secured by clay stamps with a seal. The cost of the papyrus was so great that it was used only in funeral rituals, conveyances, deeds, and other public documents, and sometimes the old writing was erased and then the roll was written on again. For ordinary purposes of writing, pieces of broken pottery, stone, board, and leather were used.
The Nile traversing the entire length of Egypt formed a great avenue for trade, as it was an open and easy way for reaching all parts. Not only did the Nile give access to all parts about it, but also the canals going out from it and running parallel with it connected the various parts and gave ready ways on which domestic trade could go. The other nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea carried on important maritime trade with Egypt and, too, there was a great caravan trade with the interior of Africa and parts of Asia. From Ethiopia came gold, ivory, and slaves; from Arabia was obtained an incense necessary in the religious ceremonies; from India were received spices. "Syria took Egyptian chariots by hundreds; Tyre imported 'fine linen with broidered work'; Greece, large quantities of paper; India and Arabia, linen fabrics; Etruria, glass, porcelain, and alabaster; Assyria, perhaps, ivories. In the earlier times Egyptian manufactures must have been altogether unrivalled; and their glass, their pottery, their textile fabrics, their metal-work, must have circulated freely through the various countries bordering the Mediterranean and the Red Sea."[40]
Among the important industries of Egypt were the works in sculpture, painting, and architecture. The men engaged in these occupations ranked high, along with the scribes.