In the ancient world, King Solomon was known for his wisdom and greatness. His reign brought peace and prosperity between Egypt, Israel, and Mesopotamia. In 950 B.C., Solomon began construction of the temple, which became famous for its beauty and splendor. However, there was a challenge: how to build such a huge building without using iron tools?
According to legend, the wise men told Solomon about the existence of precious stones in the breastplates of the high priests. These stones were polished with a tool even harder than they were. This instrument was called Shamir. According to the spirits, Shamir was a small worm, but had incredible power to cut through the hardest stone.
It is interesting to note that the word “Shamir” is of Egyptian origin and means diamond in Hebrew. However, archaeological finds show that the ancient Egyptians used only crystalline quartz as a cutting tool, as they knew nothing about the real diamond.
In the early 20th century, archaeologists discovered the remains of the pyramid of Pharaoh Sahura, who ruled during the Old Kingdom. In exceptionally hard stone rocks, of which the pyramid was composed, were found precisely drilled holes at one angle. This indicates that the ancient Egyptians used a rock drilling technique similar to modern rock drilling.
The English archaeologist Flinders Petrie noticed that when drilling granite, the drill had a load of at least 2 tons. He assumed that to perform such complex work used a special technique, which could not be possessed by the ancient Egyptians with their available tools made of copper.
Thus, the mystery of the ancient tools remains unsolved. How the hieroglyphs on the diorite bowls discovered at Giza were created, and what tool was used to cut the precisely drilled holes in the pyramid of Sahura, remains a mystery.
