Biblical Era Tools

square , compass , plumb , level ,
they were all used to build solomans temple .
check a freemason site for replicas .

-- david ,new mexico ,allheart

Try this link, scroll down and you will see the ancient egyptian woodworking page which you can download to pdf. It,s not from palistine but it,s close and would have been very familiar to them. I believe that in palastine, being at the crossroads of the ancient world, they would have known about tools and skills from east and west so egyptian and roman and probably indian tools would have been known. On a curious note, in syria they push their handplanes like europeans and pull their bowsaws like the japanese. http://skillspublish.com.au/Skills%20AWW%20Current.htm

-- if the hand is not working it is not a pure hand

since rome was a power and influence through that time frame, maybe their tools were used by the jewish people. just a thought…

-- wm, brandon,ms

Hmm.. when they translated the Bible from greek versions long ago, the word for ‘builder’ they used was the term carpenter. But actually there was very little carpentry and the metal tools needed for that Joseph would never have been able to acquire. They were expensive and only for the rich artisans. Joseph was a mason. Look at the old buildings and ruins in Jerusalem. They were all made of flat stones laid upon each other. All the buildings are made that way. Almost no wood in them as there was very little wood to be had. Joseph was probably the correct term for ‘builder’ at the time. A laborer, one of the poorest and hardest on the back professions of the time. You can’t go by biblical movies or famous art that was made a thousand years later. But because we as a culture have that vision of the holy family in our minds then I suppose it’s ok to make him a carpenter.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

I’d love to see the script. I once wrote an Easter thing that didn’t feature Jesus at all, it was all people that had interacted with him. One guy had to play a centurion. Some how, he managed to acquire first century Roman replica armor.

Everybody else had cheap, poorly made robes and turbans.

Back on topic…

I think the tools would be more Roman in style: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rogerulrich/tools_woodworking.html

-- Sometimes... At night... My router tells me to do things to wood. Bad Things.

Thanks for the input guys. I’ll check it all out

Michael, When I get it done I’ll let you know. It may take me a while. Last year I played a Roman Centurion for Easter. The costume was homemade, but I found a cool helmet on line that was pretty realistic. I had to remove the ear pieces though. I sang a solo, and I couln’t hear the monitor.

-- Kent Shepherd * The goal is-----More Tools!

I have no idea how much woodworking Joseph did but I was just thinking yesterday how it would have been to work on some of the temple carpentry. I think it was Solomon’s temple that had allot of cedar in it. I am amazed at the things people built in ancient times. Well, I was no help to you but I wish you luck in your search.
Tim
Oh, and I think if you study the original greek manuscripts you will find that Joseph favored Panasonic screw guns…

-- timmytimmy

The temple of gallilee has a jewish wood carver mosaic on the floor,The hebrew and palestinian craftsmen of the time, carved quite a bit, Torah scroll handles they must have shaped them with some sort of bow turning tool.
You could make a prop line turning bench, Ivory and wood carving where common by jewish artisans. Just small thing I remember reading. I think it would be interesting to have a (saw pit ) as a stage prop one man above one below. But I’m not sure at all the date these where first used. I’m interested in this let me know what you find out. Do you have the “my boss is a jewish carpenter” bumpersticker?
Funny how us humans made better work with less technology. Up until 100 years ago woodworking Blows my mind. Now it all seems, I don’t know? Not as good. There’s something to be said for putting in 5,000 hours on one piece.

-- PJM.`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸ ><((((º> ""BY HAMMER AND HAND ALL ARTS DO STAND""1785-1974 nyc Semper Fi, Patrick M

on my website, http://www.woodworkinghistory.com, i have numerous references to tools of the biblical era, and the egyptian, etc.

the egyptians were making dovetail joints and cabriole legs when they constructed the pyramids. even the concept of sanding was known to the egyptians!

this page—http://www.woodworkinghistory.com/glossary_access.htm —has the key to my glossary of terms in woodworking history, but i haven’t gotten it entirely organized yet—all of this takes time .

i have a bibliography on this page: http://www.woodworkinghistory.com/glossary_woodworking_tools.htm/glossary_access.htm

W L Goodman’s History of Woodworking Tools 1966 is still the best single-volume source; even though it is more comprehensive in its coverage, R A Salaman’s Dictionary of Woodworking Tools 1975 picks up at 1700, too recent to help with biblical tool technology

let me tell you that gathering info on the research conducted on anything of the biblical era is not an easy task, completed in a few minutes, even on the internet, using the google “book search” tool.

sorting out the findings is time consuming, so if you are serious, expect to invest quite a bit of your time.

-- Raymond McInnis Washington State ray@woodworkinghistory.com

I just love to see that there are so many here that are open to speak about our Lord and the biblical times along with woodworking. So many seem to hide thier feeling because it may not be politicaly correct. Hats off to all of you.
Nate

Kent, have a word to Yorkshire Stewart. He’s a LJ that replicates ancient tools.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python