Arguably, the most significant discovery made by Petrie in Khasekhemwy’s tomb was a small ewer. This is not because it is such a beautiful piece of work, although it is that, but because it is the earliest known object made from bronze in Egypt. Bronze is made by adding 8 – 12% tin to copper. The metal is considerably harder and tougher than pure copper. Curiously, the chisels and axes recovered from the same tomb, although they would have benefited most from the qualities inherent in bronze, were made from copper.

The reason the ewer was made from bronze and not these other objects is that pure copper is difficult to cast and hammer into shape whereas the addition of arsenic or tin lowers its melting point and increases its fluidity, making possible the casting and forging of complex shapes. In the case of our ewer, metalsmiths formed the body of the ewer by “raising”—that is hammering a flat sheet of metal around a hard object. When the sides of the vessel were shaped, a flat disc was welded to the bottom of the vessel by a process of heating and hammering. A hole was cut in the other end, which now became the top of the vessel. A spout was attached by the same process used to attach the bottom.¹Schorsch 1992, 155-156]/mfn] It goes without saying that none of these techniques are easily discovered. The craftsmen who produced the ewers not only understood how to forge and cast metals, they also mastered complex joining techniques, and knew how to alloy copper and tin.