Social context of the Old Kingdom copper model tools

Abstract

Copper model tools were usually part of the elite burial equipment during the Old Kingdom in the Ancient Egypt. Definition of tool types is based on the semiotic triangle and a correct reading and interpretation of the artefacts is approached here. Model tools present in the burial equipment were tools for stone- and wood-working, these being materials of conspicuous consumption in the period. Tools are examined as symbols of the patron–craftsman relationship, where the ownership of the copper tools was the patron’s. Copper model tools were standardized and a connection between the size and amount of copper model tools and social status of the buried persons is explored. Persons with higher status had access to larger amounts of copper; however, the rules of the access were changing and access to copper was widening during the Old Kingdom.