Ancient CivilizationsTiny 5,300-Year-Old ‘Bow Drill’ Shows Egyptians Used Advanced Drilling Tools Much Earlier Than Previously Thought Posted on February 22, 2026 by Administrator Scientists have recently re-examined a small copper-alloy object that was excavated nearly a century ago from a cemetery at Badari in Upper Egypt. Their analysis has revealed that this artefact is the earliest known rotary metal drill from ancient Egypt, dating back to the Predynastic period (late 4th millennium BCE), which predates the era of the first pharaohs.
