Rope stretcher

In ancient Egypt, a rope stretcher (or harpedonaptai) was a surveyor who measured real property demarcations and foundations using knotted cords, stretched so the rope did not sag. The practice is depicted in tomb paintings of the Theban Necropolis.^[1] Rope stretchers used 3-4-5 triangles and the plummet,^[2] which are still in use by modern surveyors.

A rope being used to measure fields. Taken from the Tomb of Menna, TT69.

The commissioning of a new sacred building was a solemn occasion in which pharaohs and other high-ranking officials personally stretched ropes to define the foundation. This important ceremony, and therefore rope-stretching itself, are attested over 3000 years from the early dynastic period to the Ptolemaic kingdom.^[3]

Rope stretching technology spread to ancient Greece and India, where it stimulated the development of geometry and mathematics.

See also

• Gromatici
• Surveying
• Trigonometry