Drills were bows, the strings of which were wound around a shaft to which a drill bit had been fastened. The top of this shaft was held steady with a little upside turned bowl of stone or the shell of the fruit of the dum palm. Drills were indispensable for making proper connections between two pieces of wood. Wooden dowels were inserted into the drill holes and the workpieces glued together. The Egyptians even made a sort of ply-wood in this fashion.