Spotlights on the Exploitation and Use of Minerals and Rocks through the Egyptian Civilization

The book is in 333 + XV pages 19.5 x 27.5 cm, paperback, published by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, Cairo, Egypt 1996. It was published on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the Egyptian Authority of Geological Surveys and Mineral Projects. The author, a retired geologist, has published already a two-volume work entitled "Mining in Egypt...Past and Present" in 730 pages (1985 and 1993) which the present reviewer found exceedingly interesting. The present book is divided into three parts:


The Pharaonic Period (112 pages)
The Post-Pharaonic Period.
This includes the Ptolemic, Roman, Byzantine, and the Islamic periods (78 pages)
The Modern and Contemporary Period.
This starts with the French Expedition and the era of Mohammed Ali, followed by the period up to 1952 Revolution, and finally the contemporary situation (132 pages).
Well-illustrated

The book is very well-illustrated by photographs (many of them are colored) and maps, and is printed on high quality paper. It is full of historical facts pertinent to the exploitation of precious stones, granite, limestone and other industrial minerals in ancient times, the production of pottery, the exploitation of gold and copper mines, the story of the first geological map of a gold mine in Ancient Egypt that is now preserved at the Turin Museum in Italy. The author then discusses the valuable contribution of the French Expedition of Bonaparte and gradually enters into the modern period and the new mining laws. The book is an excellent document on the history of mining and metallurgy in Egypt through its long history. It is worth translating into other languages, at least in a condensed form. The Egyptian civilization began about 3100 BC when Narmer (called Menes in Greek), a king of Upper Egypt, led his armies from the Nile River valley north into the delta, conquered Lower Egypt and unified Egypt into a single nation. Around 2700 BC a period known as the Old Kingdom began. During this period which lasted for about 600 years, cities became centres of government and religion.

 The king who became known as a pharaoh, was a strong ruler, a priest, and a god. The pharaohs built great tombs for themselves in the form of pyramids. In 1750 BC Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos, a people from western Asia who came in horse-drawn chariots and used weapons made of bronze and iron. The Egyptians who always fought on foot with weapons made of copper and stone were hence defeated. The Hyksos ruled Egypt for about 150 years until an Egyptian prince named Ahmose, using Hyksos weapons and style of fighting, led an uprising and drove the invaders out of Egypt in the year 1580 BC. Ahmose founded another line of pharaohs and began the period known as Modern Kingdom. The Ancient Egyptians excelled in painting, sculpture, architecture, music, ship-building, agriculture, and irrigation. Religion played an important role in everyday life, which was believed to be a preparation for the eternal life after death.

Chemistry
The Egyptians are credited with the word "chemistry". "Chemia" was probably derived from a Greek word meaning "black". According to historians, the words "Chemia" was mentioned by the Greek philosopher Plutarch in his treatise, referring to Egypt on account of the black cosmetic materials in use for eye shadow. These could be soot, powdered charcoal, powdered galena, or any other black or gray combination.

This is confirmed by the Egyptian inscriptions, where the hieroglyphic form of the words is used. The name occurs also in an edict of the Emperor Diocletian in 296 AD in which the books of the Egyptians in Alexandria on "chemia" on making (i.e. imitating) gold and silver, were ordered to be burned.

A Greek manuscript now at Saint Mark's in Venice, copied about 950 AD, from a work by Zosimos 300 AD who lived in Constantinople, also mentions the word "chemia". When the Arabs occupied Egypt in 642 AD the Arabic definite article the (al) was added and the word became alchemia then alchemy.

Mining
Quarrying of limestone and granite was already an advanced technology by the time of the pyramid builders. Other stones were also exploited to a great extent, for example alabaster, diorite, marble and serpentine, for making statues and vases, basalt for making sarcophagi, dolomite for hammers to work hard stone. Thousands of objects made of these materials have been discovered and are displayed in museums all over the world. There was also extensive mining and working of precious stones, including amethyst, beryl, lapis lazuli, malachite, turquoise (hydrated aluminum silicate with traces of copper), and other minor precious or semi-precious stones. The oldest mining map in existence is of a gold mine drawn on papyrus - it is now in the Museum of Turin, Italy. Hathor was the miner's goddess. In many discovered mining localities a statue or inscriptions were found of this goddess who was supposed to protect the miners in their work. Gold is found in Egypt mainly in the Eastern Desert. Practically all the gold mines known today were already exploited by the Ancient Egyptians. A small copper serpent, about 15 cm long, with a golden head was among the discoveries, made in a mining district in Sinai. It is believed that serpents such as this were used as amulets for those bitten by a serpent. It is remarkable that mention of such serpents is found in the Bible.

Metal working
Gold and copper were known at the time of the Old Kingdom. Numerous small statues made of solid gold have been discovered, as have a few large statues made of copper. Bronze came into use during the Middle Kingdom. During the Modern Kingdom, the use of these metals became widespread. Silver is believed to have been imported from Asia; although electrum, a naturally occurring gold-silver alloy, was used, no attempt was made to separate silver from gold. Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, has two major advantages over copper: it is harder and it has a lower melting point and hence is easier to cast. Metallic tin for making bronze was not known in Egypt, but it is believed that bronze was produced by mixing copper ore with another earth substance obtained from a particular locality (tin ore) in a certain proportion. The Egyptians made copper plates and wires and forged gold into plates and thin foil; the latter was sometimes glued to wood. They covered the doors of temples, certain bas-reliefs on pyramidions or obelisks, and even whole obelisks, with plates of gold. The obelisks at Karnak were coated with electrum. However, neither coins nor medals were struck. Metallurgical operations are depicted in numerous wall paintings. The magnitude of the remaining slag piles from copper melting at certain localities attests to the large scale of the operations undertaken.

Chemical industry
The chemical industries of the empire were highly developed. The most important were: pottery, glass, glaze, leather, papyrus, pigments and inks. Tens of thousands of vessels made of pottery and glass have been discovered in tombs.

The principal blue pigment of Ancient Egypt was an artificial frit that consisted of crystalline copper calcium silicate. This was made by heating together silica, malachite, limestone, and natron. In fact the ancient Greek and Roman writers described this Egyptian colouring material.

Natron, naturally occurring sodium carbonate, played an important role in Ancient Egypt. There is a large deposit half way between Cairo and Alexandria and it is supposed to have been exploited by the Ancient Egyptians for mummification. The deposit, which is about 20 meters below sea level, is known today as Wadi Al-Natron. Alum, hydrated aluminum sulphate, occurs in large deposits in the oases of Dakhla and Kharga in the Western Desert. These were extensively exploited for use as a mordant in dyeing. The process was described by the Roman writer Pliny in reference to its use in Egypt. Salt was also produced by the evaporation of seawater. Papyrus was the form of writing paper used by the Egyptians. The papyrus plant (Cyperus papyrus), which belongs to the sedge family, grew abundantly at one time in the marshy districts of Lower Egypt.

According to Plane, the stem of the plant was sliced into thin strips which were placed side by side upon a table and across them at right angles another series of similar strips. They were then moistened with Nile water which "when in a muddy state has the peculiar qualities of glue", pressed, then left to dry.

Flax has been grown in Egypt from very early times and was used to make linen cloth. The Egyptians also possessed large flocks of sheep and made wool. Dyes were extracted from certain marine algae found on rocks of the Mediterranean Sea, from the roots of certain plants, e.g. red madder, or from dried bodies of certain insects...What a marvelous craftsmanship