Presentation Information
[T3-O-4]Abu Gerida - Hamama: a unique area of iron archaeometallurgy in Ancient (318-207 BC) Egypt
*Yasser Medhat Hassan Abdelrahman1,2, Vincent Serneels3 (1. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Egypt, 2. Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Japan, 3. Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland)
Keywords:
Archaeometallurgy,Ancient Egypt,Smelting,specular hematite,Iron
Ancient Egypt is well known for mining and metallurgy of gold and copperI, but evidences of iron production in ancient Egypt is poorly documented. There was a general consensus that ancient Egyptian either used meteoritic ironII from the Western Desert or imported iron ores, such as specular hematite, from EuropeIII. However, evidences that specular hematite was mined and smelted in antiquity are recorded in the Abu Gerida - Hamama area, which is located in the Eastern Desert of EgyptIV. These evidences are represented by burnt plant remains, slag fragments, and a furnace - like structure discovered in the Hamama area and by grinding tools and specular hematite fragments in the Abu Gerida area. Radiocarbon dating of the charred plant remains from the area suggests that the iron smelting activities took place in the early Ptolemaic era (318-207 BC). This age is consistent with the shape of the mills and the Ptolemaic pottery finds in the areaV.
The geochemistry of the Egyptian specularite is unique compared to the European specular hematite, which is controlled by its fine-grained phases such as scheelite and ferberite. The bloomery iron smelting process of the Egyptian specularite produced two types of slags: furnace slags and tapping slags. These two types show different petrographic features and whole-rock geochemical signatures, which are controlled by the composition of the smelted ore and the additives as well as by the smelting conditions. The slags plot close to the 1200⁰C isotherm on the FeO-Al2O3-SiO2 system, which may represent the temperature of the bloomery process.
I Ogden, J. (2000). Metals. In P. T. Nicholson & I. Shaw (Eds.), Ancient Egyptian materials and technology (pp. 148–176). Cambridge University Press.
II Rehren, T., et al. (2013). 5,000 years old Egyptian iron beads made from hammered meteoritic iron. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40, 4785–4792.
III Petrie, W. M. F. (1885). The finding of Naukratis. The Monthly Meeting of the UCL Institute Nov. 5th, 1885, pp. 43–51.
IV Garland, M. H., & Bannister, C. O. (1927). Ancient Egyptian metallurgy. Charles Griffin and Company, Limited.
V Harrell, J. A. (2005). Porfido rosso laterizio and the discovery of its source in Wadi Abu Gerida. Egypt. Marmora, 1, 35–46.
The geochemistry of the Egyptian specularite is unique compared to the European specular hematite, which is controlled by its fine-grained phases such as scheelite and ferberite. The bloomery iron smelting process of the Egyptian specularite produced two types of slags: furnace slags and tapping slags. These two types show different petrographic features and whole-rock geochemical signatures, which are controlled by the composition of the smelted ore and the additives as well as by the smelting conditions. The slags plot close to the 1200⁰C isotherm on the FeO-Al2O3-SiO2 system, which may represent the temperature of the bloomery process.
I Ogden, J. (2000). Metals. In P. T. Nicholson & I. Shaw (Eds.), Ancient Egyptian materials and technology (pp. 148–176). Cambridge University Press.
II Rehren, T., et al. (2013). 5,000 years old Egyptian iron beads made from hammered meteoritic iron. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40, 4785–4792.
III Petrie, W. M. F. (1885). The finding of Naukratis. The Monthly Meeting of the UCL Institute Nov. 5th, 1885, pp. 43–51.
IV Garland, M. H., & Bannister, C. O. (1927). Ancient Egyptian metallurgy. Charles Griffin and Company, Limited.
V Harrell, J. A. (2005). Porfido rosso laterizio and the discovery of its source in Wadi Abu Gerida. Egypt. Marmora, 1, 35–46.