Archaeology and Geology of Ancient Egyptian Stones

This book seeks to identify and describe all the rocks and minerals employed by the ancient Egyptians using proper geological nomenclature, and to give an account of their sources in so far as they are known. The various uses of the stones are described, as well as the technologies employed to extract, transport, carve, and thermally treat them.

The ancient Egyptian Civilization dominated the northeast corner of Africa—including modern-day Egypt and, at times, northern Sudan—from about 3000 BC at the beginning of the Dynastic period to AD 642 at the end of the Roman period. Most of what it left behind consists of stones of many kinds. There were building stones for temples, pyramids, mastaba tombs, and other monumental constructions; and utilitarian stones for tools, weapons, and a wide array of mundane applications, including the raw materials for faience, glass, medicines, paint pigments, and pottery. There were also ornamental stones for decorative and structural elements in buildings, obelisks, statues, sarcophagi, stelae, vessels, shrines, offering tables, mace heads, cosmetic palettes, and other sculpted objects; and gemstones for jewellery, amulets, seals, and other small decorative items. Still more stones were processed to extract their metals, including gold, copper, iron, and lead.

Two persistent problems in Egyptology have been the geological identification of these stones, and the recognition of their sources. Archaeology and Geology of Ancient Egyptian Stones seeks to identify and describe all the rocks and minerals employed by the ancient Egyptians using proper geological nomenclature, and to give an account of their sources in so far as they are known. A secondary objective is to describe the multitudinous uses of the stones as well as the technologies employed to extract, transport, carve, and thermally treat them.

Volume 1: Archaeological and Geological Background, and Building and Utilitarian Stones

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

Part I: Archaeological and Geological Background

Chapter 2: Identification and Classification of Rocks and Minerals

Chapter 3: Geology of Egypt and Northern Sudan

Chapter 4: Tools and Methods for Extraction of Hard Stones

Chapter 5: Tools and Methods for Extraction of Soft Stones

Chapter 6: Stone Transport

Part II: Building Stones

Chapter 7: Overview of Building Stones

Chapter 8: Limestone

Chapter 9: Sandstone

Chapter 10: Anhydrite, Gypsum, and Other Building Stones

Part III: Utilitarian Stones

Chapter 11: Overview of Utilitarian Stones

Chapter 12: Hard Utilitarian Stones

Chapter 13: Soft Utilitarian Stones and Other Geological Materials

Volume 2: Ornamental Stones, Gemstones, and Metals

Part IV: Ornamental Stones

Chapter 14: Overview of Ornamental Stones

Chapter 15: Travertine and Other Colored Carbonate Rocks

Chapter 16: Silicified Sandstone

Chapter 17: Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks I: Nile Valley Quarries

Chapter 18: Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks II: Western Desert Quarries

Chapter 19: Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks III: Eastern Desert Quarries Initiated in the Dynastic and Ptolemaic Periods

Chapter 20: Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks IV: Eastern Desert Quarries Initiated in the Roman Period

Chapter 21: Other Ornamental Stones

Part V: Gemstones

Chapter 22: Overview of Gemstones

Chapter 23: Silica Gemstones

Chapter 24: Grue Gemstones

Chapter 25: Other Gemstones

Part VI: Metals

Chapter 26: Overview of Metals

Chapter 27: Gold

Chapter 28: Copper

Chapter 29: Iron and Lead

Epilogue (and a Poem)

Bibliography

Index

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Volume 1: Archaeological and Geological Background, and Building and Utilitarian Stones

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

Part I: Archaeological and Geological Background

Chapter 2: Identification and Classification of Rocks and Minerals

Chapter 3: Geology of Egypt and Northern Sudan

Chapter 4: Tools and Methods for Extraction of Hard Stones

Chapter 5: Tools and Methods for Extraction of Soft Stones

Chapter 6: Stone Transport

Part II: Building Stones

Chapter 7: Overview of Building Stones

Chapter 8: Limestone

Chapter 9: Sandstone

Chapter 10: Anhydrite, Gypsum, and Other Building Stones

Part III: Utilitarian Stones

Chapter 11: Overview of Utilitarian Stones

Chapter 12: Hard Utilitarian Stones

Chapter 13: Soft Utilitarian Stones and Other Geological Materials

Volume 2: Ornamental Stones, Gemstones, and Metals

Part IV: Ornamental Stones

Chapter 14: Overview of Ornamental Stones

Chapter 15: Travertine and Other Colored Carbonate Rocks

Chapter 16: Silicified Sandstone

Chapter 17: Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks I: Nile Valley Quarries

Chapter 18: Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks II: Western Desert Quarries

Chapter 19: Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks III: Eastern Desert Quarries Initiated in the Dynastic and Ptolemaic Periods

Chapter 20: Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks IV: Eastern Desert Quarries Initiated in the Roman Period

Chapter 21: Other Ornamental Stones

Part V: Gemstones

Chapter 22: Overview of Gemstones

Chapter 23: Silica Gemstones

Chapter 24: Grue Gemstones

Chapter 25: Other Gemstones

Part VI: Metals

Chapter 26: Overview of Metals

Chapter 27: Gold

Chapter 28: Copper

Chapter 29: Iron and Lead

Epilogue (and a Poem)

Bibliography

Index

James A. Harrell earned his BA degree in Earth Science at California State University at Fullerton, and his MS and PhD degrees in Geology at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Cincinnati, respectively. He taught petrology and other geological subjects at the University of Toledo for 30 years, retiring in 2009, and is now an Emeritus Professor at that institution. For the past 35 years, Professor Harrell has been conducting a survey of ancient mines and quarries in Egypt and northern Sudan, and has so far made 50 trips to these countries in support of this research. He has also done fieldwork on ancient quarries in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

• By (author) James A. Harrell