Graywacke, a dark, varicolored, attractive stone, was ob-
tained from Wadi Hammamat between Luxor and Quseir.
Chephren diorite was quarried from Gebel el-Asr, an area in
the Western Desert, about 40 miles northwest of Abu Sim-
bel. Th e pink granite was one of the favorite building and or-
namental stones and is widespread in various spots around
Aswān and in the Arabian Desert. As pictorial evidence from
the causeway of King Unas (d. 2345 b.c.e.) indicates, in an-
cient Egypt granite was quarried, shaped into objects, and
polished before being transported by boats down the Nile.
Sandstone was the principal element in any construction
in Upper Egypt and Nubia, while limestone was widely used
in Middle Egypt and Nile Delta buildings. Th e limestone
varied in quality. Th e harder and less brittle white limestone
was located on the eastern side of the Nile, opposite Mem-
phis, and along the Mokkatam Hills, near modern-day Tura
el-Asman and Masara, and the outcrops continue from there
to far beyond Luxor (Th ebes). Th e Egyptians used blocks of
limestone from nearby quarries in constructing pyramid
complexes and mustabas (tombs) in the Memphite necropolis
(city of the dead), but the outer casings and wall facings of
these monuments required the superior Tura limestone. Al-
though sandstone became the predominant stone in the cliff s
running from Isna to Aswān, it was not widely used until the
New Kingdom. It could be obtained at Qertassi in lower Nu-
bia, but the most important quarry was at Gebel es-Silsila, lo-
cated between Kom Ombo and Idfu, where the vertical walls
are still crisscrossed by the outline of various sized blocks.
Th ere are many surviving records, both archaeologi-
cal and textual, concerning mining expeditions to obtain
copper, gold, and tin within the ancient Egyptian territory.
(Other minerals, such as silver, lead, and iron, were obtained
through trade or pillaging.) Th e oldest indication of such
mining expeditions can be traced back to prehistoric times,
when the preserved jewelry from that time was made of Ara-
bian Desert carnelian and sard. Copper ores came from both
the Arabian Desert and from the southern Sinai at Bir Nasib.
Th ere is archaeological evidence indicating that Wadi Dara,
in Upper Egypt, was one of the earliest-known copper mines,
and remains of a copper-working settlement were unearthed
at Buhen, on the western bank of the Nile, near the second
cataract. Nonetheless, the Nile Valley copper ores for produc-
tions of copper metal were relatively limited compared with
that of Wadi ‘Arabah region, about 19 miles north of Elat,
which apparently was in use as early as the fi ft h millennium
b.c.e. Th ere is no evidence that the Egyptians themselves
mined copper at that site; they seem to have employed local
inhabitants instead. Iron ores are known in various locations
in Egypt, notably in the Arabian and Western deserts, and
in Sinai. Even as late as the New Kingdom the technology of
iron smelting seems not to have been developed there.
In ancient Egypt gold was obtained from at least 90 gold
mines in the Arabian Desert (both Egyptian and Nubian),
which possibly were in use as early as the Old Kingdom. Th e
Egyptians recorded in detail their work in the gold mines of
Wadi Hammamat and Wadi Allaqi, which were used contin-
ually up to the Ramesside Period (ca. 1307–ca. 1070 b.c.e.).
Th ere even survives a unique map of a Twentieth Dynasty
(ca. 1196–ca. 1070 b.c.e.) gold mine at Bir Umm el-Fawakhir
in the Wadi Hammamat.
Turquoise and malachite as well as red agate and red-
brown carnelian were highly desired and were obtained from
a variety of sources. Th e main sources of turquoise, mined
by the Egyptians from the Th ird Dynasty (ca. 2649–ca. 2575
b.c.e.) to the end of the New Kingdom, were located in west-
ern Sinai at Wadi Mughara and Serabit el Khadim, where at
times there was a semipermanent Egyptian settlement.
Galena, which was used for kohl eyeliner, was obtained,
from the earliest times, from Gebel el-Zeit mines, located on
the Gulf of Suez to the south of Ras Ghārib. Talc and ser-
pentine, soft er and easier to work than granite, were used for
a variety of objects, including weights, spinning wheels, and
beads. Both were common in the Arabian Desert region east
of Idfu.
Amethyst was primarily obtained from the Wadi el-
Hudi, southeast of Aswān, and it was greatly prized during
the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2040–ca. 1640 b.c.e.). In the Greco-
Roman Period emeralds were mined from Zabara, Um Kabo,
and Sekkait and from Hugrus in the Arabian Desert; peridot
was obtained from Zabargad Island (Saint John’s Island) in
the Red Sea, southeast of the port of Berenice. Apparently,
lapis lazuli, the deep blue gemstone that was frequently used
in Egyptian jewelry as early as the Predynastic Period, was
imported from the modern-day Bada k hshan region in north-
eastern Afghanistan.
For common use, salt was obtained from the shores of
the Mediterranean and from Red Sea lagoons. Th ere is only
textual evidence suggesting Khārga Oasis as another possi-
ble location of salt extraction, especially during the New
Kingdom, but archaeological evidence is lacking. Natron,
which was used with other substances for dyes and forLinen bag of salt for mummifi cation, from Deir el-Bahri, Egypt,
New Kingdom, 1550-1070 b.c.e.; salt was used to dry bodies before
wrapping and entombing. (© Th e Trustees of the British Museum)
mining, quarrying, and salt making: Egypt 743