Ff.r.6] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY. [1894.middleof the sixth centuryb.C. Prof.Roberts-Austen also found
no silver in a little leadenfigureof Aphrodite fromthe third city of
Troy,whichhe examined for Schliemann.
Thepresenceof gold in the silver ornamentis probably due to
the existence of that metalin the original ore.
But the most suggestivepointis the presence of such a very
large quantity of suboxide of copper in the veryancient copper
adzeandknife. Therecan be little doubtthatthe hardness of the
metalis due to this admixture; but there ariseseveralinteresting
questionsas to when and howthisadmixturetook place. Is the
presenceof this suboxide due to long exposureto the action of the
air? Werethe adze andknife fashionedfirst in ordinary copper,
andafterwardssubjected to a process of oxidation to render them
hardenoughfor cutting tools? Mr. Bliss tellsrne that the building
in which theywerefoundhad been burnt; but it is evident they
must havebeen hardenedbeforethiscircumstancetookplace in
orderto be of much use. Thetraceof antimony or tin must be
regardedas an accidental impurity,and is certainly not sufficient to
accountfor the hardness.
Impressedwiththis observation, I re-examined the very ancient
specimenof Egyptian bronze fromMastaba 17, Meydum, andthe
copperfrom the well of Rahotep (mentionedin the Proc. Soc. Bibl.
Arch,for March, 1892),and found in them a decided admixture of
suboxideof copper, thoughfar less than in these Amoritespecimens.
It seems probablethattheseancientworkersin copper hadfound
1 hat, by promoting the formation of suboxideduringits manufacture,
theyobtainedharderand moreserviceabletools. On examining
in a similar waysomeof the copper fromKahun,andof the bronze
from Gorub (Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch., March, 1890), I also found
indicationsof suboxide, but perhaps not more thanwouldgenerally
be given by ordinary specimensof metallic copperof modern date.
I have had also an opportunity of examining a piece of a copper
knife or sickle whichformed part of the valuable collection of
metal implementsfoundby Mr. Loftus at Tell-el-Sifr in Chaldaea.
It was placed at my disposal by Mr. John Spiller,whowas the first
to determine thattheseimplementswerenot bronze, but copper.
Thepiececonsistedof a thin outerlayerof a greenish colour,which
wassomecompound of copper. Underit was a dark red layer
which wasmostlycuprousoxide; and the original metal in the
interior. Thiswas a rather darkcolouredandcomparativelysoft
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