Mar.4] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY. [1890.
The boltwas also much corroded, and covered with a light
green crystallisation. Whenthiswasscrapedoff the interior was
foundalsoto consist of copper and tin, with smallquantitiesof iron
and arsenic. Chlorine was also present in the crust. Thepro
portionsof the two first in the scraped samplewere:—
Copper 707
Tin 7-15
or a little more than 9 per cent, of tin in the original bronze.
Theseproportions resemblethose usuallyfoundin ancient bronze,
and those of modern gunmetal.
AncientOres.
It is well knownthatthe ancient Egyptianshadlargeturquoise
andcopperminesin the Sinaitic peninsula. Thoseat Wadi Nasb
appearfromthe inscriptions to have beenworkedbeforethe Xllth
dynasty, and practically ceasedto be worked after the reign of
Thothmes III of the XVIIIth dynasty. I was anxious to see
whethertherewereany indicationsof tinstone in the ores fromthese
mines,and throughthe kindness of the Rev. Prof.BonneyI have
beenenabledto examine somesmallspecimensof mineral andtwo
pieces of ancient slagfrom the workings at Wadi Nasb, Igneh
(Magharah),andRagaita,but I have not succeeded in finding any
indicationsof tin in them.
GeneralConclusions.
The interestof these observations appears to me twofold—
Biblicaland archaeological.
In the older books of the Bible,the name of a metal occurs
which is generally translated " brass." Thisword at the time of
KingJames'translationwasappliedindiscriminatelyto the various
alloysof copper; the word bronze, of Italian origin,havingbeen
onlyrecentlyappliedto the compounds of which copperand tin are
the principal elements. Thefurnitureand ornamentsof the taber
nacle,and other things mentioned in the book of Exodus, were
madeby artificers whohadlearntthe art of bronze manufacturein
Egyptunderthe XVIIIthdynasty. Bronze,indeed,seemsto havebeen
usedat that period by the Israelitesto the total exclusionof iron.
Thetwo metals are both spoken of in the later history, though
bronzewasusedfor most purposes for which iron wasafterwards
employed: for instance, the arms andarmourof Goliath andSaul
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