1898.] 071 the Metals used h)j the Great Nations of Antiquity. 613 



2700), and that of the Princess Nor.bhotep (b.c. 2400), were made of 

 silver and gold. Silver also occurs among the beautiful jewellery of 

 the princesses buried at Dahshur, and that of Queen Ahhotpu. But 

 when the intercourse between Egjpt and the neighbouring nations of 

 Asia was better established, silver became much more common ; thus 

 we find it frequently mentioned in the Great Harris papyrus, 

 (B.C. 1200), in which the King IJameses III. describes his magnificent 

 presents to the temples and priesthood of Egypt.* The metal lead 

 also occurs frequently in the same lists, and was used, as elsewhere, 

 for mixing with copper and tin in the formation of the easily fusilile 

 bronze used for statuary. 



Tin ];as a very interesting history. We have funnel it used in 

 combination with copper as far back as perhaps B.C. 3100, and 

 enormous quantities of it must have been afterwards em}doyecl. It is 

 still a question whether in the first instance some stanniferous copper 

 ore was used, or whether the Egyptians found that the addition of 

 a certain black mineral was advantageous for hardening their copper, 

 or whether from early days they reduced the metal from its ore 

 and added it to the copper in the furnace. That, at any rate, they 

 were afterwards acquainted with the metal itself, is clear from the 

 discovery by Flinders Petrie of a small ring at Gurob (b.c. 1450), 

 which, on examination, I found to be of tin, im^^erfectly reduced from 

 its ore. Perthelot has also analysed what was essentially a tin ring, 

 though alloyed with copper, dating about a century later ; and Prof. 

 Church describes a scarab of the same metal, which was found on the 

 breast of a mummy of about the seventh century b.c. This metal also 

 appears more than once among the rich gifts catalogued on the 

 papyrus of Rameses III., if " tehi'' is to be so translated. 



Although kohl, the sulphide of antimony, was used for blackening 

 the eyebrows from a very early period, I am not aware of any metallic 

 antimony in Egypt of older date than some beads found by Prof. Petrie 

 at lllahun in a tomb of about 800 B.C. They proved to be fuirly 

 pure metal. It is curious that the art of preparing this metal was 

 after waids lost, and only rediscovered in the fifteenth century of 

 our era. 



The period of the first use of iron in Egypt is at present a matter 

 of great controversy. Some contend for its use even in the mytho- 

 logical period, while others would bring it as late as 800 or 600 b.c. 

 There exist the oxidised remains of some wedges of iron intended to 

 keep erect the obelisks of Rameses II. at Tanis, which is near the 

 border of Palestine ; but there is no positive proof that they were 

 placed there during his reign. I have little doubt, however, that 

 the Black Baa, mentioned several times in the Harris papyrus, b.c. 

 1200, is the same as the /ieXas (nSrjpo^ of Ilesiod : i.e. iron. In the 

 long account which King Piankhi gives of his invasion of Egypt from 

 the Upper Nile, he mentions iron more than once among the presents 



* ' Epcords of the Past,' vols. vi. and viii. 

 Vol. XV. (No. 02.) 2 s 



