Archaeology and Geology of Ancient Egyptian Stones - James A. Harrell

Archaeology and Geology of Ancient Egyptian Stones

Buch | Softcover
1098 Seiten
2024
Archaeopress (Verlag)
978-1-80327-581-9 (ISBN)
155,85 inkl. MwSt
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.

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.

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

Erscheinungsdatum
Verlagsort Oxford
Sprache englisch
Maße 203 x 290 mm
Gewicht 1860 g
Themenwelt Geisteswissenschaften Archäologie
Geschichte Allgemeine Geschichte Altertum / Antike
Naturwissenschaften Geowissenschaften Geologie
ISBN-10 1-80327-581-2 / 1803275812
ISBN-13 978-1-80327-581-9 / 9781803275819
Zustand Neuware
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