Samut Nord. Gold Mining in the Eastern Desert during the Ptolemaic Period. FIFAO 83.
IFAO| N° d'inventaire | 22979 |
| Format | 24.5 x 32.5 |
| Détails | 468 p., hardcover/ |
| Publication | Cairo, 2020 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782724707502 |
Located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, Samut Nord is a site entirely dedicated to gold mining. Consisting of gold-bearing quartz mining and processing areas and two buildings dedicated to housing, it was briefly occupied around 310 BC. Before their destruction in 2017, the remains of Samut Nord were exceptionally well preserved, and their exploration represented the opportunity to study, for the first time and in its entirety, a mining installation at the height of gold mining in Egypt. It was also an opportunity to compare the evidence of archaeological remains with the descriptions of ancient mines left by Agatharchides of Cnidus, who lived in the 2nd century BC. The comparison of data allows us to draw up a unique panorama of the chaîne opératoire that produced part of the gold that Ptolemy, son of Lagos, needed to conduct his policy in the Mediterranean. The careful study of all the remains, including the most modest, also allows us to reconstruct the living conditions of the inhabitants (soldiers, stewards, miners, perhaps including women) who, for several seasons, lived in the middle of the desert to exploit its riches. They were clearly appalling. Added to these chapters is the study of three mining villages located in the Samut district, occupied during the New Kingdom and the medieval period.
Located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, Samut Nord is a site entirely dedicated to gold mining. Consisting of gold-bearing quartz mining and processing areas and two buildings dedicated to housing, it was briefly occupied around 310 BC. Before their destruction in 2017, the remains of Samut Nord were exceptionally well preserved, and their exploration represented the opportunity to study, for the first time and in its entirety, a mining installation at the height of gold mining in Egypt. It was also an opportunity to compare the evidence of archaeological remains with the descriptions of ancient mines left by Agatharchides of Cnidus, who lived in the 2nd century BC. The comparison of data allows us to draw up a unique panorama of the chaîne opératoire that produced part of the gold that Ptolemy, son of Lagos, needed to conduct his policy in the Mediterranean. The careful study of all the remains, including the most modest, also allows us to reconstruct the living conditions of the inhabitants (soldiers, stewards, miners, perhaps including women) who, for several seasons, lived in the middle of the desert to exploit its riches. They were clearly appalling. Added to these chapters is the study of three mining villages located in the Samut district, occupied during the New Kingdom and the medieval period.