New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-05-15
ANCIENT USE OF METALS.
GOLD AND COPPER ORNAMENTS PROB.
ABLY SIX THOUSAND THREE
HUNDRED YEARS OLD

At the beginning OF this century little
known Of the great nations Of antiquity, except
through the classic poets and historians, and
the sacred writings of the Hebrew people. Since
then knowledge has been enormously in
creased by the labors Of scholars and explorers;
the ruins OF ancient cities have been exhumed.
and the contemporary literature OF Egypt and
Assyria- inscribed on papyri or tablets OF clay,
and painted or carved on the walls OF temples,
palaces and tombs, has been decphered. What
is in some respects still more important is that
objects found in these ruins have thrown great
light upon the daily life OF the people and their
ornamental and useful arts. One OF the depart
ments OF this inquiry concerns the metals used
by the different nations and at the different
epochs OF their history; and il is to this that
my attention will be confined this evening. The
difficulty | experience is the amount OK
material. and | cannot attempt anything more
than general view Of the subject, and some
OF the most salient points.
The area over which the inquiry extends is
that Of the lands bordering on the eastern half
Of the Mediterranean and stretching eastward
10 the Persian Gulf The time, so far as Egypt
is concerned, includes the whole period from the
first Pharaoh Menes. to the conquest Of the
country 10y Alexander the Great; ranging from
about + c. 400 TO Il. c. .S}2. The chronology
employed throughout IS that OF DR.. Wallis
Bulge OF the British Museum. who has adopted
In the main that Of Brugsch Bey This period
OF four thousand years appears to me reason
able, and errs, IL Snythlng on the side OK mod
era alton
II we take as our starting point Seneferu's
trump al tablet IN WdOy MdSHdld III tic o.
Matte peninsula, see the king nourIshing ms
bat.le-axe over the head OF his enemy. This
symbOiiZes the conquest OF the copper ana the
turquoise mines OF that region. and implies. OF
course their previous existence as source or
wealth. In the hieroglyphlc inscription above
his head there is not only the kings name spell
ed phonetcally, but in the royal titles are seen
two idcographs which bear upon our supJecL
one is the necklace or ornamental collar when
is the wel-known symbol for gold; and the other
an axe, the head of which resembles rather mat
OF copper than Of a stone weapon. Ihese
titles have reference 10 the metals them-
selves. hu, mean Golden Horus' and 'ffeneii-
cent Divinity" Before such cymboIs could De
used 10 express abstract ideas, they must nave
bcen well known In their concrete form. The
date assigned TO Scneferu is Il. G. 300 but the
discoveries q the las; year have put in our pos
session the actual metals themselves OF a much
greater antiquity. NJ. De Morgan late Director,
General Of Antiquities in Egypt has explored
an enormous royal tomb at Nagada the centre
chamber OF which contained the mummy OF me
/ Pharaoh with the cartouche OF King Menes. the
rcputed frs, king ~ Egypt II il be really ms
tomb the probable date Will be t. & 44V"
what is interesting to us is that in two or the
chambers. among IA multitude OF articles maze
/ OF ivory quartz, porphyry. wood. alahaster tor
toiseshell mo,her-of-pearl. obsdian' eartheh-
ware cornclian. glass and cloth, thcre "eIe
found small pieces OF metal, VIZ, TWO OF
! three rnorses Of gold. and a long bead OF that
meta of n somewhat crescent form, tose,he'
with some articles of copper-a kind OK putloil.
n bead and some fine wire. The button VS.
analyz.d by NJ BerthelOt. the wch-kno"h
/ French chemist and politician to whom we are
Indebted for the examination or very ldIsc
number II ancient metallic objects ne saa '1
that II is nearly pure copper, without a's'h''
or any other metal in notable proportion ~.
These are the oldest metallic obJ'cts III ''o
world TO which W. can assign n pronapie ua's'
| ru, Professor Flinders Petrie had discovered,
| three wears ago also AT Nagada. great num-
be- Of objects OF the same chara ter anu ',,ors
them "A few small copper implements, ' u
/ filings from "A dagger. cclt ana Il H''ie ma
/ noon wer. analv7cd 10y mo. and found I" COM
sist Of practically pure copper, without any
trace of tin. -, o,.o,
/ or about the same period. and perhaps even
/ earlier are number Of toinbs al ana net'
! Ahvdos which have been explored ty Nj Amen
neau bearing the names OF kings uhkto"n "
/ history accom- panied by heroglyphics OF archaic
form In these have been found larger quIr.-
/ ties % copper utensils viz. pots, hatche's'
! necdler chiscls etc. which n bertheio' as s
/ finds 10 bc nearly pure metal, DIX some 'on''''
a little arsenic. 49,.
/ In the country lying between or near the
/ Euphrates and the Tigris we have Some ah''qu.-
ties dating, perhaps as far BACK as any IA
Ervp. We have also n great amount oi ~
| c,,iinn and Assyrian historical and othor lterd-
! ture on tablets and cylinders OF clay ana on 'ie
walls OF the great palaces ana temples hs ia
| the case of Egypt, the discoveries Oh vi. ~
,not.st are mr.. those which k0Ve been most re-
Gently published Or. Peters Mas just given us
/ the records Of the explorations ~ the American
Oriental Society at Nlppur ana teSCr'p.s 1 ,i'
! successive layers Of the great teHpe Oh Dei
Thcse appcar TO indicate the absence or metal
In very remote periods The Oldest speclin'' .
are those recently found 10y NJ I's arr ~ a.,
! Tello Qagash). in Southern Chad@a' Ihey
consist of some votve statuettes ana Colossal
spear an adze and curved hatcnet an OF c"ppsi
without tin. according to M Bertheiot ahaiys'S
A small vase az antmCny and large one O,
silver have also been found. The PERIOD OK
these is supposed to be some considerap'e "i"e
/ anterior TO Is. 6. Z'"p
At Tel 81 Sifr in the same neghborhood, MT.
Inrtus discovered "A large copper factory u"
which were caldrons vases hammers. hatchets.