dietrich klemm a, rosemarie klemm b, andreas murr...

Gold of the Pharaohs— 6000 Years Of Gold Mining In

Egypt and NubiaDietrich Klemm a, Rosemarie Klemm b, Andreas Murr a

1. Introduction

The natural southern border of Ancient Egypt was the region around Aswan with settlements on the Nile island of Elephan-tine. The desert region east of this locationwas more or less under Pharaonic con-trol, at least during the Old Kingdom (2700–2160 BC) and Middle Kingdom (2119–1794 BC) but also during New King-dom (1550–1070 BC) times, whereas during the different intermediate periods less Egyptian control of the Eastern Desert is documented. Large parts of this Eastern

Desert belong geologically to the Precam-brian basement of the Arabian–Nubian shield and host around 250 gold produc-tion sites, which were mined during dif-ferent periods of ancient Egyptian history. Most of these sites were visited by the authors during four field campaignsbetween 1989 and 1993, and three addi-tional campaigns during 1996–1999 in the Sudanese Nubian Desert (see Figs. 9 and 10, discussed later). In the 1960s and 1970s expert teams of the Egyptian Geological Research Authority (EGSMA), the Geological Research Authority of the Sudan (GRAS) and the Soviet Techno Export group carried out extensive gold prospection programs in Egypt and NE Sudan. At the locations of all economically significant gold anomalies they discovered traces of extant mining such as stone mills, remains

The

Hou

se

That

Hov

a B

uilt

By

Zadi

e Sm

ith

It’s

diffi

cult

to k

now

wha

t to

ask

a ra

pper

. It’s

not

unl

ike

the

diffi

culty

(I im

agin

e) o

f bei

ng a

ra

pper

. Wha

teve

r you

say

mus

t be

con

side

red

from

at l

east

thre

e an

gles

, and

it’s

an

awkw

ard

tria

n-gu

latio

n. In

one

cor

ner y

ou h

ave

your

har

d-co

re h

ip-h

op h

eads

; th

e ty

pe fo

r who

m th

e tr

ue J

ay-Z

w

ill fo

reve

r be

that

gift

ed 2

5-ye

ar

old

with

rapi

d-fir

e flo

w, t

radi

ng

vers

es w

ith th

e vi

sion

ary

teen

-ag

er B

ig L

— “

I’m s

o ah

ead

of

my

time,

my

pare

nts

have

n’t m

et

yet!”

— o

n a

“rar

e” (e

asily

dug

up

on

YouT

ube)

sev

en-m

inut

e fr

eest

yle

from

199

5. M

eanw

hile

, ov

er h

ere

stan

ds th

e po

p-ra

p

fan.

She

love

s th

e Ji

ggam

an

with

his

pas

sion

for t

he E

mpi

re

Stat

e B

uild

ing

and

bold

cla

ims

to

“Run

Thi

s To

wn.

” Fi

nally

, in

the

crow

ded

third

cor

ner,

stan

d th

e m

any

peop

le w

ho fe

el ra

p is

not

m

usic

at a

ll bu

t rat

her a

form

of

soci

al p

robl

em. T

hey

have

onl

y on

e qu

estio

n to

ask

a ra

pper

, and

it

conc

erns

his

cho

ice

of v

ocab

-ul

ary.

(Yea

rs p

ass.

The

que

stio

n ne

ver c

hang

es.)

How

to s

peak

to

thes

e au

dien

ces

sim

ulta

neou

sly?

Cylindrical granitic rotation stone mill (quern) with wellpreserved upper rotation stones for central and peripheral handle sticks, intro-duced by the Romans but predominantly used in Arab times. Gabatilo Arab mining camp, Nubian Desert, NE Sudan.

Cyl

indr

ical

gra

nitic

rota

tion

ston

e m

ill (q

uern

) with

w

ellp

rese

rved

upp

er ro

tatio

n st

ones

for c

entra

l an

d pe

riphe

ral h

andl

e st

icks

, int

rodu

ced

by th

e R

oman

s bu

t pre

dom

inan

tly u

sed

in A

rab

times

. G

abat

ilo A

rab

min

ing

cam

p, N

ubia

n D

eser

t, N

E

Sud

an.

aInstitut fur Allgemeine und Angewandte Geologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universita€at M€unchen, Luisenstrasse 37, D-80333 M€unchen,

Germany b Institut fur Ägyptologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen, Meiserstrasse 10, D-80333 Munchen, Germany

Received 18 April 2001; accepted 27 July 2001

African Earth Sciences 33 (2001) 643–659

of settlements and mine-shafts, indicatinga long history of ancient extraction. Unfortunately these expert groups never co-operated with archaeo-logical specialists in order to classify the many remaining ancient mining traces and tools and this interesting aspect of historical prospecting efforts was thus left uninvestigated. It was the goal of the stud-ies described here to fill this gap; thanks to generous funding from the German Volk-swagen Foundation, we were able to visit, in co-operation with EGSMA and GRAS, most of the known gold production sites and even to rediscover quite a number of hitherto unknown ancient mining loca-tions. The most important aim of our expeditions was a systematic survey, en-compassing archaeological inspectionand classification of the remaining, mostly previously undescribed archaeological surface inventory and material, and a pre-liminary investigation of the geologicalsetting of the mining sites. Additionally, information was sought on the pros-pecting, exploitation and ore processing methods of the ancient miners. In modern times mineral explora-tion is assisted by complex computer aided

Cylindrical granitic rotation stone mill (quern) with well-preserved upper rotation stones for central and peripheral handle sticks, introduced by the Romans but predominantly used in Arab times. Gabatilo Arab mining camp, Nubian Desert, NE Sudan.

processing of satellite spectral imagery, highly sophisticated geochemical, petro-graphical and geophysical investigations, together with detailed geological field work. Nothing of that kind was available to the ancient prospectors, who most effectively executed their profession in search of scarce gold finds during thePredynastic to Middle Kingdom times, in the vast regions of the Egyptian and even more difficult Nubian Desert, during the relatively short span of 140 years betweenThutmosis III and Amenophis IV (roughly 1480–1340 BC). During this period almost all important gold mining sites in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and in theNubian Desert were discovered and exploited.

We visited almost 250 gold production sites. At most places only surface invento-ry, the examination of remainingopen cast workings, accessible under-ground diggings and a preliminary map-ping and sampling of the geology could be performed, due to lack of permission and/or time for detailed excavations and geological fieldwork.

2. Geological Setting of the Gold Deposits of the Egyptian and Nubian Deserts

The gold occurrences described in this study are located in the Precambrian base-ment of Egypt and Sudan, also called the Arabian–Nubian shield (ANS), whichextends from the river Nile eastwards towards the Arabian Peninsula. To the south, the continuation of the ANS is the Mozambique Belt (Vail, 1988). It is generally accepted that the ANS formed in the Neoproterozoic (Kroner, 1979) by a complex accretion of € terranes onto a A

nyw

ay: I

’m a

t a li

ttle

tabl

e in

a h

omey

Ita

lian

rest

aura

nt o

n M

ulbe

rry

Stre

et

wai

ting

for M

r. Sh

awn

Car

ter,

who

ha

s pe

rfec

ted

the

art o

f tria

ngul

atio

n.

It’s

whe

re h

e lik

es to

eat

his

chi

cken

pa

rms.

He’

s no

t lat

e. H

e’s

dres

sed

like

a ki

d, in

ca

p an

d je

ans,

if h

e sa

id h

e w

as 3

0 yo

u w

ould

n’t d

oubt

him

. (H

e’s

42.)

He’

s ov

er-

whe

lmin

gly

fam

iliar

, whi

ch is

of c

ours

e a

func

tion

of h

is fa

me

— ra

p su

pers

tar,

husb

and

of B

eyon

cé, m

inor

ity o

wne

r of

the

Net

s, w

hose

new

hom

e, th

e B

arcl

ays

Cen

ter i

n B

rook

lyn,

will

ope

n th

is m

onth

—

but

als

o of

the

fact

he’

s be

en s

peak

-in

g in

to o

ur e

ars

for s

o lo

ng. N

o on

e st

ares

. The

sel

f-pro

clai

med

“gr

eate

st

rapp

er a

live”

is tr

eate

d lik

e a

piec

e of

the

furn

iture

. Ah,

but

ther

e’s

alw

ays

one:

a

prep

py w

hite

guy

dis

cree

tly o

pera

ting

his

iPho

ne’s

reve

rse-

cam

era

func

tion.

It’

s an

old

hus

tle; i

t mak

es J

ay c

huck

le:

“The

y th

ink

they

’re th

e fir

st o

ne w

ho’s

ev

er c

ome

up w

ith th

at c

once

pt.”

He

likes

to o

rder

for p

eopl

e. A

ppar

ently

I l

ook

like

the

fish-

sand

wic

h ty

pe. A

sked

if he

thin

ks th

is is

a g

ood

time

for h

ip-

hop,

he

enth

uses

abo

ut h

ow in

clus

ive

hip-

hop

is: “

It pr

ovid

ed a

gat

eway

to

conv

ersa

tions

that

nor

mal

ly w

ould

not

be

had

.” A

nd n

ow th

at ra

p’s

reac

hed

this

unp

rece

dent

ed le

vel o

f cul

tura

l ac

cept

ance

, may

be w

e’re

fina

lly fr

ee

to c

eleb

rate

the

form

with

out n

eedi

ng

to c

ontin

ually

def

end

it. S

ay th

at I’

m

fool

ish

I onl

y ta

lk a

bout

jew

els/

Do

you

fool

s lis

ten

to m

usic

or d

o yo

u ju

st

skim

thro

ugh

it? H

e’s

not s

o su

re: “

It’s

funn

y ho

w y

ou c

an s

ay th

ings

like

that

in

pla

in E

nglis

h an

d th

en p

eopl

e st

ill

do it

.” H

e is

mild

ly d

isap

poin

ted

that

afte

r pub

lishi

ng “

Dec

oded

,” h

is 2

010

mem

oir,

peop

le s

till a

sk th

e sa

me

old

ques

tions

. The

flip

panc

y an

noys

him

, th

e ea

se w

ith w

hich

som

e st

ill d

ism

iss

rap

as “

som

ethi

ng th

at’s

just

this

bad

la

ngua

ge, o

r guy

s w

ho d

egra

de w

omen

, an

d th

ey d

on’t

real

ize

the

poet

ry a

nd

the

art.”

Thi

s is

per

haps

one

dow

nsid

e to

hav

ing

the

“flow

of t

he c

entu

ry.”

With

Tup

ac, y

ou c

an h

ear t

he e

ffort

, the

ar

tistr

y. A

nd B

iggi

e’s

wor

ds fi

rst h

ad

to s

trug

gle

free

of t

he s

heer

bul

k of

the

Dietrich Klemm, Rosemarie Klemm, and Andreas Murr

Cylindrical granitic rotation stone mill (quern) with wellpreserved upper rotation stones for central and peripheral handle sticks, intro-duced by the Romans but predominantly used in Arab times. Gabatilo Arab mining camp, Nubian Desert, NE Sudan.

man

him

self.

Whe

n Ja

y ra

ps, i

t pou

rs

right

into

you

r ear

like

wat

er fr

om a

tap.

The

fish

sand

wic

h ar

rives

. Con

vers

a-tio

n tu

rns

to th

e sc

hool

boy

who

was

sh

ot to

dea

th, T

rayv

on M

artin

— “

It’s

real

ly h

eart

brea

king

, tha

t tha

t stil

l can

ha

ppen

in th

is d

ay a

nd a

ge”

— a

nd,

soon

afte

r, to

Oba

ma:

“I’v

e sa

id th

e el

ectio

n of

Oba

ma

has

mad

e th

e hu

stle

r le

ss re

leva

nt.”

Whe

n he

firs

t mad

e th

is

poin

t, “P

eopl

e to

ok it

in a

way

that

I w

as

alm

ost d

ism

issi

ng w

hat I

am

. And

I w

as

like:

no,

it’s

a g

ood

thin

g!”

He

didn

’t ha

ve O

bam

a gr

owin

g up

, onl

y th

e lo

cal

hust

ler.

“No

one

cam

e to

our

nei

ghbo

r-ho

ods,

with

sta

nd-u

p jo

bs, a

nd s

how

ed

us th

ere’

s a

diffe

rent

way

. May

be h

ad I

seen

diff

eren

t rol

e m

odel

s, m

aybe

I’d’

ve

turn

ed o

n to

that

.” D

ifficu

lt to

kee

p th

ese

two

Am

eric

as in

you

r min

d. Im

agin

e liv

ing

it —

with

in o

ne li

fetim

e!

In “

Dec

oded

,” J

ay-Z

writ

es th

at “

rap

is b

uilt

to h

andl

e co

ntra

dict

ions

,” a

nd

Hov

a, a

s he

is n

ickn

amed

, is

as c

ontr

a-di

ctor

y as

they

com

e. P

artly

bec

ause

he

’s a

gen

eral

ist.

Big

gie

had

bette

r bo

asts

, Tup

ac d

ropp

ed m

ore

know

ledg

e,

Emin

em is

— a

s “R

eneg

ade”

dem

on-

stra

ted

— m

ore

form

ally

dex

tero

us.

But

Hov

a’s

the

all-r

ound

er. H

is a

lbum

s ar

e sh

owro

oms

of h

ip-h

op, d

ispl

ayin

g th

e va

rious

pos

sibi

litie

s of

the

form

. Th

e pe

rson

a is

coo

l, ca

lm, a

lmos

t fr

ustr

atin

gly

self-

cont

rolle

d: “

Yeah

, 50

Cen

t tol

d m

e th

at o

ne ti

me.

He

said

: ‘Yo

u go

t me

look

ing

like

Bar

ksda

le’ ”

— th

e ho

t-blo

oded

dru

g ki

ngpi

n fr

om H

BO

’s

“The

Wire

” —

“an

d yo

u ge

t to

be S

trin

g-er

Bel

l!” —

Bar

ksda

le’s

leve

lhea

ded

part

-ne

r. Th

e ra

pper

Mem

phis

Ble

ek, w

ho h

as

know

n Ja

y-Z

sinc

e B

leek

him

self

was

14

, con

firm

s th

is im

pres

sion

: “H

e ha

d

pre-existing pre-Panafrican Basementcalled the Nile craton or East Sahara craton (Bertrand and Caby, 1978; Stern, 1994). Contacts between that craton and the Panafrican belt are exposed in north-ern Sudan (e.g. Stern et al., 1988), whereas the existence of pre-Panafrican basement in the Eastern Desert of Egypt is doubtful (Kroner et al., 1994). The first stage in the evolution of the ANS was the accretion of several terranes or volcanic arcs (Kroner € et al., 1992), consisting mainly of complex intercalations of mafic (basaltic–andesitic) to acid (rhyolitic–dacitic) volcanics, such

as ignimbrites and tuffs as well as sedimen-tary rocks, such as greywackes, siltstones, conglomerates and marbles. Between these different terranes, ophiolitic sequences (partly composed of mafic to ultramafic units, and including serpentinitic xeno-liths from the upper mantle) occur as prominent suture zones. An example of a complete ophiolitic sequence can be observed in the region of Bir Umm el–Fawakhir (El Gaby et al., 1988; Langwieder, 1994), in the Eastern Desert. At least five terranes or microplates, sepa-rated by suture zones have been identified (Stoeser and Stacey, 1988) within the ANS (Fig. 1). Age determinations (Jackson and Ramsay, 1980; Stern, 1994) indicate thatcollision and terrane assembly began earlier in the Arabian shield than in the

Nubian shield. Island arc volcanic rocks and ophiolitic sequences formed between 700 and 800 Ma (Stern and Hedge, 1985). These rocks are overlain by calc-alka-line volcanic rocks (Dokhan Volcanic Suite) and clastic sedimentary rocks (Hammamat Group; conglomerates, greywackes, siltstones). The Hammamat Group is interpreted as molasse-type sedi-ments, indicating an extensional stagewith the formation of intra-arc graben basins. The volcanic rocks of the Dokhan Group, which extruded approximately synchronously with deposition of themolasse sediments, are regarded as repre-senting further volcanic arc magmatism. Fold structures in the Hammamatand Dokhan Groups indicate a late compressional phase, which might be the result of a collision the accreted terranes with the East-Sahara craton (Abdel-salam, 1993; Abdelsalam and Stern, 1996). During that late stage of the evolution of the ANS, post-orogenic granites, dated between 620 and 570 Ma (Hassanand Hashad, 1990) intruded. However, shear zones and fold-structures within the post-orogenic intrusive rockssupport further tectonic activity. Promi-

Cyl

indr

ical

gra

nitic

rota

tion

ston

e m

ill (q

uern

) with

wel

l-pr

eser

ved

uppe

r rot

atio

n st

ones

for c

entra

l and

per

iphe

ral

hand

le s

ticks

, int

rodu

ced

by th

e R

oman

s bu

t pre

dom

inan

t-ly

use

d in

Ara

b tim

es. G

abat

ilo A

rab

min

ing

cam

p, N

ubia

n D

eser

t, N

E S

udan

.

“I’m

so

ahea

d of

m

y tim

e, m

y pa

rent

s ha

ven’

t met

yet

!”


a se

nse

of c

alm

way

bef

ore

mus

ic. T

his

was

Jay

’s p

lan

from

day

one

: to

take

ov

er. I

gue

ss th

at’s

why

he

smile

s an

d is

so c

alm

, ’ca

use

he d

id e

xact

ly w

hat h

e pl

anne

d in

the

’90s

.” A

nd n

ow, b

y vi

rtue

of

bei

ng 4

2 an

d no

t dea

d, h

e ca

n cl

aim

hi

s ow

n un

ique

sel

ling

prop

ositi

on: h

e’s

an a

rtis

t as

old

as h

is a

rt fo

rm. T

he tw

o ha

ve g

row

n up

toge

ther

.Ja

y-Z,

like

rap

itsel

f, st

arte

d ou

t py-

rote

chni

cal.

Extr

emel

y fa

st, s

tack

ed,

dens

e. B

ut ti

me

pass

ed a

nd h

is fl

ow g

ot

slow

er, o

pene

d up

. Why

? “I

did

n’t h

ave

enou

gh li

fe e

xper

ienc

e, s

o w

hat I

was

do

ing

was

mor

e te

chni

cal.

I was

tryi

ng

to im

pres

s te

chni

cally

. To

do th

ings

th

at o

ther

peo

ple

cann

ot d

o. L

ike,

you

ca

n’t d

o th

is”

— in

sert

bea

t-box

and

si

mul

tane

ous

free

styl

e he

re —

“yo

u ju

st

can’

t do

that

.” N

ope.

Can

’t ev

en th

ink

of

a no

tatio

n to

dem

onst

rate

wha

t he

just

di

d. J

ay-Z

in te

chni

cian

mod

e is

hum

an

voic

e as

pur

e sy

ncop

atio

n. O

n a

trac

k lik

e “I

Can

’t G

et W

ith T

hat,”

from

199

4,

the

man

ifest

con

tent

of t

he m

usic

is n

ev-

er re

ally

the

wor

ds th

emse

lves

; it’s

the

rhyt

hm th

ey c

reat

e. A

nd if

you

don

’t ca

re

abou

t bea

ts, h

e sa

ys, “

You’

ve m

isse

d th

e w

hole

poi

nt.”

Plen

ty d

id, h

earin

g on

ly a

you

ng b

lack

m

an, b

oast

ing.

I go

t wat

ches

I ai

n’t s

een

in m

onth

s/A

part

men

t at t

he T

rum

p I o

nly

slep

t in

once

.

But

ask

ing

why

rapp

ers

alw

ays

talk

ab

out t

heir

stuf

f is

like

aski

ng w

hy

Milt

on is

fore

ver l

istin

g th

e at

trib

utes

of

heav

enly

arm

ies.

Bec

ause

boa

stin

g is

a

form

al c

ondi

tion

of th

e ep

ic fo

rm. A

nd

thos

e ta

ught

that

they

des

erve

not

hing

rig

htly

enj

oy it

whe

n th

ey s

ucce

ed in

te

rms

the

cultu

re u

nder

stan

ds. T

hen

som

ethi

ng c

hang

ed: “

As

I sta

rted

ge

tting

life

exp

erie

nces

, I re

aliz

ed m

y po

wer

was

in c

onve

ying

em

otio

ns th

at

peop

le fe

lt.”

He

com

pare

d hi

mse

lf to

a

com

edia

n w

hose

joke

s tr

igge

r thi

s re

actio

n: “

Yo, t

hat’s

so

true

.” H

e st

arte

d st

oryt

ellin

g —

peo

ple

wer

e m

esm

eriz

ed.

“Frie

nd o

r Foe

” (1

996)

, whi

ch c

once

rns

a co

nfro

ntat

ion

betw

een

two

hust

lers

, is

rap

in it

s m

aste

rful

, ful

l-blo

wn,

nar

rativ

e fo

rm. N

ot ju

st a

mon

olog

ue, b

ut a

sto

ry,

com

plet

e w

ith d

ialo

gue,

sce

ne s

ettin

g,

char

acte

rizat

ion.

With

in it

s co

mic

flow

an

d lig

ht to

uch

— fr

ee fr

om th

e re

lent

-le

ss s

ince

rity

of T

upac

— y

ou c

an h

ear

the

seed

s of

50,

Lil

Way

ne, E

min

em, s

o m

any

othe

rs. “

That

was

the

first

one

w

here

it w

as s

o ob

viou

s,”

Jay

note

d. H

e sa

id th

e so

ng re

pres

ente

d an

impo

rtan

t tu

rnin

g po

int,

the

mom

ent w

hen

he

“rea

lized

I w

as d

oing

it.”

At t

imes

he

rest

ricts

him

self

form

ally

, lik

e th

e O

ulip

o, th

at e

xper

imen

tal F

renc

h lit

erar

y gr

oup

of th

e 19

60s.

In th

e

nent shear zones became active, like the Najd fault system (Fleck et al., 1980; Fritz et al., 1996) or the Oko-shear zone in the Sudan (Abdelsalam, 1993, 1994) (Fig. 2). In the final stage of the orogenic evolution of the ANS, crustal extensioncan be assumed due to the occurrence of mafic and A-type felsic dike swarms (Stern et al., 1988). After a prolonged period of erosion these basement sequences were largely covered by sand during theCretaceous period (at about 90 Ma), form-ing the Nubian Sandstone. This sandstone was eroded during the relatively young continental uplift of the flanks of the Red Sea rift system. During this denudational period, the Precambrian basement with its gold-bearing quartzveins and quartz-filled shear zones became exposed at the surface and was thus open to exploitation.2.1. New Investigations on Gold Mineralization Gold occurrences in the ANS are mainly confined to quartz-mineralized shear zones, which occur in the ophiolitic sequences, the island arc assemblages, theHammamat and Dokhan Groups and in the post-orogenic granitoids. The latter seem to have had an important influence on gold mineralization, as productiveshear zones and quartz veins often occur in the granitoids themselves or in their direct vicinity. Analytical investigationsof different rocks in the ANS (e.g. ser-pentinites, basalts, clastic sedimentary rocks) indicate exposed gold concentra-tions of 20–50 ppb in mafic rocks and clas-tic sediments, and concentrations close to 200 ppb in the serpentinites (Langwieder, 1994). However, unaltered granitic rocks did not show positive gold anomalies(Murr, 1999). Structural investigations of the shear zones showed that they were formed during the previously mentioned

compressional or transpressional late stageevents of the orogeny. Post-orogenic intru-sions, predating the quartz veins or shear zones, provided heat sources. The latter resulted in the formation of hydrothermal

convection cells, and interstitial waters dissolved availablemineral species; where such cells were present, low concentrations of gold were derived from the strained rocks, due to elevated temperature and pressure. Where the aquifers provided open spaces, such as in the shear zones,

the hydrothermal fluids precipitated their dissolved mineral content. The main constituent of such fluids was silica, and consequently quartz is by far the domi-nant mineral in the shear zones or veins. Other minerals like calcite, barite and chlorite are only presentin small amounts (less than 5 vol%). Microscopic ore analysis of quartz veins and host rocks of the import-ant gold occurrences at Hangaliya (west of Mersa Alam; Fig. 9), Fatira, Gidami and Atalla (all in the area west of Safaga and Qusir; Fig. 9), in the Eastern Desert of Egypt (Murr, 1999), yielded three different stages of mineralization. During the first stage the main ore minerals were pyrite or arsenopyrite, minor pyrrhotite and chalco-pyrite. This stage is preserved bothin the rims of the quartz vein itself and in the host rock. Asignificant alteration can be observed in the host rock: primary min-erals are completely transformed into a sericite–quartz–pyrite assemblage. Achem-ical comparison between unaltered host rocks (e.g. granites) and their alteration products shows no significant change in the composition for major elements. In particular, the Fe-content remains the same although the pyrite/arsenopyrite

He

does

n’t b

elie

ve

in re

lyin

g so

lely

on

one’

s na

tura

l gift

s.


Concave shaped Ptolemaic gold mill with a two handled mill stone, with a two handled grind-ing stone, together producing aswinging milling technique and thereby increasing the fineness of thequartz ore powder fraction. Gidami gold mining site, Eastern Desert,Egypt.

Concave shaped Ptolemaic gold mill with a two handled mill stone, with a two handled grind-ing stone, together producing aswinging milling technique and thereby increasing the fineness of thequartz ore powder fraction. Gidami gold mining site, Eastern Desert,Egypt.


song

“22

Tw

o’s,

” fr

om 1

996,

we

get 2

2 de

licio

us p

lays

on

the

wor

ds “

too”

and

“t

wo.

”

Ten

year

s la

ter,

the

sequ

el, “

44 F

ours

,”

has

the

sam

e co

ncei

t, st

eppe

d up

a g

ear.

“Lik

e, y

ou k

now

, clo

se th

e w

alls

in a

bit

smal

ler.”

Can

he

expl

ain

why

? “I

thin

k th

e re

ason

I st

ill m

ake

mus

ic is

bec

ause

of

the

chal

leng

e.”

He

does

n’t b

elie

ve in

re

lyin

g so

lely

on

one’

s na

tura

l gift

s. A

nd

whe

n it

com

es to

tale

nt, “

You

just

nev

er

know

— th

ere

is n

o ga

uge.

You

don

’t se

e w

hen

it’s

empt

y.”

In th

e ye

ars

sinc

e hi

s m

aste

rpie

ce “

Rea

-so

nabl

e D

oubt

,” th

e ra

pper

has

ofte

n be

en a

ccus

ed o

f run

ning

on

empt

y, to

o di

stan

t now

from

wha

t onc

e m

ade

him

re

al. I

n “D

ecod

ed,”

he

answ

ers

exis

ten-

tially

: “H

ow d

ista

nt is

the

stor

y of

you

r ow

n lif

e ev

er g

oing

to b

e?”

In th

e ly

rics,

pr

actic

ally

:

mineralization is evident. Achemical reac-tion of a fluid (pH between 3.5 and 5) with the host rock can be assumed, resulting in the formation of sericite and quartz. If gold was transported as a sulphide complex in the reactive fluid, primary iron from the host rock and sulphide from the fluid could have formed pyrite while the gold was being precipitated. Gold was confined within this first stage of mineral-ization mainly to pyrite or arsenopyrite. The second stage of mineraliza-tion can be observed within the quartz veins. The main minerals are pyrite, sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite, with minor amounts of digenite, hessite, cala-verite, scheelite, hematite and tetraedrite. Gold occurs within quartz, sphalerite, galena, pyrite and chalcopyrite. The third stage of mineralization comprises mainly quartz; pyrite was rare and gold was not found. Therefore this generation can beregarded as barren. Supergene alteration of the pri-mary paragenesis resulted in the forma-tion of lepidocrocite, jarosite, argentite,stromeyerite, anglesite, cerrusite, smith-sonite, mimetesite and rare tellurates and arsenates. Gold was locally remobilised, re-precipitated and concentrated. Temperature estimations of the ore-forma-

tion can be done by arsenopyrite ther-mometry. In the first mineralizationstage, temperatures of 300 C (at Han-galiya) and about 400 C (at Atalla) can be estimated (Fig. 3). The occurrence of calaverite and hessite in the quartzvein at Gidami (second mineralization stage) gives a maximum temperature of about 250 C (Fig. 4). Two main fluid phases were observed in primary fluid inclusions. In the first mineralization stage the fluids contain CO2 and H2O in different ratios. Estimated CO2-contents are between 25 and 95 vol%. The salinity is low (maxi-mum of 6 wt%). From isochores (Fig. 5) a


Life

sto

ries

told

thro

ugh

rap/

Nig

gas

actin

’ lik

e I s

old

you

crac

k/Li

ke I

told

yo

u se

ll dr

ugs,

no,

Hov

’ did

that

/So

hope

fully

you

won

’t ha

ve to

go

thro

ugh

that

. But

can

’t a

rapp

er in

sist

, lik

e ot

her

artis

ts, o

n a

fictio

nal r

ealit

y, in

whi

ch h

e is

som

ehow

stil

l on

the

corn

er, d

espi

te

occu

pyin

g th

e pe

ntho

use

suite

? O

ut

hust

lin’,

sam

e cl

othe

s fo

r day

s/I’l

l nev

er

chan

ge, I

’m to

o st

uck

in m

y w

ays.

Can

’t he

stil

l rep

his

blo

ck?

For J

ay-Z

, prid

e in

the

bloc

k ha

s be

en e

ssen

tial a

nd h

e re

cogn

ized

rap’

s ro

le in

taki

ng “

that

em

barr

assm

ent o

ff of

you

. The

firs

t tim

e pe

ople

wer

e sa

ying

: I c

ome

from

her

e —

and

it’s

O.K

.” H

e qu

otes

Mob

b D

eep:

“No

mat

ter h

ow m

uch

mon

ey I

get,

I’m

stay

ing

in th

e pr

ojec

ts!”

But

her

e, to

o,

he s

ees

chan

ge: “

Bef

ore,

if y

ou d

idn’

t ha

ve th

at a

uthe

ntic

ity, y

our c

aree

r cou

ld

be o

ver.

Vani

lla Ic

e sa

id h

e go

t sta

bbed

or

som

ethi

ng, t

hey

foun

d ou

t he

was

ly

ing,

he

was

fini

shed

.” I

sugg

este

d to

hi

m th

at m

any

read

ers

of th

is n

ewsp

aper

w

ould

find

it b

izar

re th

at th

e re

puta

tion

of th

e ra

pper

Ric

k R

oss

was

dam

aged

w

hen

it w

as re

veal

ed a

few

yea

rs a

go

that

he

was

, at o

ne ti

me,

a p

rison

gua

rd.

“But

aga

in,”

Jay

say

s. Su

re a

re. O

dd F

utur

e. W

aka

Floc

ka

Flam

e. C

hief

Kee

f. R

etur

ning

to w

hat

appe

ar to

be

the

basi

c bu

ildin

g bl

ocks

of

rap:

sho

ck ta

ctic

s, o

bsce

nity

, per

vers

ely

sim

plis

tic la

ngua

ge. A

fter t

he s

ophi

stic

a-tio

n of

Rak

im, Q

-Tip

, Nas

, Lup

e Fi

asco

, K

anye

Wes

t and

Jay

him

self,

are

we

back

on

the

corn

er a

gain

? “Y

eah,

but

Tu

pac

was

an

ange

l com

pare

d to

thes

e ar

tists

!” H

e sh

akes

his

hea

d, a

ppar

-en

tly a

mus

ed a

t him

self.

And

it’s

true

: lis

teni

ng to

a T

upac

reco

rd th

ese

days

fe

els

like

liste

ning

to a

ple

asan

t slic

e of

Si

natr

a. B

ut J

ay-Z

doe

s no

t suf

fer f

rom

no

stal

gia.

He

love

s O

dd F

utur

e an

d th

eir

punk

rock

vib

e. H

e se

es th

eir a

nger

as

a

pressure of 1–2 kb can be estimated, assum-ing a temperature of 300–400 C from the arsenopyrite thermometry. In the second mineralization stage the ratio of CO2 and H2O changes. Pure CO2-inclusions can beobserved, indicating an unmixing of a primary mixed CO2–H2O-fluid due to the pressure release. The absence of water-rich fluids can be explained by a selectivetrapping of CO2, whereas water is trans-ported to higher levels within the hydro-thermal system. Indeed, primaryinclusions in identical quartz veins become more and more H2O-rich, with increasing topographic levels, whereas the total density of the fluid decreases dramat-ically (Fig. 5). The above mentioned third stage of mineralization probably formed from this low-density H2O-rich fluid phase. Awell-constrained model for the gold mineralization can be presented. Post-orogenic granitoid intrusionsproduced heat anomalies, leading to hydrothermal convection cells. Intersti-tial water was able to dissolve gold from slightly enriched rocks (e.g. serpentinites, ophiolites etc.). Joints and shear zones served as channels for the circulating hydrothermal cells. Chemical reactions of the sulphide-enriched fluids with the hostrocks resulted in host rock alteration, with liberation of iron and the formation of pyrite and/or arsenopyrite and, due to the breakdown of the gold-sulphur complexes,in the precipitation of gold. Estimated pressure and temperature ranges are 300–400 C and 1–2 kb. If a rapid opening of the shear zone occurred, pressure releasecaused unmixing of the fluid. Also, chang-es in pressure, temperature, pH-value and degassing of volatiles induced precipita-tion of gold and sulphides from the fluids. CO2 was trapped preferentially due to thehigher wetting angle under these circum-stances, whereas water was transported to higher levels where a further quartz min-eralization occurred. As gold was precipi-tated at the lower levels, these upper parts normally are barren. Supergene alteration caused locally visible concentrationsof gold, when, due to oxidation of pyriteand/or arsenopyrite, submicroscopic gold inclusions within them became liberated. We are able to define three general geological environments of gold mineralization, exploited by the ancientminers:

(1) Gold mineralization associated with mafic to ultramafic units of ophi-

olitic affinity, such as basaltsandesites (amphibolites) and serpentinites with remains of pyroxenites and/or with their clastic erosion products such as greywackes and conglomerates. If these sequences were intruded by late Proterozoic granitoids, quartz vein mineralization with locally developed low gold contents could form within the whole rock unit but preferably

along the granitoid assimilation rims, related to dilated shear zones or joint systems.

(2) Towards the southern part of the Egyptian Eastern Desert, but located mainly in NE Sudan, the gold en-vironment changes to more rhyo-litic–andesitic volcanic rocks with less common intercalations of clastic

“I th

ink

hip-

hop

has

mov

ed a

way

fr

om th

at p

lace

of

eve

ryth

ing

has

to b

e au

then

tic.

Kid

s ar

e gr

owin

g up

ver

y di

ffere

ntly

no

w.”


Simplified structural map of the Arabian–Nubian shield of southern Egypt and NE Sudan (modified after Kroner et al., 1992).

gene

ral “

aver

sion

to c

orpo

rate

Am

eric

a,”

part

icul

arly

as

far a

s it

has

desp

oile

d th

e pl

anet

. “Pe

ople

hav

e a

real

ave

rsio

n to

w

hat p

eopl

e in

pow

er d

id to

the

coun

try.

So

they

’re ju

st la

shin

g ou

t, lik

e: ‘T

his

is

the

son

that

you

mad

e. L

ook

at y

our s

on.

Look

at w

hat y

ou’v

e do

ne.’

“

But

sur

ely

anot

her t

hing

they

’re re

actin

g ag

ains

t, in

the

Har

old

Blo

om “

anxi

ety

of

influ

ence

” se

nse,

is th

e gl

eam

ing

$460

m

illio

n m

onum

ent o

f Hov

a hi

mse

lf.

Year

s ag

o, M

artin

Am

is w

rote

a fu

nny

stor

y, “

Car

eer M

ove,

” in

whi

ch th

e sc

reen

writ

ers

live

like

poet

s, s

tarv

ing

in

sedimentary rocks and marbles. This environment was penetrated by late granitoids producing the perfect tec-tonic setting to allow for gold-quartz vein-mineralization.The only present-day gold producer in NE Sudan is the Sudanese-French

(GRAS–BRGM) joint venture operation of Ariab (Bakhiet and Matheis, 1993; Wipfler et al., 1999). At this locality high quality gold ore is mined in an extreme intensively leached SEDEXdeposit, occurring in a sequence of highly folded acidvolcanics of mainly rhyolitic charac-ter. Due to superficial leaching, only a sponge type whitish silica residueremains from the former SEDEX-de-posit, enriched up to 50 ppm in Au. According to drill core results, thisleached zone changes gradually into a pyrite dominated massive sulphide ore body, which is stratabound andfolded, with only an average of 0.5 ppm Au. It appears quite likely that sulphidic SEDEX occurrences or their oxidized remains might have been the primary gold source of this second type, hydrothermally leached and redeposited, forming the gold-bearing quartz mineralization investigated during our studies.

(3) In the western part of NE Sudan close to the Nile, a number of ancient mined gold-quartz mineralizations

occur within the older gneissic pre-Panafrican basement.Some of these sites are remarkably rich with an averageof one ounce (about 30 g/mt) Au per metric ton, such asSarras, Duweishat and Abu Sari (Fig. 10). All along the eastern bank of the Nile between Ager and Ginnis, theextended hilly plain is covered by heaped remains of ancient alluvial workings of generally scattered quartz vein detritus. The remains of these operations indicate an intensive gold production. The concentration of New Kingdom (NK) temples, built during the reigns ofAmenhotep III and IV (about 1380–1340 BC) opposite the eastern bank of the Nile might not be an accident and supports the importance of this region to the Egyptian NK occupants in Nubia. Due to the mentioned lack of detailed geological knowledge on this region, a convincing source for the rich gold mineralization in Nubian basement rocks unfortunately cannot be offered.

garr

ets,

whi

le th

e po

ets

chill

ax p

ools

ide,

fa

x th

eir v

erse

s to

age

nts

in L

os A

ngel

es

and

earn

mill

ions

off

a so

nnet

. Las

t yea

r’s

“Wat

ch th

e Th

rone

,” a

col

labo

ratio

n w

ith

Kan

ye, c

once

rns

the

com

ing

to p

ass

of

that

alte

rnat

ive

real

ity. H

undr

ed s

tack

/How

yo

u ge

t it?

Jay

-Z a

sks

Kan

ye o

n “G

otta

H

ave

It.”

The

answ

er s

eem

s to

tally

im-

prob

able

, and

yet

it’s

the

trut

h: L

ayin

’ rap

s on

trac

ks! F

ortu

nes

mad

e fr

om rh

ymin

g ve

rse.

Whi

ch is

wha

t mak

es “

Wat

ch th

e Th

rone

” in

tere

stin

g: it

fully

exp

ress

es

blac

k A

mer

ica’

s pr

esen

t con

trad

ictio

ns.

It’s

a ce

lebr

atio

n of

bla

ck e

xcel

lenc

e/B

lack

tie

, bla

ck M

ayba

chs/

Bla

ck e

xcel

lenc

e,

opul

ence

, dec

aden

ce. B

ut it

’s a

lso

a


3. Gold Production Periods in Egypt and Nubia

In the Eastern Desert of Egypt, remains of gold production sites were dated to the time of ‘‘Earliest Hunters’’ of Winkler

(1938), who classified this nomadicpopulation as part of the Amratiens, in the middle of the fourth millennium BC. During this time, obviously only small nuggets were picked from the wadi grounds. Yet, as accumulation of gold nug-gets in the recent wadis free of continually flowing river systems is not pertinent, theoccurrence of visible nuggets must have been restricted to the few remaining wadi grounds from Pleistocene times. Such a system is preserved in the area aroundUmm Eleiga (Klemm, 1995) in the south-ern part of the central Eastern Desert of Egypt, where stone fields bearing decora-tions of the ‘‘Earliest Hunters’’ could be detected.

3.1. Gold Production in Pre and Early Dynastic Times

Discoveries of gold artefacts, dating back as far as the Predynastic time (about 3500 BC) demonstrate that gold production must have taken place in Ancient Egypt (Kroeper and Wildung, 1994) as well. Statistical analysis of the geological envi-ronments around Pre- and Early dynastic mining sites indicate unambiguously that the mined for copper, as recently shown by Castel and Mathieu (1992). earliest prospectors concentrated their mining activities on well-selected geological tar-gets of gold enriched quartz veins, mainly in granodioritic rims of Neoproterozoic granitic intrusions, belonging to the so called older and younger granites of the Eastern Desert. Furthermore, discoveries of

the oldest mining tools are connected to mining sites associated with superficially altered quartz vein systems, which origi-nally contained a variable copper-sulphide mineralization, that is almost completely leached out and which has been re-depos-ited as typical green malachite (and someother green secondary copper miner-als) within the host rock’s joint system. Obviously this green staining guided early prospectors to the auriferous quartz veins. Apart from gold, those malachite enriched sites also were mined for copper, as recent-ly shown by Castel and Mathieu (1992). Gold mining sensu strictu in Ancient Egypt started in Predynastic time with open pits and moderate undergroundactivities (Fig. 6). During this early pe-riod, the gold-bearing quartz veins were crushed in situ to a fine powder fraction by huge calabash-shaped stone hammers of 6–10 kg weight, which must have been held with both hands (Fig. 7). In this way the gold slivers within the quartz were liberated for later processing. This miningmethod formed conspicuous smooth surfaces, both at the walls and the stopes of the underground operations. However, until now no convincing field evidence

bitte

r acc

ount

ing

of th

e lo

sses

in a

long

an

d un

finis

hed

war

. Kan

ye ra

ps: I

feel

th

e pa

in in

my

city

whe

reve

r I g

o/31

4 so

ldie

rs d

ied

in Ir

aq/5

09 d

ied

in C

hica

-go

. Writ

ten

by a

cou

ple

of m

illio

naire

bu

sine

ssm

en o

n th

e fly

(“Li

ke ‘N

ew D

ay,’

Kan

ye to

ld m

e th

at —

the

actu

al ra

p —

la

st y

ear a

t the

Met

Bal

l, in

my

ear a

t di

nner

”), i

t rea

lly s

houl

dn’t

be a

s go

od

as it

is. B

ut s

omeh

ow th

eir b

roth

erly

riv

alry

cre

ates

real

ene

rgy

desp

ite th

e m

amm

oth

prod

uctio

n. A

nd in

one

vita

l w

ay th

e pr

oces

s of

mak

ing

it w

as u

nusu

-al

ly in

timat

e: “

Mos

t peo

ple

now

aday

s

— b

ecau

se o

f tec

hnol

ogy

— s

end

mus

ic

back

and

fort

h.”

But

this

was

just

two

men

“si

tting

in a

room

, and

real

ly ta

lkin

g ab

out t

his.

” A

t its

mos

t sub

lime

— th

e rid

icul

ousl

y en

joya

ble

“Nig

gas

in P

aris

” —

you

feel

a s

tron

g pu

ll in

bot

h m

en

tow

ard

shee

r aba

ndon

, pur

e ce

lebr

atio

n.

Did

n’t w

e ea

rn th

is?

Can

’t w

e si

t bac

k an

d en

joy

it? It

’s a

son

g th

at d

oesn

’t w

ant t

o be

resp

onsi

ble,

or t

o be

ask

ed

the

old,

pai

nful

que

stio

ns. W

ho c

ares

if

they

’re k

eepi

ng it

real

? O

r eve

n m

akin

g se

nse?

Che

ck th

at b

eat!

Then

ther

e’s

that

wor

d. “

It’s

a lo

t of p

ain

and

a lo

t of

hurt

and

a lo

t of t

hing

s go

ing

on b

eyon

d,

bene

ath

that

.” H

e of

fers

an

anal

ogy:

“If

your

kid

was

act

ing

up, y

ou’d

be

like,

‘W

hat i

s w

rong

with

you

?’ If

they

hav

e a

belly

ache

— ‘O

h, y

ou a

te a

ll th

e co

tton

cand

y.’ Y

ou’d

mak

e th

ese

com

paris

ons,

yo

u’d

see

a lin

k. Y

ou’d

psy

choa

naly

ze

the

situ

atio

n.”

Rap

pers

use

lang

uage

as

a fo

rm o

f as

ymm

etric

al w

arfa

re. H

ow e

lse

to

expl

ain

Geo

rge

W. B

ush’

s ex

trao

rdin

ary

cont

entio

n th

at a

line

spo

ken

by a

rapp

er —

“G

eorg

e B

ush

does

n’t c

are

abou

t bla

ck p

eopl

e” —

was

“on

e of

the

mos

t dis

gust

ing

mom

ents

in m

y pr

es-

iden

cy”?

But

ther

e ha

ve a

lway

s be

en

thes

e pe

ople

for w

hom

rap

lang

uage

is

mor

e sc

anda

lous

than

the

urba

n de

priv

atio

n ra

p de

scrib

es. O

n “W

ho G

on

Stop

Me,

” Ja

y-Z

asks

that

we

“ple

ase

pard

on a

ll th

e cu

rses

” be

caus

e “w

hen

you’

re g

row

ing

up w

orth

less

,” w

ell,

thin

gs c

ome

out t

hat w

ay. B

lack

hur

t, bl

ack

self-

este

em. I

t’s th

e co

ntra

dict

ory

pull

of th

e “c

iphe

r,” ra

p te

rmin

olog

y fo

r


for a gold concentration procedure could be discovered. Taking into account the hydro-metallurgical concentrationprocesses applied during later periods of gold production, comparable methods can possibly be assumed for this epoch as well. Apart from the large twohanded stone hammers, different types of discus-shapedhammers have also been found within Pre-dynastic sites. This hammer type obvious-ly was used only to gain lumpy quartz ore from the brittle vein systems, whichwas powdered later by the large hammers. 3.2. Gold Production in old and Middle Kingdom Times

During the Old (2700–2160 BC) and Middle Kingdom (2119–1794 BC) the previously described prospecting method of searching for malachite staining in the host rocks continued in general, but in ad-dition hematite enriched quartz veins (in places with barite) became important for exploration and, in case of gold discovery, for subsequent mining targets. Old King-dom gold mining techniques continued with in situ crushing of the gold-bearing quartz vein systems, but two new basic types of stone hammer were developed:

an oval stone axe of 2–5 kg weight with a chiseled notch for a forked wooden stick (‘‘Rillenschl€agel’’) and a more or less cylindrical one-handed stone hammerwith a chiseled, ergonomically formed handle (Fig. 8). With the advantage of these new mining implements a more effective exploitation of the auriferous quartz veins could be established. During the Middle Kingdom this tool inventory in general continued, but additional stone mortars were introduced, allowing for the lumpy quartz ore to becrushed first to about pea-sized grains and then for grinding it to a powder fraction. Again, no archaeological evidence for fur-ther gold recovery treatments during this period could be discovered, but the remarkof the nomarch (provincial ruler) Ameni,

who is quoted in his Beni Hassan tomb as having said ‘‘I forced their (Nubian) chiefs to wash the gold’’ (Newberry, 1893) gives a clear hint that hydro-metallurgical con-centration processes were well established during these periods. The majority of miners in these times were most probably members of desert tribes and not Egyp-tians of the Nile valley. This is suggested by the ergonomically formed handle of the one-hand stone hammers, fitting best in a hand of 18–20 cm in size, rather than one of 11–13 cm, which was the average for the Nile valley populationat that time. Furthermore, this could be verified by sporadic finds of typical Nu-bian pottery. On the other hand, it has to be emphasized that typical Egyptianpottery of that time, such as red polished

the

circ

le th

at fo

rms

arou

nd th

e ki

nd o

f fr

eest

ylin

g ki

d Ja

y-Z

once

was

. Wha

t a

wor

d! C

iphe

r (no

un):

1. A

sec

ret o

r dis

-gu

ised

way

of w

ritin

g; a

cod

e. 2

. A k

ey

to s

uch

a co

de. 3

. A p

erso

n or

thin

g of

no

impo

rtan

ce. “

Wat

ch th

e Th

rone

” ce

le-

brat

es tw

o m

en’s

esc

ape

from

that

circ

le

of n

egat

ion.

It p

aint

s th

e w

orld

bla

ck:

blac

k ba

r mitz

vahs

, bla

ck c

ars,

pai

ntin

gs

of b

lack

girl

s in

the

MoM

A, a

ll bl

ack

ever

ythi

ng, a

s if

it m

ight

be

poss

ible

in a

si

ngle

alb

um to

pee

l bac

k th

ousa

nds

of

year

s of

neg

ativ

e co

nnot

atio

n. B

lack

no

long

er th

e sh

adow

or t

he re

vers

e or

the

oppo

site

of s

omet

hing

but

now

the

thin

g its

elf.

But

livi

ng th

is fa

ntas

y pr

oves

prob

lem

atic

: Onl

y sp

ot a

few

bla

cks

the

high

er I

go/W

hat’s

up

to W

ill?

Shou

t-out

to

O/T

hat a

in’t

enou

gh, w

e go

n’ n

eed

a m

illio

n m

ore/

Kic

k in

the

door

, Big

gie

flow

/I’m

all

dres

sed

up w

ith n

owhe

re to

go

. You

’re 1

per

cent

of t

he 1

per

cent

. So

wha

t now

? Po

wer

to th

e pe

ople

, whe

n yo

u se

e m

e, s

ee y

ou! B

ut th

at ju

st w

on’t

do. I

t’s J

ay-Z

who

’s in

Par

is, a

fter a

ll,

not t

he k

ids

in th

e M

arcy

Hou

ses,

the

hous

ing

proj

ect i

n B

rook

lyn

whe

re h

e

grew

up.

Jay

-Z k

now

s th

is. H

e ge

ts a

lit-

tle a

gita

ted

whe

n th

e su

bjec

t of Z

ucco

tti

Park

com

es u

p: “

Wha

t’s th

e th

ing

on th

e w

all,

wha

t are

you

figh

ting

for?

” H

e sa

ys

he to

ld R

usse

ll Si

mm

ons,

the

rap

mog

ul,

the

sam

e: “

I’m n

ot g

oing

to a

par

k an

d pi

cnic

, I h

ave

no id

ea w

hat t

o do

, I d

on’t

know

wha

t the

figh

t is

abou

t. W

hat d

o w

e w

ant,

do y

ou k

now

?”

Jay-

Z lik

es c

larit

y: “

I thi

nk a

ll th

ose

thin

gs n

eed

to re

ally

dec

lare

them

selv

es

a bi

t mor

e cl

early

. Bec

ause

whe

n yo

u ju

st s

ay th

at ‘t

he 1

per

cent

is th

at,’

that

’s

not t

rue.

Yea

h, th

e 1

perc

ent t

hat’s

rob-


Meidum bowls (Ballet, 1987) were also fre-quently discovered in the surveyed surface remains, which can be seen as a hint for stronger Egyptian control of the mining operations, in contrast to the previous Egyptian restriction on gold trading. In Fig. 9, only a few gold mining sites for both Pre- and Early dynastic times and Old and Middle Kingdom periods are shown. This corresponds with the low

number of known gold artefacts from those early periods, compared to the later periods. However, quite a few of the early mining sites might have been so intesively overprinted by later operations that today no older surface remains are still visible. Systematic archaeological excavations certainly will modify the number of known sites shown in Fig. 9. The first military cam-paign in the 18th year of SesostrisI (1956–1911 BC), at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, was most probably organised to gain access to the Nubian gold. It is recorded by the Sestoris I nomarchAmeni, in his tomb at Beni Hassan, that he undertook expeditions to Nubia from where he returned with gold and gold ore for his king (Newberry, 1893). However, almost all ancient gold mines of these earlytimes are more or less collapsed, and any estimation of the maximum depth without archaeological excavations is debatable; nevertheless, depths in open trenches of up to about 25 m seem realistic.

3.3. Gold Production in New Kingdom Times

From the New Kingdom (1550–1070 BC) period onwards, gold mining operations concentrated more in the central Eastern Desert, predominantly south of theQena-Safaga road, and were also spread over the eastern portion of the Red Sea hills. Due to the conquest of Nubia,

exploitation of the Wadi Allaqi area and deep into the NE Sudan (Figs. 9 and 10) also became possible. Moreover, the gold prospecting targets were significantlyenlarged: in the vicinity of the older mining sites quartz vein systems free of hematite and green copper aureoles were also successfully prospected. More detailed studies of the quartz vein systems exploited during New

bing

peo

ple,

and

dec

eivi

ng p

eopl

e, th

ese

fixed

mor

tgag

es a

nd a

ll th

ese

thin

gs,

and

then

taki

ng th

eir h

ome

away

from

th

em, t

hat’s

crim

inal

, tha

t’s b

ad. N

ot

bein

g an

ent

repr

eneu

r. Th

is is

free

ent

er-

pris

e. T

his

is w

hat A

mer

ica

is b

uilt

on.”

It’s

so w

eird

wat

chin

g ra

pper

s be

com

ing

elde

r sta

tesm

en. I

’m o

ut fo

r pre

side

nts

to

repr

esen

t me.

Wel

l, no

w th

ey d

o —

and

no

t onl

y on

dol

lar b

ills.

Hea

vy re

spon

-si

bilit

y la

nds

on th

e sh

ould

ers

of th

ese


Kingdom periods indicate the profound knowledge of the ancient prospectors. They obviously were aware of the general structural control of gold-bearing veins, which despite showing differentstrike-patterns in different parts of the Eastern Desert, have a general tendency of north–south or east–west strike direc-tions. The prospectors followed only veins of these known productive orientations

and ignored the many others running divergently within the same prospectingarea. Whether this knowledge was based on systematic geological investigations or on trial-and-error based experience is not known. However, it is striking, that in regions where the normal N–S direction of the gold productive veins has locally changed, the ancient miners unerringly prospected the new productive veinstrike directions, which might be regarded as a hint for a basic geological-structural knowledge. In addition, unexplored new ar-eas with an enlarged geological framework were prospected during New Kingdom times. Particular emphasis was placed ongeological environments characterized by basaltic–(amphibolitic) and serpentinitic lithologies with or without black shales, in the vicinity of granitoid batholiths. Fur-thermore, due to the systematic explora-tion of remote desert regions during New Kingdom times, granitic–granodioritic areas in the southern and eastern parts of the Eastern Desert became new and importantprospecting and mining targets.

These were extended to the Wadi Allaqi and even to the North-Eastern Sudan. As an important innovation, intensive gold prospecting and processing were extended to include wadi-working operations, where gold-bearing quartzsamples were systematically picked from the coarsegrained fractions of the wadi sediments. At these sites, the simultaneous employment of hundreds of workers was

possible, in contrast to the severely limited numberof miners in underground workings. Archaeologically these wadi works are preserved in extended settlements along the exploited wadis (Klemm and Klemm, 1994). Normally house ruins remain only at the wadi boundaries, parallel to the hill-sides as the remainder of the settlements was mostly washed away by sporadic floods, but in a few cases ruins still cover entire wadi sites. Consequently these sites led to an enormous increase in gold


Fig. 10. Distribution of the New Kingdom and Early Arab gold production sites in NE Sudan. Note the concentration of the sites along the river Nile, but also the widely scattered localities all over the vast distances of the Nubian Desert. Note further that the Arab gold production sites never passed westwards the line situated at approximately Wadi Halfa – Abu Hamed.

production, documented by an increase of known gold artefacts from those times.In addition to the greatly expanded mining activities, a radically new milling technique had a strong impact on gold production at the onset of the New King-dom: mill stones up to 80 cm long and 30–50 cm wide, with a flat and oval-shaped grinding plane, and differently sizedsets of mill stones used with one or both hands (Fig. 11) were introduced. These stone mills are similar to the flour mills commonly used in the Nile valley since very early times (Roubet, 1989). The intro-duction of these flour milling techniques into the gold ore processing industry can

be regarded as an indication that only from New Kingdom times onwards were the majority of miners Egyptians from the Nile valley. This assumption is also confirmed by the predominant occur-rence oftypical New Kingdom pottery remains within mining sites in the Egyptian East-ern Desert, but partly also in Nubia. Before milling, the initial lumpy ore was crushed down to about bean-sized particles with a double-sided stone anvil of about 30 30 cm and a rounded stonepestle of 0.5–2 kg weight. Demonstrably, the separation of barren and gold-bearing

quartz fragments exclusively by eye was perfected by the workers, as small anduncommon remaining mine dump heaps in the wadi grounds today contain only milky white and translucent barren quartz gravels (Fig. 12). Separation of gold from the fine-milled quartz powder fraction was managed by washing as attested by preserved tailing dumps. At first view these tailings appear as mostly pink to reddish heaps of quartz sand, analogous

unac

know

ledg

ed le

gisl

ator

s w

hose

poe

t-ry

is o

nly,

afte

r all,

four

dec

ades

you

ng.

Jay-

Z’s

read

y fo

r it.

He

has

his

adm

irabl

e Sh

awn

Car

ter S

chol

arsh

ip F

ound

atio

n,

putti

ng d

isad

vant

aged

kid

s th

roug

h co

llege

. He’

s sp

oken

in s

uppo

rt o

f gay

rig

hts.

He’

s cu

ratin

g m

usic

fest

ival

s an

d in

vest

ing

in e

nviro

nmen

tal t

echn

olog

ies.

Th

is O

ctob

er, h

is b

elov

ed N

ets

take

up

resi

denc

e in

thei

r new

hom

e —

the

Bar

clay

s C

ente

r in

Bro

okly

n. A

nd h

e ha

s so

me

cann

y, fo

rwar

d-lo

okin

g po

litic

al

inst

inct

s: “

I was

spe

akin

g to

my

frie

nd

Jam

es, w

ho’s

from

Lon

don,

we

wer

e ta

lkin

g ab

out s

omet

hing

els

e, I

just

st

oppe

d an

d I w

as li

ke, ‘

Wha

t’s g

oing

to

hap

pen

in L

ondo

n?’ T

his

was

may

be

a m

onth

bef

ore

the

riots

. He

was

like

, ‘W

hat?

’ I s

aid:

‘The

cul

ture

of b

lack

pe

ople

ther

e, th

ey’re

not

par

ticip

atin

g in

cha

ngin

g th

e di

rect

ion

of th

e co

untr

y.

Wha

t’s g

onna

hap

pen

ther

e?’ H

e ac

tual

ly

calle

d m

e w

hen

it bl

ew u

p, h

e w

as li

ke,

‘You

kno

w, I

did

n’t r

eally

und

erst

and

your

que

stio

n, o

r the

tim

ing

of it

, unt

il no

w.’

“

But

stil

l I th

ink

“con

scio

us”

rap

fans

ho

pe fo

r som

ethi

ng m

ore

from

him

; to

see,

per

haps

, a fi

nal s

ever

ing

of th

is li

nk,

in h

ip-h

op, b

etw

een

mat

eria

l ric

hes

and

true

free

dom

. (Th

ough

why

we

shou

ld

expe

ct ra

pper

s to

do

this

ahe

ad o

f the

re

st o

f Am

eric

a is

n’t c

lear

.) It

wou

ld ta

ke

real

forw

ard

thin

king

. Of h

is o

wn

am-

bitio

ns fo

r the

futu

re, h

e sa

ys: “

I don

’t w

ant t

o do

any

thin

g th

at is

n’t t

rue.

” M

ay-

be th

e ne

xt h

oriz

on w

ill s

tret

ch b

eyon

d ph

ilant

hrop

y an

d M

ayba

ch c

olle

ctio

ns.

Mea

nwhi

le, b

ack

in th

e ra

nk a

nd fi

le,

you

still

hea

r the

old

cry

go

up: H

ip-h

op

is d

ead!

Whi

ch re

ally

mea

ns th

at o

ur

vers

ion

of it

(the

one

we

knew

in o

ur

yout

h) h

as p

asse

d. B

ut n

othi

ng c

ould

be

dul

ler t

han

a ’9

0s h

ip-h

op b

ore.

Lil

Way

ne?

Giv

e m

e O

l’ D

irty

Bas

tard

. Nic

ki

Min

aj?

Plea

se. F

oxy

Bro

wn.

Odd

Fut

ure?

W

U T

AN

G C

LAN

4EV

AH

. Lis

teni

ng to

Ja

y-Z

— s

till s

o fle

xibl

e an

d en

thus

iast

ic,

ears

wid

e op

en —

you

real

ize

you’

re li

ke

one

of th

ese

peop

le w

ho b

elie

ves

jazz


Fig. 11. New Kingdom oval shaped andesitic stone mill with a selection of grind-ing stones from Hairiri gold mining site, Wadi Allaqi, southern Eastern Desert, Egypt (scale is 10 cm).

Fig. 12. Remaining New Kingdom waste dam heaps from wadi workings at Umm Garaiyat, Wadi Allaqi, south-ern Eastern Desert, Egypt. Note that parts of the wadi ground became flooded later, destroying most of the ancient situation.

to normal desert sand. Investigation with a simple hand lens, however, reveals both sharp edged quartz grains which are arti-ficial products as well as remaining gold concentrations of about 3–5 g/t. This rath-er high residual gold content unfortunate-ly caused the destruction of many ancient gold production sites at the beginning of the 20th century, when modern gold production started with cyanide leaching of the old tailings, thus destroying most of the preserved and untouched original archaeological sites (Schweinfurth, 1904). At quite a few of the New King-dom gold production sites, inclined gold washing tables constructed of stonefragments, consolidated by primitive clay/sand mortar and with a surface covered by a layer of the same material, can be observed. The lengths of these washing

tables varies between 2.2 and 4 m, and they are 40–60 cm wide and 80–100 cm high, corresponding with an inclination angle of 15–20 (Fig. 13). At the end of this slope the washing water was recovered in a box about 60 cm deep and wide, walled by stone slabs and sealedagain with the described mortar. Here also the detritus of the quartz tailings was de-posited, from were it was dumped close by, at the tailing heaps, still partly preservedin many cases today. Amortar-sealed andstone slab protected gutter conducted the water back to a large, 80 60 cm basin, from where the water was recycled for further gold washing processes, most prob-ably with primitive shadoufs (a scooping bucket conveyor, still in use in Egypt and Nubia today). di

ed w

ith D

izzy

. The

che

ck c

omes

. Yo

u w

ill b

e un

surp

rised

to h

ear t

he

Jigg

aman

pai

d. A

t the

last

min

ute,

I re

mem

bere

d to

ask

afte

r his

fam

ily,

“Oh,

my

fam

ily’s

am

azin

g.”

And

the

baby

? “S

he’s

four

mon

ths.

” M

arcy

ra

ised

me,

and

whe

ther

righ

t or

wro

ng/S

tree

ts g

ave

me

all I

writ

e in

th

e so

ng. B

ut w

hat w

ill T

riBeC

a gi

ve

Blu

e? “

I act

ually

thou

ght a

bout

that

m

ore

befo

re s

he w

as b

orn.

Onc

e sh

e go

t her

e I’v

e be

en in

sho

ck u

ntil

may

be la

st w

eek?

” H

er c

hild

hood

won

’t be

like

his

, and

this

fact

he

take

s in

his

st

ride.

“W

e w

ould

figh

t eac

h ot

her.

My

brot

her w

ould

bea

t me

up,”

he

says

, but

it

was

all

in p

repa

ratio

n fo

r the

out

side

. “I

was

goi

ng to

hav

e to

figh

t, I w

as g

oing

to

hav

e to

go

thro

ugh

som

e th

ings

, and

th

ey w

ere

prep

arin

g m

e.”

He

smile

s:

“She

doe

sn’t

have

to b

e to

ugh.

She

has

to

love

her

self,

she

has

to k

now

who

she

is

, she

has

to b

e re

spec

tful,

and

be a

m

oral

per

son.

” It’

s a

new

day

.

dietrich klemm a, rosemarie klemm b, andreas murr...

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