The article:
http://www.nature.com/news/iron-in-egyptian-relics-came-from-space-1.13091
reports on an article behind a paywall:
Analysis of a prehistoric Egyptian iron bead with implications for
the use and perception of meteorite iron in ancient Egypt
Diane Johnson, Joyce Tyldesley, Tristan Lowe, Philip J. Withers,
Monica M. Grady.
Meteoritics & Planetary Science online: 20 May 2013
DOI: 10.1111/maps.12120
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maps.12120/abstract
Abstract:
Tube-shaped beads excavated from grave pits at the prehistoric
Gerzeh cemetery, approximately 3300 BCE, represent the earliest
known use of iron in Egypt. Using a combination of scanning
electron microscopy and micro X-ray microcomputer tomography, we
show that microstructural and chemical analysis of a Gerzeh iron
bead is consistent with a cold-worked iron meteorite. Thin
fragments of parallel bands of taenite within a meteoritic
Widmanstätten pattern are present, with structural distortion
caused by cold-working. The metal fragments retain their original
chemistry of approximately 30 wt% nickel. The bulk of the bead is
highly oxidized, with only approximately 2.4% of the total bead
volume remaining as metal. Our results show that the first known
example of the use of iron in Egypt was produced from a meteorite,
its celestial origin having implications for both the perception of
meteorite iron by ancient Egyptians and the development of
metallurgical knowledge in the Nile Valley.
The Nature write-up includes a quote from a museum creator that "during
the time of the Pharaohs, the gods were believed to have bones made of
iron".
- Robin
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