Hi Robin,
only short remark,
that the iron beads from the Gerzeh tombs are of meteoritic origin (due to
their high Ni-content),
was already stated in 1932 by Gerald Wainwright.
Also Buchwald 1975 seems to have them.
Best!
Martin
-Ursprüngliche Nachricht-
Von: meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Robin
Whittle
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 30. Mai 2013 06:11
An: METEORITE LIST
Betreff: [meteorite-list] Nickel-iron meteorite used to make 5, 000 year old
Egyptian beads
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./maps.12120
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10./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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