Precious and semi-precious stones were used in ancient Egypt for amulets,
(a protective devices worn around the body, or placed next to other objects,
to protect them from various evils), beads, jewelry, scarabs (The scarab
was based on the image of the dung beetle, or Scarabeus Sacer, and it was
used by the ancient Egyptians for many purposes such as recording historical
events or inscribing prayers to be placed on mummies for protection against
evil), and other personal ornaments. Precious and Semi-precious stones
were also used as inlay for the decoration of boxes, coffins, furniture
and other objects. The stones that were referred to in ancient Egyptian
text were some of the following: agates, amethyst, beryl, calcite, carnelian
chalcedony, coral feldspar, granite, hematite, jade, jasper, lapos lazuli,
malachite, olivine, onyx, pearl, peridot, sard, sardonyz and turquoise.
They also used resins such as amber, as a gem stone although it isn’t a
stone at all. Many of the stones were used as early as the Badarina and
predynastic times others were not used till much later. With a few exceptions
all of the stones were native to Egypt.
One of the widely used minerals in ancient Egypt is chalcedony also know
as quartz. Chalcedony is the bases for many of the precious and semi-precious
stones used by the Egyptians. Agates (reddish brown white banded quartz
) occurs plentifully in Egypt, chiefly in the form of pebbles, but it has
been found also in small quantity associated with jasper (strong red fined
grained quartz) these were mainly found at the head of Wadi AbuGerida in
the eastern desert. This stone were used for beads, amulets, and other
small objects but was limited to jewelry.
Another type of quartz that was used readily was Amethyst. Amethyst is
usually a purple color. It was used largely in ancient Egypt in the form
of beads, chiefly for necklaces. Most of the amethyst found in Egypt during
Old Kingdom was from the northwest of Abu Simbel. In the Middle Kingdom,
the main source was found at Wadi el Hudi, about twenty miles southeast
of Aswen.
Another very beautiful stone found in Egypt was Beryl, which can be an
array of colors but only found in green in Egypt. The more common name
for this is the emerald. This was used as a gemstone and bead. Beryl
occurs in the Sikait-Zubara region of the Red Sea hills. Although there
has been some discrepancy on when exactly the emerald was used in Egypt
but they do know that it was chiefly used during the Pteolmaic times.
One of the other stones there used by the Egyptians was a group on minerals
called garnet. The garnet that was used by the Egyptians was dark red
of reddish-brown translucent stone that occurs plentifully in the country,
mainly at Aswan, in eastern desert, at Kharga Oasis and in Sinai. The
stone however were usually very small and were only used for beads and
inlays. They date back as early as the predynastic times but were mainly
used in the Second Intermediat period.
Turquoise was one of the most versatile stone that was used in ancient
Egypt. It was used primarily pigment in dye for gaze and paints and readily
used for jewelry. Turquoise was found mainly in Sinai, at Wadi Magharah
and Serabit el Khadim, where the stone occurs in seams in the sandstone
rock. The stone is typically a light blue but can also be a greenish-blue.
Turquoise was used in Egypt as early as the Neolithic and predynastic periods.
Ancient Egyptians spent significant time in the excavation of these minerals.
They would take long excursions through the deserts in search for rare
minerals. They would usually bring the stone back to Egypt to offer to
their god also known as the pharaoh.
Reference:
Lucus,A. and Harris, J.R Ancient Egyptian Materials
and Industry, Percious and Semi-Percious Stones Edward Arnold, London
1926
Written by: Erin M.Degerstedt
