Types of Gold, Types of Silver: The Composition of Precious Metal Artifacts Found in the Royal Tombs of Ur, Mesopotamia

Hauptmann, Andreas; Klein, Sabine; Paoletti, Paola; Zettler, Richard L.; Jansen, Moritz

doi:10.1515/za-2018-0007

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…For example, scientists have studied gold artifacts made in ancient Mesopotamia in the III century B.C. [6] and gold Egyptian antiquities of the XVI century B.C. [7].…”

Section: Literature Review and Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of patterns of crystal-chemical transformations in historical artifacts made of metals

Indutnyi

Merezhko

Pirkovich

et al. 2021

EEJET

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The theoretical substantiation of the process of elimination of individual chemical elements from crystal lattices of metals in the process of the crystal-chemical transformations taking place during the long history of artifact existence was given. To confirm the theoretical conclusions, five ancient gold items from different historical periods (from the IV century B.C. to the XVIII century A.D.) with approximately the same contents of gold, silver, copper, and iron in the alloy body were studied. The conducted studies will promote more exact attribution of historical artifacts made of metals and revealing the signs of forgery or restoration. The chemical composition of items was determined immediately under patina and in the alloy body using a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersion spectrometer. The results have shown a much lower gold content inside the alloy than in the item surface. At the same time, the undamaged surface cleansed of mineral crusts contained significantly fewer impurities than the polished surface which did not have contact with the environment. Therefore, the study of the chemical composition of gold artifacts cannot be conducted solely based on surface studies. The studies have resulted in establishing a dependence of the concentration of the main component (gold) of the alloy in the artifact surface on the item age in thousands of years. Equations for predicting the age of the items that are chemically belonging to the described item group were also presented. Studies of peculiarities of crystal-chemical processes are very important in practice to prove the historical artifact authenticity, adjust artifact dating, identify signs of forgery or profound changes caused by restoration

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“…For example, scientists have studied gold artifacts made in ancient Mesopotamia in the III century B.C. [6] and gold Egyptian antiquities of the XVI century B.C. [7].…”

Section: Literature Review and Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of patterns of crystal-chemical transformations in historical artifacts made of metals

Indutnyi

Merezhko

Pirkovich

et al. 2021

EEJET

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“…Fortunately, some early records of gold colour and quality are unequivocally linked to variations in GSR. Furthermore, analytical data (Hauptmann et al 2018) provide a more confident relationship between gold purity, colour and relative value. 13 Gold malleability depends on purity, diminishing with increasing silver and addition of copper (Hough et al 2009).…”

Section: Precious Metal Purity and Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

Gold and Silver: Relative Values in the Ancient Past

Ross,

Bettenay

2023

CAJ

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We have documented more than 200 relative values of gold and silver across almost 3000 years (2500 bce–400 ce) to establish value benchmarks for essentially pure metal. Our aim is to improve understanding of ancient economies by enabling regional and temporal comparisons of these relative values. First, we establish silver as an early, reliable benchmark for valuing gold of varying purity before implementation of parting. Whilst purity accounted for two to threefold variation in the value of gold, we conclude that availability was more influential. Access to Nubian gold until about 1100 bce seems an important influence on gold-silver value ratios in Egypt and the Near East, which increased significantly following loss of this source. This investigation yields a suite of relative values for essentially pure gold and silver, subdivided by regions and intervals from 2500 bce–400 ce. These will enable future comparisons of precious metal-denominated costs of labour and commodities, including with today.

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“…Ostensible gold objects from the Royal Graves at Ur, dating to the Early Dynastic IIIa period (ca. 2600-2500 Bce) have recently been shown to consist of varying percentages of gold and silver, almost certainly due to the co-occurrence of these two elements in nature; similar objects that required greater strength or durability also show substantial amounts of copper (Hauptmann et al 2018). But soon after this, again in the Syrian city of Ebla (ca.…”

Section: Cale Johnsonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ku 3 .sig 17 HI.da, valued at 10-15 shekels of silver), and "normal gold" (Sum. ku 3 .sig 17 si.sa 2 , valued at 6.5-10 shekels of silver ;Waetzoldt 1985;Paoletti 2016b: Hauptmann et al 2018Kleber 2019). The first decisive evidence for cementation (using vapors from salt or alum to convert silver into silver chloride and thereby remove it from molten mixtures of gold and silver) comes from an Old Babylonian period letter from Mari (ca.…”

Section: Cale Johnsonmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cultural History Of Chemistry

2022

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FIGURES 1.1 Ceiling of the pronaos of the temple of Dendara. Thirty-six decans made of both precious metals and minerals. © Sydney H. Aufrère 1.2 Crypt South no. 1. Temple of Dendara. Statue of the god Harsomtus as a serpent. Caption indicating the size and the nature of the metals and minerals used (Dendara V: 140, 7). © Sydney H. Aufrère 1.3 Names of the temple of Dendara dedicated to the goddess Hathor. Temple of Dendara, northern passage of the hypostyle hall, Ptolemaic period. © Sydney H. Aufrère 1.4 One of the names of the temple of Dendara dedicated to the goddess Hathor: "Mansion-of-Electrum" (Per-en-Djam). © Sydney H. Aufrère 1.5 Cuneiform tablet BM 120960, Middle Babylonian, Tell Umar. © The Trustees of the British Museum 1.6 Late Uruk cylinder seal, 4000-3100 Bce. Photograph by Ashmolean Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images 2.1 Flared cylindrical perfume pots set with a palm leaf. Old Kingdom. Cairo Museum. © Sydney H. Aufrère 2.2 Three foundation tablets from Khorsabad, Assyrian from the reign of Sargon II (721-705 Bce; gold, silver, and copper). © Bridgeman Images 2.3 Vials of kermes and Rubia tinctorum. Photograph © Nicole Reifarth LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 2.4 Archaeological remains of dye in Qatna. Photograph © Nicole Reifarth 2.5 Fluted glass bottle. © The Trustees of the British Museum 3.1 Procession of metals and mineral bearers. Treasure D'. Dendara temple. © Sydney H. Aufrère 3.2 Tinctorium (dyeing workshop), South-East Dendara temple. © Sydney H. Aufrère 3.3 The proto-cuneiform signs representing ovens and kilns: MAH a , AD a , and SIMUG. Drawing by the author, after signs drawn by R.K. EnglundA Cultural History of Chemistry examines the history of chemistry and its wider contexts from antiquity to the present. The series consists of six chronologically defined volumes, each volume comprising nine essays; these fifty-four contributions were written and/or edited by a total of fifty scholars, of ten different nationalities. Of Bloomsbury's many six-volume Cultural Histories currently in print, this is the first in the physical or natural sciences; it is also the first multivolume history of chemistry to appear since James Riddick Partington's four-volume History of Chemistry, concluded more than fifty years ago. It is distinguished, among other qualities, by its endeavor to take the subject from antiquity right to the present day. This is not a conventional history of chemistry, but a first attempt at creating a cultural history of the science. All cultures, including the various branches of natural science, consist of mixed constructs of social, intellectual, and material elements; however, the cultural-historical study of chemistry is still in an early stage of development. We hope that the accounts presented in these volumes will prove useful for students and scholars interested in the subject, and a starting point for those who are striving to create a more fully developed cultural history of chemistry.Each volume has the same structure: starting with an interpretive...

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Types of Gold, Types of Silver: The Composition of Precious Metal Artifacts Found in the Royal Tombs of Ur, Mesopotamia

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Identification of patterns of crystal-chemical transformations in historical artifacts made of metals

Identification of patterns of crystal-chemical transformations in historical artifacts made of metals

Gold and Silver: Relative Values in the Ancient Past

A Cultural History Of Chemistry

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