Emerald mining in Sikait: organization and distribution of emerald production in Roman Egypt

2020, 29, No. 1


Publication date

31.12.2020

Publishing model

open access

License type


Field

Humanities

Discipline

archeology

Language of publication

English

Downloads

PDF 2 MB

Article

Number of views:590

Number of downloads:83

Crossref citations:0

Altmetric score:0


Abstract

The Smaragdos region, currently in the Wadi Gemal National Park (Eastern Desert, Egypt) was well known in antiquity for the emeralds that could be found there. The exploitation of emerald mines, especially in the Roman period, led to the creation of an important network of settlements linked to the procurement and commercial distribution of this semiprecious stone, which was considered highly valuable in ancient times. The overview of the emerald trade in Roman antiquity presented in this paper will focus on Sikait, the most important and best known of the mining settlements in the Eastern Desert.

Keywords:

Bibliography

Bailly, J.-C. (1997). L’apostrophe muette: essai sur les portraits du Fayoum. Paris: Hazan

Bernand, A. (1972). De Koptos à Kosseir. Leiden: Brill

Bernand, A. (1977). Pan du désert. Leiden: Brill

Brun, J.-P., Cuvigny, H., and Reddé, M. (2003). Le mystère des tours et la question des skopeloi. In H. Cuvigny (ed.), Praesidia du désert de Bérénice I.2. La route de Myos Hormos. L’armée romaine dans le désert oriental d’Égypte (=FIFAO 48/2) (pp. 207–234). Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale

Bülow-Jacobsen, A. (1996). Mons Claudianus: organisation, administration og teknik i et romersk stenbrud fra kejsertiden (Mons Claudianus: organization, administration and technology of a Roman quarry from the imperial period) (=Studier fra sprog- og oldtidsforskning 326). Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanums Forlag (in Danish)

Bülow-Jacobsen, A. (2001). Drinking and cheating in the desert. In T. Gagos and R.S. Bagnall (eds), Essays and texts in honor of J. David Thomas (pp. 119–123). Oakville, CT: American Society of Papyrologists

Bülow-Jacobsen, A. (2003). The traffic on the road and the provisioning of the stations. In H H. Cuvigny (ed.), Praesidia du désert de Bérénice I.2. La route de Myos Hormos. L’armée romaine dans le désert oriental d’Égypte (=FIFAO 48/2) (pp. 399–426). Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale

Christol, M. (1999). Un aspect de l’administration impériale: le procurateur des mines de Vipasca. Pallas, 50, 233–244

Corcoran, L.H. (1995). Portrait mummies from Roman Egypt (I–IV centuries A.D.): With a catalog of portrait mummies in Egyptian Museums (=SAOC 56). Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

Cuvigny, H. (1996). The amount of wages paid to the quarry-workers at Mons Claudianus. The Journal of Roman Studies, 86, 139–145

Cuvigny, H. (2000a). Mons Claudianus: Ostraca graeca et latina III. Les reçus pour avances à la familia: O. Claud. 417 à 631. Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale

Cuvigny, H. (2000b). Procurator montis. In H. Melaerts (ed.), Papyri in honorem Johannis Bingen octogenarii (P. Bingen) (pp. 415–418). Leuven: Peeters

Cuvigny, H. (2001). Claudius Lucilianus, prefet d’aile et de Berenice. In T. Gagos and R.S. Bagnall (eds), Essays and texts in honor of J. David Thomas (pp. 171–174). Oakville, CT: American Society of Papyrologists

Cuvigny, H. (2003a). Le fonctionnement du réseau. In H. Cuvigny (ed.), Praesidia du désert de Bérénice I.2. La route de Myos Hormos. L’armée romaine dans le désert oriental d’Égypte (=FIFAO 48/2) (pp. 295–360). Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale

Cuvigny, H. (2003b). La société civile des praesidia. In H. Cuvigny (ed.), Praesidia du désert de Bérénice I.2. La route de Myos Hormos. L’armée romaine dans le désert oriental d’Égypte (=FIFAO 48/2) (pp. 361–397). Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale

Cuvigny, H. (2005). L’organigramme du personnel d’une carrière impériale d’après un ostracon du Mons Claudianus. Chiron, 35, 309–354

Daszewski, W.A. 2011. Graeco-Roman town and necropolis in Marina el-Alamein, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 20, 421–456

De Romanis, F. (2003). Between the Nile and the Red Sea. Imperial trade and barbarians. In M. Liverani (ed.), Arid lands in Roman times: Papers from the international conference (Rome, July 9th–10th, 2001) (pp. 117–122). Florence: All’insegna del giglio

Domergue, C. (1983). La mine antique d’Aljustrel (Portugal) et les tables de bronze de Vipasca. Paris: De Boccard

Doxiadis, E. (2000). The mysterious Fayum portraits: Faces from ancient Egypt. London: Thames and Hudson

Ferrer, J.J. (2005). ¿Gestión recaudatoria o fiscalidad racional? Otra visión de Vipasca. In L. Hernández Guerra (ed.), La Hispania de los Antoninos (98–180). Actas del II Congreso Internacional de Historia Antigua, Valladolid, 10, 11 y 12 de noviembre de 2004 (pp. 545–554). Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid

Foster, B.C., Rivard, J.-L., Sidebotham, S.E., and Cuvigny, H. (2007). Survey of the emerald mines at Wadi Sikait 2000/2001 seasons. In S.E. Sidebotham and W.Z. Wendrich (eds), Berenike 1999/2000: Report on the excavations at Berenike, including excavations in Wadi Kalalat and Siket, and the survey of the Mons Smaragdus Region (pp. 304–343). Los Angeles, CA: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles

Giuliani, G., Chaussidon, M., Schubnel, H.-J., Piat, D.H., Rollion-Bard, C., France-Lanord, C., Giard, D., Narvaez, D. de, and Rondeau, B. (2000). Oxygen isotopes and emerald trade routes since antiquity. Science, 287(5453), 631–633

Haeckl, A.E. (2007). Excavations at the smaller praesidium in Wadi Kalalat. In S.E. Sidebotham and W.Z. Wendrich (eds), Berenike 1999/2000: Report on the excavations at Berenike, including excavations in Wadi Kalalat and Siket, and the survey of the Mons Smaragdus Region (pp. 344–357). Los Angeles, CA: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles

Harrell, J.A. (2004). Archaeological geology of the world’s first emerald mine. Geoscience Canada, 31(2), 69–76

Harrell, J.A. (2006). Archaeological geology of Wadi Sikait. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 4(1), 1–12

Harrell, J.A., Sidebotham, S.E., Bagnall, R.S., Marchand, S., Gates, J.E., and Rivard, J.-L. (2006). The Ptolemaic to early Roman amethyst quarry at Abu Diyeiba in Egypt’s Eastern Desert. BIFAO, 106, 127–162

Hirt, A.M. (2010). Imperial mines and quarries in the Roman world organizational aspects, 27 B.C.–A.D. 235. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Klemm, D., Klemm, R., and Murr, A. (2001). Gold of the Pharaohs – 6000 years of gold mining in Egypt and Nubia. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 33(3), 643–659

Lepore, P. (2002). “Lex metallis dicta”. Studi sulla seconda tavola di Vipasca. Rivista storica dell’antichità, 32, 127

Maxfield, V.A. (2001). Stone quarrying in the Eastern Desert with particular reference to Mons Claudianus and Mons Porphyrites. In D.J. Mattingly and J. Salmon (eds), Economies beyond agriculture in the classical world (=Leicester-Nottingham Studies in Ancient Society 9) (pp. 143–170). London–New York: Routledge

Maxfield, V.A. and Peacock, D.P.S. (2001). Mons Claudianus: Survey and excavation, 1987–1993, II. Excavations: Part 1 (=FIFAO 43). Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale

Meyer, C. (2014). Bir Umm Fawakhir III. Excavations 1999–2001 (=OIP 141). Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

Meyer, C., Heidorn, L.A., O’Brien, A.A., and Reichel, C. (2011). Bir Umm Fawakhir II. Report on the 1996–1997 survey seasons (=Oriental Institute Communications 30). Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

Parlasca, K. (1969–2003). Repertorio d’arte dell’Egitto greco-romano. Serie B, I–IV. Palermo–Rome: Banco di Sicilia; L’Erma di Bretschneider

Peacock, D.P.S. (1992). Rome in the desert: A symbol of power. Southampton: University of Southampton

Peacock, D.P.S. and Maxfield, V.A. (1997). Mons Claudianus: Survey and excavation, 1987–1993, I. Topography and quarries (=FIFAO 37). Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale

Pintozzi, L.A. (2007). Excavations at the praesidium et hydreuma at Siket. In S.E. Sidebotham and W.Z. Wendrich (eds), Berenike 1999/2000: Report on the excavations at Berenike, including excavations in Wadi Kalalat and Siket, and the survey of the Mons Smaragdus Region (pp. 358–367). Los Angeles, CA: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles

Power, T. (2012). The Red Sea from Byzantium to the Caliphate: AD 500–1000. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press

Schwarz, D. and Schmetzer, K. (2002). The definition of emerald: The green variety of beryl colored by chromium and/or vanadium. In Emeralds of the world (pp. 74–78). East Hampton, CT: Lapis International

Shaw, I. (2007). Late Roman amethyst and gold mining at Wadi el-Hudi. In T. Schneider and K.M. Szpakowska (eds), Egyptian stories: A British Egyptological tribute to Alan B. Lloyd on the occasion of his retirement (=Alter Orient und Altes Testament 347) (pp. 141–150). Münster: Ugarit-Verlag

Shaw, I., Bunbury, J., and Jameson, R. (1999). Emerald mining in Roman and Byzantine Egypt. Journal of Roman Archaeology, 12, 203–215

Sidebotham, S.E. (2003). Ptolemaic and Roman water resources and their management in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. In M. Liverani (ed.), Arid lands in Roman times: Papers from the international conference (Rome, July 9th–10th, 2001) (pp. 87–116). Florence: All’insegna del giglio

Sidebotham, S.E. (2011). Berenike and the ancient maritime Spice Route. Berkeley: University of California Press

Sidebotham, S.E., Barnard, H., Harrell, J.A., and Tomber, R.S. (2001). The Roman quarry and installations in Wadi Umm Wikala and Wadi Semna. JEA, 87(1), 135–170

Sidebotham, S.E., Barnard, H., Pintozzi, L.A., and Tomber, R.S. (2005). The enigma of Kab Marfu’a: Precious gems in Egypt’s Eastern Desert. Minerva, 16(1), 24–26

Sidebotham, S.E., Gates-Foster, J., and Rivard, J.-L. (eds). (2019). The archaeological survey of the desert roads between Berenike and the Nile Valley: Expeditions by the University of Michigan and the University of Delaware to the Eastern Desert of Egypt, 1987–2015 (=American Schools of Oriental Research Archaeological Reports 26). Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research

Sidebotham, S.E., Hense, M., and Nouwens, H.M. (2008). The red land: The illustrated archaeology of Egypt’s Eastern Desert. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press

Sidebotham, S.E., Nouwens, H.M., Hense, A.M., and Harrell, J.A. (2004). Preliminary report on archaeological fieldwork at Sikait (Eastern Desert of Egypt), and environs: 2002–2003. Sahara, 15, 7–30

Sidebotham, S.E. and Zitterkopf, R.E. (1995). Routes through the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Expedition, 37(2), 39–52

Sinkankas, J. (1981). Emerald and other beryls. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Company

Tratsaert, B.J.M. (2012). Roman gold mining in the Eastern Desert. The mining settlement in Wadi Bakariya. In H. Barnard and K. Duistermaat (eds), The history of the peoples of the Eastern Desert (pp. 215–225). Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press

Uytterhoeven, I. (2009). Hawara in the Graeco-Roman period: Life and death in a Fayum village (=OLA 174). Leuven: Peeters

van Rengen, W. (1997). La correspondance militaire. In J. Bingen, A. Bülow-Jacobsen, W.E.H. Cockle, H. Cuvigny, F. Kayser, and W. van Rengen, Mons Claudianus: Ostraca graeca et latina II. O. Claud. 191 à 416 (pp. 193–227). Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale

Walker, S. (ed.). (2000). Ancient faces: Mummy portraits from Roman Egypt. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Wilkinson, C. (2003). The facial reconstruction of the Marina el-Alamein Mummy. PAM, 14, 66–71

The Christian topography of Cosmas, an Egyptian monk, transl. and ed. by J.W. McCrindle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1897

The Digest of Justinian, transl. and ed. by A. Watson. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998

Fontes historiae Nubiorum III. From the first to the sixth century AD, ed. by T. Eide, T. Hägg, R.H. Pierce, and L. Török. Bergen: Klassisk Institutt, Universitetet i Bergen, 1998

Plinio. Historia Natural. Translated and edited by J. Cantó. Madrid: Cátedra (2002)

Claudius Ptolemy, The geography, transl. by E.L. Stevenson. New York: Dover Publications, 1932

The geography of Strabo VIII. Book 17, transl. and ed. by H.L. Jones (=Loeb Classical Library 267). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1932

Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars I. Julius. Augustus. Tiberius. Gaius. Caligula, transl. by J.C. Rolfe (=Loeb Classical Library 31). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1914

Similar publications