Abstract
THE fortieth Bedson Lecture was delivered on November 26, at King's College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, by Prof. J. R. Partington, on "Chemistry in the Ancient World". The lecture dealt mainly with the period 4000-1000 B.C., and showed how the outstanding achievements in applied chemistry during this period were made in three principal regions, namely Egypt, Mesopotamia and Crete. The working of metals appears before 3500 B.C. in Egypt and Mesopotamia and somewhat later in Crete and Cyprus. The earliest metal known was probably gold, although copper was known very early in Egypt. The metals silver, lead and iron were also known in the earliest period but were scarce. Refining of gold appears about 525 B.C. An important copper industry was established in Egypt, the malachite ore being mined in Sinai. The use of iron and steel is found among the Hittites and related peoples at the time of the eighteenth dynasty in Egypt, and iron was freely used by the later Assyrians. Brass was known in Palestine about 1400-1000 B.C., and, since the brass industry was later established in Cyprus, some relation between the two regions by way of Ras Shamra seems to be indicated. The techniques of metal workers differed in different regions. The production of bronze was an important event, and the source of the early tin is still doubtful. Zinc occurs in small quantities only in the Roman period. The production of black-topped pottery in Egypt was described and also the preparation of glazes. In some cases the results have been imitated with difficulty and only recently. Glass itself was known in Egypt and Mesopotamia in 3000 B.C., the Egyptians being very skilled in its manufacture and colouring, although blown glass does not seem to have been made until the beginning of the Christian era. The dyes indigo and safflower were used in ancient Egypt, and in Mesopotamia there were the beginnings of the petroleum industry, with extensive use of bitumen for cement and asphalt.
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Chemistry in the Ancient World. Nature 140, 1006 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/1401006a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1401006a0