Ancient Egyptians used meteorites to make jewelry

Scientists have just demonstrated the 5,000-year-old tubular iron particles that Egyptians used to make jewelry, originating from meteorites.

The aforementioned tubular particles were found in 1911 in a cemetery at Gerzeh, about 70 km south of Cairo, Egypt. This area was identified by scientists with a history of 3,300 BC, which means that these iron particles are the oldest known iron artifact in Egypt.

Early studies show that iron particles have a very high nickel content - a sign of iron meteorites because the amount of nickel in natural iron on Earth is not so much. This made many people think that it originated from 'heaven'.

In the 1980s, scientists hypothesized that the ancient iron-smashing attempt could casually enrich nickel in the iron-nickel mixture. However, the results of the analysis of oxidized substances on the particle surface later denied this hypothesis.

Iron particles are found to contain nickel (the bottom bead is a virtual model with a blue color of nickel)

Recently, Diane Johnson, an asteroid scientist at Milton Keynes University, England and colleagues, analyzed iron particles with the most modern methods. They used electron microscopy and computerized tomography to analyze one of the seeds borrowed from the Manchester Museum, United Kingdom.

Scientists are not allowed to cut off this precious item, but they have found 'small windows' on iron beads. These are places where weathered material on the surface of the grain disappears and reveals the metal inside.

The team measured 30% of nickel in the base metal. This shows that it is actually derived from meteorites.

Scientists also revealed that the ancient Egyptians used to forge a piece of iron from meteorites into a thin sheet before bending it into a tube.

The study has shed light on a long-standing mystery: Why did the ancient Egyptians obtain it for millennia before the first evidence of iron smelting in the area was found in the fourth century. B.C? It also shows that the ancient Egyptians were very interested in meteorites when developing their beliefs.

Joyce Tyldesley, an Egyptologist at the University of Manchester, UK, co-authored the study, said: "For the ancient Egyptians, the sky was very important. What fell from the sky would be considered as a gift from the gods ".

Meanwhile, Ms. Diane Johnson commented: 'Iron is very closely related to kings and power. Items made from such "divine" materials, supposedly help the deceased take precedence in entering the afterlife '.

Campbell Price, an Egyptian and Sudanese curator at the Manchester Museum, revealed that during the Pharaohs it was believed that bone gods made of iron and meteors were understood to be the rest of the gods' bodies. falling to Earth.