Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum: Difference between revisions
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, 1 year agoCompleted sections on Pliny, the Elder; added a section on other references to mining mentioned by the classical writers and cleaned up further bits and bobs
(→Strabo: added the transcriptions found in Strabo's books, amended typos where spotted) |
(Completed sections on Pliny, the Elder; added a section on other references to mining mentioned by the classical writers and cleaned up further bits and bobs) |
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===Pliny the Elder===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' III.3, IV.20</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1947: 25, 207</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>Hither Spain, nearly the entirety of Spain</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' Pliny maintained that ‘the whole district from the Pyrenees onwards’ – nearly the whole of Spain – contained gold, iron, lead, copper and silver mines.
'''Comments:''' Pliny was procurator on the Iberian Peninsula. See also Diodorus, 5.36-38, and Strabo, 3.2.8, 3.2.10, 3.3.4, 11.14.8.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.12</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1947: 361</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>Caucassus Pass, among the Gurdinian Mountaines</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' Pliny describes this region as ‘beyond the gates of the Caucassus’. He states that the gold mines were worked by the ''Valli'' and the ''Suari'' and that the region was ‘one of the most famous in the world’.
'''Comments:''' Pliny often discusses gold and other mines while describing the landscape of the regions he has visited.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.22</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1947: 589</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>India, Ganges and adjacent regions</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' The country of the ''Dardae'', ''Setae'', produced gold in great quantities as well as silver.
'''Comments:''' Here again, Pliny refers to the presence of gold and other mines while describing the area. The fact that silver is still being mentioned indicates that even with gold in circulation as currency silver retained a certain (monetary) value.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.23</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1947: 395</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>India, beyond the Indus</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' The ''Narae'' on the other side of the Capitalia Range (highest mountain in India) also have gold and silver mines.
'''Comments:''' See comment on Pliny, ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.22.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.24</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1947: 399, 405</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>Indian Islands, ''Chyse'' and ''Argyre'' at the mouth of the Indus</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' The popular name for the inhabitants of these islands, according to Pliny, was ‘Aborgines’. They had gold and silver mines, though these were rivalled by Ceylon which had more gold and larger pearls.
'''Comments:''' See comment on Pliny ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.22; he now quotes ''Megasthenes''.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.24</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1947: 399, 405</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>Indian Islands, ''Chyse'' and ''Argyre'' at the mouth of the Indus</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' Pliny makes it clear this quote comes from ''Onesicritus’'' travel accounts. In a passing comment made during the voyage of ''Nearchus'' and ''Onesicritus'' from India to ''Faristan'' with Alexander’s fleet, he mentions that the ''Carmanita'' River ''Hyctanis'' produces [alluvial] gold.
'''Comments:''' See comment on Pliny ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.22.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.32</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1947: 459-461</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>Persian Gulf, Arabian side (first century BC)</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' Pliny describes Arabia at the time when ''Aelius Gallus'' (AD24) was prefect of Egypt, including the people, animals and life of the nomads (dietary and wine production). He also mentions the ''Sabari'', who were wealthy thanks to their thick fertile forest, goldmines, rich agriculture, honey and wax. They were rich because they ‘sell their produce to Rome and Parthia but do not buy anything in return’.
'''Comments:''' See comment on Pliny ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.22. It appears that the Sabari were well aware of the high demand of Rome for gold, but had different material needs themselves.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.34</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1947: 465</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>Egypt, Nubia (N Sudan)</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' Here Pliny talks about the Troglodytes of Egypt and the gold region of Wadi Allaqi (S Egypt/N Sudan). There are two Berenices, Berenice-All-Golden in the locality of Wadi Allaqi (N Sudan), and Berenice (S Egypt), a Ptolemaic-Roman harbour along the Red Sea coast.
'''Comments:''' The region of Wadi Allaqi is well known for its gold-mining settlements. The deposits have been mined since prehistoric times until well into the Arab occupation of Egypt. The region has been studied by many modern scientists.[1] The harbour of Berenike is still being excavated by Sidebotham.[2] See also Strabo, 17.1.45.
----[1] Castiglioni, Castiglioni, Vercoutter 1995. ''Das Goldland der Pharaonen. Die Entdeckung von Berenike Pancrisia''. Klemm, Klemm 2013. ''Gold and Gold Mining in Ancient Egypt and Nubia. Geoarchaeology of the Ancient Gold Mining Sites in the Egyptian and Sudanese Eastern Deserts''.
[2] Sidebotham ''et al''. 2008: 161–65, 171–75.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' XXXIII.4.12</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 2003: 11</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
| -
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' Pliny describes the values the Romans had towards gold jewellery and mentions the ‘gold of handicraft... brooches and other articles of feminine finery like earrings’.
'''Comments:''' The Romans liked their luxury items, and jewellery became even more popular once gold and other precious minerals were mined on an industrial scale and became easier [and cheaper] to obtain.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' VI.35</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 2003: 479-485</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|Egypt, Arabian side of the Nile (Eastern Desert of Egypt)
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' The Red Sea Coast of Egypt runs from Meroë to Napata; Pliny mentions ''Aethiopia'', the Nile Valley and Meroë. These regions could be travelled very easily as there were many pockets of rainwater stored for travellers and, in passing; he also briefly mentions that the region contained a large amount of gold.
'''Comments:''' It seems from this paragraph that travelling the desert might have been easier then than it is now as there was plenty of water available. Or it could be referring to the many ''praesidia'' and ''hydreumata'' that provided water for travellers, mine and quarry workers and settlers in the region.[1] There are still some wells left but probably only a fraction of what was once available to the Romans.
----[1] Sidebotham 1996. ''Newly Discovered Sites in the Eastern'' Desert. Sidebotham, 2011. ''Berenike and the ancient maritime spice route.'' Sidebotham ''et al''. 2008: 303–28. Brun, Bülow-Jacobson, Cardon, Fournet, Leguilloux, Matelly, Reddé 2006. ''La route de Myos Hormos. L’armée romaine dans le désert Oriental d’Égypte''. ''Praesidia du desert de Bérénice, I'' (ed. H. Cuvigny). Krzywinski, Pierce 2001: 61–74, 149–52, on the influence of humans on desert fauna and flora.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' XXXIII.21</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1968: 51-61</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|western Roman provinces (generic desciption)
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' In this long paragraph Pliny describes how both primary and secondary auriferous deposits were excavated and gives examples of where specific technique were used in his time. From the opening paragraph it is clear that Pliny did not believe in the story of the gold-digging ants: ‘Gold in our part of the world, not to speak of the Indian gold obtained from ants or the gold dug up by griffins in Scythia ….’ This indicates his interest in the facts and technology of mining. He describes three techniques to obtain gold: the first method is collecting the ‘detritus of rivers’, for which he gives the locations of mines in Tagus (Spain), Po (Italy), Maritza (''Thrace''), ''Sarabat'' (Asia Minor) and Ganges (India). The gold found in this manner is ‘thoroughly polished by the mere friction of the current’.
''People seeking gold begin by getting up'' segellum ''– that is, the name for earth that indicates the presence of gold. This is a pocket of sand, which is washed, and from the sediment left behind an estimate of the veins is made. Sometimes by a rare piece of luck a pocket is found immediately, on the surface of the earth, as occurred recently in Dalmatia when Nero was emperor, one yielding 50 pounds in weight of gold a day (AD 54–68). Gold found in this way in the surface crust is called'' talutium ''if there is also auriferous earth underneath. The otherwise dry, barren mountains of the Spanish provinces which produce nothing else are forced into fertility by the community.'' '''Photius (64–65) speaks of the ''selangei'', gold washers.[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftn1|[1]]] This is still the same form of prospecting used in modern days. A potential reference to the satellite sites set up by the Romans to provide the miners with tools and food. ‘Barren mountains’ meant barren of gold'''
A <u>second method</u> involved ‘sinking shafts’ in auriferous primary deposits ‘in the fallen debris of mountains’.
''Gold dug up from shafts is called'' channelled ''or'' trenched gold''; it is found sticking to the grit of marble, not in the way in which it gleams in the lapis lazuli of the East and the stone of Thebes and in other precious stones, but sparkling in the folds of marble. These channels of veins wander to and fro along the sides of shafts, which give the gold its name; and the earth is held by wooden props. The substance dug out is crushed, washed, fired and ground to a soft powder. The powder from the mortar is called the'' scudes ''and the silver that comes out from the furnace the'' sweat''; the dirt thrown out of the smelting furnace as in the case of every metal is called'' scoria'', slag. In the case of gold the scoria is pounded and fired a second time; the crucibles for this are made of tasconium, which is white earth resembling clay. No other earth can stand the blast of air, fire, or the intensively hot material'' [that held the metal]''.'' '''Diodorus (3.12) also describes the stone as ‘marble’, primary deposit. Procedure for refining gold and silver (both seem to have been done in a similar manner)'''
The <u>third method</u> describes the sub-surface galleries, the primary deposits, with tunnels running over long distances under the mountains and mined by the light of oil lamps. Pliny remarks in a footnote that the length of time spent in a mine was determined by the ration of a lamp oil.
''The third method will have outdone the achievements of the Giants. The name for this class of mines is'' arrugiae''; cracks give way suddenly and crush the men who have been at work, so that it actually seems less venturesome to try to get pearls and purple fishes out of the depth of the sea – so much more dangerous have we made the earth! Consequently arches have been left at frequent intervals to support the weight of the mountain above. In both kinds of mining, masses of flint are encountered, which are burst asunder by means of fire and vinegar, though more often, as this method makes the tunnels suffocating through heat and smoke, they are broken to pieces with crushing machines carrying 150 lbs of iron, and the men carry the stuff on their shoulders, working night and day, each man passing them on to the next man in the dark, while only those at the end of the line see daylight. If the bed of flint seems too long, the miner follows along it and goes around it. And yet flint is considered comparatively easy work, as there is a kind of earth consisting of a sort of potter’s clay mixed with gravel, called'' gangadia'', which it is almost impossible to overcome.'' '''Sub-surface mining, pillars of the veins support the roof. Fire setting to break or crack it sufficiently to break the vein. Diodorus (3.13) and Photius (62-63) describe children used to carry the stones to the surface.'''
''They attack it with iron wedges and the hammer machines mentioned above; and it is thought to be the hardest thing that exists, except greed for gold, which is the most stubborn of all things. When the work is completely finished, beginning with the last, they cut through, at the tops, the supports of the arched roofs. A crack gives warning of a crash, and the only person who notices it is the sentinel on a pinnacle of the mountain. He, by shout and gesture, gives the order for the workmen to be called out, and himself at the same moment fled down from his pinnacle. The fractured mountain falls asunder in a wide gap, with a crash which it is impossible for human imagination to conceive, and likewise with an incredibly violent blast of air. The miners gaze as conquerors upon the collapse of Nature. And nevertheless, even now, there is no gold so far, nor did they know for certain there was any when they began digging; the mere hope of obtaining the coveted material was sufficient inducement for encountering such great dangers and expense.'' '''Use of metal tools. Reference to Roman greed, as mentioned before by other classical writers. The destruction of large parts of the deposit so they could reach the auriferous veins. If done manually this would take a much longer time. ''Ruinea montium'', where water tanks were breached to create high velocity ‘waterfalls’. The water ran into various manmade tunnels dug inside the deposit.[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftn2|[2]]]'''
''Another equally laborious task involving even greater expense is the incidental operation of previously bringing streams along mountain heights, frequently over a distance of 100 miles for the purpose of washing away debris of the collapse'' [see above, the collapse of an exhausted mine]''; the channels made for this purpose are called'' corrugi'', a term derived, I believe, from'' conrivatio'', a uniting of streams of water. This also involves a thousand tasks; the dip of the fall must be steep, to cause a rush rather than a flow of water, and consequently it is brought from very high altitudes. Gorges and crevasses are bridged by aquaducts carried on masonry; at other places impassable rocks are hewn away and compelled to provide a position for hollowed troughs of timber. The workman hewing the rocks are suspended with ropes, so that spectators viewing the operations from a distance seem to see not so much a'' ''swarm of strange animals as a flight of birds. In the majority of cases they hang suspended in this way while taking the levels and marking out the lines for the route, and rivers are led by man’s agency to run where there is no place for a man to plant his footsteps. It spoils the operation of washing if the current of the stream carries mud along with it; an earthy sediment of this kind if called'' urium''. Consequently, they guide the flow over flint stones and pebbles, and avoid urium. At the head of the waterfall, on the brow of the mountains, reservoirs are excavated measuring 200ft each way and 10ft deep. In these there are left five sluices with apertures measuring about a yard each way, in order that when the reservoir is full the stopping barriers may be struck away and the torrent may burst out with such velocity as sweeping forward the broken rock. This is yet another task to perform on level ground. Trenches are excavated for the water to flow through – the Greek name for them means'' leads''; and these, which descend by steps, are floored with'' gorse ''– this is plant resembles rosemary, which is rough and holds back the gold – and the channels are carried on arches over steep pitches. Thus the earth carried along in the stream slides down into the sea, and owing to these causes the land of Spain encroaches a long way into the sea. The material drowned out at such enormous labour in the former kind of mining so as not to fill up the shafts, is in this latter process washed out.'' '''Hushing was used to break down the alluvial deposits – a highly technical engineering project for which it is thought the army was required because of their experience in building hydraulic installations. See appendix A on Las Médulas and Dolaucothi). When cutting leats out of the bedrock of the hills, the slope had to be just right so not to create stagnant water.'''
''The gold obtained by means of an'' arrugia ''does not have to be melted, but is pure gold straight away. In this process nuggets are found, and also in the shafts, weighing more than 10 pounds. They are called'' palagae'', or else'' palcurnae'', and the gold in very small grains,'' baluce''. The gorse is dried and burned and its ash is washed on a bed of grassy turf so that the gold is deposited on it. According to some accounts, Asturia and Callaecia and Lusitania produced in this way 20,000lbs in weight of gold a year, Asturia supplying the largest amount. Nor has there been in any other part of the world such a continuous production of gold for so many centuries. We have stated that by an old prohibiting decree of the senate, Italy is protected from exploitation; otherwise no country would have been more productive in metals, as well as in crops. There is extant a ruling of the censors relating to the gold mines of Victumulae in the territory of the Vercellae, which prohibited the farmers in receipt of public revenue from having mor''e ''than'' ''5,000 men engaged in the work.'' '''Use of ''gorse'' to separate the gold from the soil; see Strabo (11.2.19), See appendix A on Las Médulas and Dolaucothi; at Las Médulas the river got filled up and a lake was created. ''Lex sensorial'' restricted the number of people working at the mine by 5,000.[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftn3|[3]]]'''
'''Comments:''' Some modern writers describe Pliny as the ultimate source on mining in the classical world, though not all scholars agree.[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftn4|[4]]] The first method Pliny describes is panning for gold in the (fast) currents of local rivers, usually those coming down from the mountains. After collecting nuggets from the surface (dried-out river bed), this is the second oldest technique of prospecting for gold and is still widely used in rivers all over the world. Panning the gold particles in rivers sometimes leads to the outcropping vein located further upstream.
The second method he describes is open-cast mining (primary deposits) and hushing of alluvial or secondary deposits. The open-cast technique consists of digging trenches following veins along the surface. This practice was used nearly exclusively in Wadi Bakariya and Wadi Daghbag, Eastern Desert of Egypt (Chapter 6, Appendix A.2.). The deposits are usually shallow, though some sections go deeper underground; the description used by Pliny is ‘sinking shafts’.
The method known as hushing, which was used at Las Médulas, NW Spain, and Dolaucothi, S Wales (Appendix A.4.), was more complex and specialised. It required the continuous availability of large quantities of water, so was not applicable for desert areas such as in Egypt. Water was brought to tanks built on top of the sedimentary deposits via leats and canals from the river, which were dug out of the hill slopes. Once they were full the tanks were breached and water flushed down at high speed, taking the sediment with it. At the bottom of the sediment the fast-flowing water was directed via a system of canals to collect the larger debris. A local plant (''gorse'') was placed in these canals, in which the gold particles were captured, while the finer sand flushed away with the water. When the plants were saturated they were removed and either burned or dried to collect the gold. Pliny then describes refining the gold dust, explaining that it needed smelting to separate the gold from impurities. A similar account on smelting, with different details, is given by Diodorus Siculus (3.14).
The third method concerned full underground mining of primary deposits using long tunnels and galleries. Pliny describes how the miners had oil lamps attached to their heads to light the way, and stayed underground for the duration of their shift, or, if we are to believe older classical writers, until they died. Evidence of residency, however, has been found in sections of abandoned galleries or shafts where the miners had made themselves a comfortable resting (or temporary residential) area.
Finally, Pliny discusses the ''ruinea montium'', a technique still evidenced today at Las Médulas (Appendix A.3.). This was used to mine the larger alluvial (secondary) deposits, not just river banks. The miners dug long, underground connecting tunnels in the auriferous deposits but left only one entrance/exit. Then, similar to the hushing method, a tank was built at the entrance and filled with water. Once the tank was full and the tunnels finished, the tanks were breached and water rushed into the tunnels to saturate the lower levels. Because of the saturation of the lower echelons and the lack of exits, the water broke through the deposit and both water and broken sediment flushed down the mountain in rapid torrents.[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftn5|[5]]]
As well as describing Roman technologies of mining different deposits and their geological circumstances, Pliny therefore gives details on washing and separating gold and gravel/sand. These techniques were used mainly in the western provinces as they were not appropriate for the dry, arid regions of some of the eastern provinces, such as the Eastern Desert of Egypt. One aspect of mining he does not describe is refining gold using furnaces to separate impurities from the metal (though he mentions this briefly in book XXXIV.47).
----[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftnref1|[1]]] Forbes 1966: 111, ''segellum'' was viewed by the early prospectors as an indicator of something below the surface but they had no experience to predict what they were likely to find. It is some kind of a band of sand (disturbed by intrusive veins?).
[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftnref2|[2]]] Forbes 1966: 112.
[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftnref3|[3]]] Forbes 1966: 157–58, at ''Victumulae'' (near ''Vercellae'', Italy) the owners were not allowed to use more than 5,000 labourers per mine. It is thought these miners were the ''Salassi''. It seems that education was also encouraged in mining settlements; Strabo, ''Geography'', 4.6.7.
[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftnref4|[4]]] Lewis, Jones 1970, this publication discusses Pliny’s description in detail. Healy 1989: 12; Bird 2001: 270–72 warns that Pliny’s terminology can be misunderstood and gives a modern interpretation of Pliny’s text.
[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftnref5|[5]]] Sánchez-Palencia, Fernández-Posse, Manzano, Orejas 1995: 81–82.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' XXXIV.47</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Rackham 1968: 241</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|Lusitania, ''Gallaecia''
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' Pliny describes the natural occurrence of lead and tin alloys in goldmines, called ''allutiæ'', found in the surface strata. Gold, lead and tin were separated by heat in furnaces.
'''Comments:''' It is clear that Pliny had a technological knowledge of the difference between secondary gold that was pure and primary gold which had to be smelted to separate the impurities.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' XXXIV.74</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Eicholz 1971: 321</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|Region of Lampsacus
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' Here Pliny describes the presence of gold in ''Lampsacus'' but gives no further details.
'''Comments:''' Often, when looked at as a whole, this type of comment can give an overall picture of mining and of the presence of gold during the Roman imperial era.
===Tacitus===
Line 839 ⟶ 1,034:
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:'''
59–61. ''Near the Erythraean Sea, the Nile, although it makes numerous meanders and bends, at that point turns sharply and makes a great deviation from the eastward course of its bends, and extends from the sea far inland so that the land between the waters – the salt and the drinkable – is compressed like a mass of clay. At this point at the aforementioned sea'' [Erythraean or Red Sea]'', there are found some of the so-called ‘noble rocks’, which contain abundant mineral deposits. In colour they are jet black but contain such great outcrops of quartz that everything else pales by comparison with them for brilliance.'' '''Diodorus 3.12, similar description of the geology.''' ''As for those who have been overwhelmed by extreme misfortune, these people the tyrannical government condemns to the bitterest slavery of the gold mines. Some suffer together with their wives and children and some apart from them.'' '''Diodorus 3.12, gives a slightly different description but to the same effect, with more details of the fate of the ''condemnati'' and their families.'''
''They'' [the miners] ''pursue their tasks in the mountains where the gold is found. They light wood fires on the stone outcrops, which are jagged and extremely hard, and crumble them with the heat. They break the fractured rock into little pieces with iron sledges. A technician, who sorts the ore, is in charge of the other workers.'' '''Diodorus 3.12, fire setting and division of labour; Diodorus 3.12, specialists. ''' ''Whenever he points out veins to the miners, the whole task is then carried out by the miners, who are constrained by their misfortunes, in accordance with the following division of labour. Those who are the strongest and young smash the quartz-bearing rock with iron hammers, striking their blows not with skill but brute force.'' '''Diodorus 3.12, hard manual labour and tools used in a similar description.''' ''They also cut many galleries through the rock, not in a straight line, but in some places right above the gold-bearing ore and sometimes falling below, and again, turning to the left and sometimes twisting back and intersecting like the roots of trees. They excavate wearing lamps fastened to their foreheads, following a sort of white vein. They often force their bodies to conform (to the shape of the gallery) as they throw on the ground the pieces of rock, not according to their own decision and ability but under the supervision of an overseer, who never'' ''upbraids'' ''without also striking a blow.'' '''Diodorus 3.12, same description of the brutality of the overseer.'''
62–63''. Young boys, who go down in to the galleries excavated by these men, gather up laboriously the piles of rock thrown down the floor and carry it outside the entrance. From them the older men and many of the sick take the rock. These men bring it to men called ‘pounders’. They are men less than 30 years old and more vigorous in appearance. After receiving the fragments of rock, they pound them vigorously with iron pestles; and having worked the stone until no piece is larger than a vetch seed, they distribute them immediately to other workers. The next task, however, is that of women who have been led off in captivity with their husbands or parents. For several mills stand one after the other in a line and into these they cast the crushed rock.'' '''Diodorus 3.13, same description of division of work but with more details on their miserable existence. ''' ''Three women, standing opposite one another at each handle and so scantily dressed that only their private parts are concealed, do the grinding; and they grind until the portion of rick given them has been reduced to the consistency of flour.'' '''Diodorus 3.13, less detailed on the grinding of the gold. ''' ''All those subject to the harsh lot just described consider death more desirable than life.'' '''This technique was probably for using saddle- shaped querns (found at Wadi Bakariya and Wadi Daghbag).'''
64–65. ''From these women, men called'' selangei ''receive the crushed ore. These men are technicians, capable of completing the king’s business.'' '''Diodorus 3.14, describes them as ‘skilled workers’ but explains it differently. ''' ''Their work is as follows: They throw the crushed quartz onto a flat board which has been polished smooth but is not level, having instead a slight incline. Then, while pouring on water, they rub the ore with their hands, at first gently, then more vigorously, whence, I think, the earthy part is dissolved and flows away in accordance with the slope of the table, but the heavy and solid part remains unmoved on the wood. After having repeatedly washed the rock with water, the selangeus picks it up with light and very porous sponges. When these are applied lightly to the quartz and worked briefly, the light and loose pieces become entangled in the interstices of the sponge. He takes these up and throws them away, but leaves behind on the board the heavy, glittering pieces he has separated out, since, because of the heaviness of their nature, they are difficult to move.'' '''The washing table is similar to those found at Wadi Allaqi, though here the dust seems to be washed directly on its stone surface. ''Selangei'' is a technical term for a gold washer[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftn1|.[1]]]'''
----[[Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum#%20ftnref1|[1]]] Burstein 1989: 64 (footnote).
65–66. ''After thus completely separating out the gold nuggets, the selangeus turns them over to the smelters.'' '''Diodorus 3.14, has quoted the firing process almost word for word.''' ''These take up the ore by set amount and weight and place it in a pottery vessel. Then, after adding in accordance with a fixed proportion a lump of lead, grains of salt and a little tin and barley bran, they put on a close-fitting lid, seal it all around and smelt it continuously in a kiln for five days and an equal number of nights. On the next day, after cooling the smelted ore slightly, they pour it into a vessel and find that of what was put in with the gold nothing remains, but of the gold there is a solid mass, albeit slightly reduced in size because of the dust.''
''The death of numerous men in the mines brings our exposition to the conclusion already stated, namely that, as its nature clearly demonstrates, the origin of gold is laborious, its preservation is uncertain, it is most zealously sought after, and its use lies between pleasure and plain.'' '''Diodorus 3.14, only briefly describes the hardships of mining.''' ''Further, the manner in which it is mined is extremely ancient. For the nature of the mines was discovered by the first rulers of the region, but their working was suspended when the Aithiopians, by whom people also say that the Memnoneia were built, invaded Egypt in force and garrisoned its cities for many years, and (again) during the supremacy of the Medes and Persians. Even in our time bronze chisels are found in the gold mines excavated by those rulers because the use of iron was not yet known at that time. Human bones in unbelievable numbers are also found since, as was likely to have happened, many cave-ins occurred in the unstable galleries with their brittle walls, given the great extent of the excavations and their reaching in their deepest sections the sea itself.'' '''Metal tools are rare at mining sites.'''
'''Comments:''' Agatharchides’ account of the Eastern Desert of Egypt has been copied by Strabo (16.4.5–20, but Strabo had actually copied the information from Artemidorus of Ephesus), Diodorus (3.12–14) and Photius (59–66).<ref>Burstein 1989: 22.</ref> Burstein states that although Photius is the least well-known writer he gives the most accurate copy of Agatharchidus’ work. Diodorus’ copies are often more prosaic than factual. Strabo’s version does not mention gold mines; he only refers briefly to the topaz mines and appeared to be more interested in the various population groups living in and close to the desert (Strabo, 16.4.5–20).
'''<u>Any other references to mines and quarries</u>'''
{| class="wikitable"
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|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Strabo 16.4.5-20</small>
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|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>
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|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>
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'''Description-Interpretation:''' Strabo quotes here the writings of Agatharchidus on the Eastern Desert of Egypt, the various population groups and how they struggled to survive the harsh climate. He omits the detailed description on (Agatharchidus’) gold mine but does refer to the use of soldiers to guard some mines. 16.4.6., ‘After the gulf, one comes to the island ''Ophiodes'', so called from the fact in the case; but it was freed from the serpents by the king, both because of their destruction of the people who landed there and on account of the topazes found there.... There was an organisation of people who were appointed by the kings of ''Aegypt'' to keep guard over this stone and the collecting of it; and this organisation was supplied by them with provisions.’
'''Comments:''' Strabo, Diodorus and Photius have copied Agatharchidus, though Strabo has more interest in the inbitants of the Eastern Desert than in the mining and quarry industry. His source for this information is ''Artemidorus of Ephesus'' as he did not have direct access to the original work of Agatharchidus.
{| class="wikitable"
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|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' ‘Those who give a drink to induce an abortion or sexual passion, even though they do not do so to deceive, nevertheless, because it is an act of bad example, people of the lower ranks are banished to a mine, those of the higher social ranks to an island after being deprived of part of their property. But if, as a consequence, a woman or a man should die, such persons are punished with the supreme penalty.’
'''Comments:''' This shows the clear distinction between the social classes; banishment to the mines was considered too harsh for the upper class.
{| class="wikitable"
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|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' ‘Various articles in the codex deal with people sent to the mines as punishment for their crimes:
Art. 46 - AD324, reign of Constantine: After his victory over ''Licinius'', Constantine addresses the wrongs committed against Christians in the eastern half of the Empire. All exiled Christians, as well as those banished to the mines or made slaves, are to return to their previous positions. All who were deprived of property are to have their property restored. Anyone who has lost rights or military office is to be restored. Christians are given the right to leave their property to the church in their wills.[1]
Art. 53–54 - AD325, 1 October, reign of Constantine: Since gladiatorial games are eliminated, those criminals who formerly would have been made gladiators as punishment are now sent to the mines as punishment.
Art 207 - AD386, 22 April, reign of Valentinian II, Theodosius I, ''Arcadius:'' This year the emperor hopes to be especially clement. On Easter, all persons in prison or exile may be freed, including those working in the mines. Those who have committed the following crimes are excluded: treason, adultery, rape, poisoning, magicians, counterfeiting, astrology, and homicide.
Art. 394 - AD428, 21 April, reign of Theodosius II, Valentinian III: If a father forces his daughter or a master forces his slave to a life of prostitution, the poor girls are freed from the man and the man is punished by being sent to work in the mines. Bishops may intercede in such a case.
'''Comments:''' This is a legal document referring to sections of the law dealing with banishing people to the mines as part of their punishment. The use of prisoners in government projects is a known practice; it appears anyone could be sent to the mines as penance for various reasons. However, being sent to the mines seems to have been mainly reserved for the working class. There are also references to amnesties from penal sentences or banishment. In Egypt an inscription is preserved that mentions a man being released after fulfilling his prison sentence at an alabaster quarry (December AD209).[2]
----[1] The authenticity of this document has been questioned, but papyri discovered in the twentieth century strengthened the case for authenticity. Jones 1954: 197–200''.''
[2] Jackson 2002: 17, footnote 23 (the text is identified as SB 4639); Hirt 2010: 222–24 (footnote 3).
===Tablets found at Metallum Vipascense===
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