Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum: Difference between revisions
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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
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.''
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