Ancient Egyptian Bead Was Composed Of Meteoritic Iron

SOURCE

In 1911, archaeologists dug up strings of iron beads at the Gerzeh cemetery, about 43 miles south of Cairo. The Gerzeh bead is the earliest discovered use of iron by the Egyptians, dating back from 3350 to 3600 BC. The bead was originally thought to be from a meteorite based on its composition of nickel-rich iron, but scientists challenged this theory back in the 1980s. However, the latest research places this theory back on top. The scientists used a combination of electron microscope and X-ray CT scanner analyses to demonstrate that the nickel-rich chemical composition of the bead confirms its meteorite origins. Philip Withers, a professor of materials science at University of Manchester, said meteorites have a unique microstructural and chemical fingerprint because they cooled incredibly slowly as they traveled through space. He said it was interesting to find that fingerprint in the Gerzeh bead.

Yet another example of ancient man utilizing meteoric iron...

The article brings up a good point:

Iron obtained from a meteorite had profound implications for the ancient Egyptians. Meteorite iron led to their perception of the iron in the context of its celestial origin and in early metallurgy attempts.

...and explains that all of our planet's gold, silver, and platinum may be extraterrestrial in origin.

What do you think ATS? Are we chasing flakes of God's Rock Garden as the basis for every economy on the globe?

reply to post by EzekielsWheel

Meteorites were a primary source of iron before the Iron Age began in ancient Turkey about 1200BC, so it would have been more surprising if the iron in this bead had actually been mined on Earth.

All Earth's metals are of extraterrestrial origin. Metals are created in stars.

reply to post by Astyanax


Thanx for chiming in!

Meteorites were a primary source of iron before the Iron Age began in ancient Turkey about 1200BC, so it would have been more surprising if the iron in this bead had actually been mined on Earth.

You're missing my point in your rush to make my thread seem insignificant.

I'm saying the iron age (and metallurgy) only came about because of mankind's religious tendencies.
Considering the effort needed to retrieve, process, and then manufacture something with the iron; it seems we'd only have ever started using metals because we'd seen them fall from heaven. Literally. This would result in the kind of mad adherence to principle that gives us Martyrs and Popes and Crusades ( O, my!)

Stated another way: We may only be able to process metals at all, because ancient man sought to understand it as something from his/her heaven/deity(ies)

All Earth's metals are of extraterrestrial origin. Metals are created in stars.

Thanx for the re-statement of what was said more eloquently in the source article, and with less of of a dismissive attitude.

reply to post by EzekielsWheel


Perhaps but they started smelting copper about 6000 BCE and lead and tin some thousands of years prior to this and using raw copper well before that. Metal working probably arose from their use of stone to make stone tools. One method to improve the quality of stone tools is to heat them up, from that and their use of rare deposits of pure metals (copper mainly) they devise a way to melt them...all rather speculative of course. Of course a camp fire cannot generate enough heat so it may have been that the other handmaiden of smelting was the pottery kiln which could raise the temperate high enough.

The use of meteor iron also gave rise to the legends of 'magic' swords. A meteor iron swords could cut though a bronze or even a crudely fashioned iron sword.

reply to post by EzekielsWheel

You're missing my point in your rush to make my thread seem insignificant.

Not so much your thread as the news that occasioned it. Who knows what significance your thread will achieve? It's early days yet.

I'm saying the iron age (and metallurgy) only came about because of mankind's religious tendencies.
Considering the effort needed to retrieve, process, and then manufacture something with the iron; it seems we'd only have ever started using metals because we'd seen them fall from heaven. Literally. This would result in the kind of mad adherence to principle that gives us Martyrs and Popes and Crusades ( O, my!)

You don't think the incredible usefulness of metals would have been sufficient inducement? Having knives that really cut? Spears that really penetrated? Needles that made sewing easier and finer? No?

Anyway, metallurgy didn't commence with the working and use of iron. It began about nine thousand years ago, during the Neolethic, with the mining and working of copper.

By 4000 BC deep shafts are cut into the hillside at Rudna Glava, in the Balkans, to excavate copper ore. This robbing of the earth's treasures is carried out with due solemnity. Fine pots, bearing produce from the daylight world, are placed in the mines as a form of recompense to propitiate the spirits of the dark interior of the earth.

It seems our ancestors were looking down instead of up. Smarter (and more practical) than you thought, eh?

Stated another way: We may only be able to process metals at all, because ancient man sought to understand it as something from his/her heaven/deity(ies)

Stated wrong, unfortunately. Cheer up; it happens to the best of us.

Ah, I see Hans has anticipated me. As ever...

Also, it is highly unlikely that they ever found a meteor that they saw entering the atmosphere. Mosy likely they just stumbled upon them when searching for other resources. I mean, they COULD have, but it seems unlikely.

reply to post by JayinAR

I suppose some folk could have had a meteorite land near their settlement, and have discovered later that it contained of stuff that could be smelted and forged.

Anyway, the OP is right up to a point. Meteorites have been objects of worship One still is.

reply to post by JayinAR


i would disagree. Why wouldn't they have seen it at some point? They actually lived outdoors in ancient times, and were exposed to the majesty of the night time sky quite often in the lower latitudes. I guarantee they investigated and discovered, and were able to identify meteors from regular rocks because of this experience.

The only difference between ancient man and modern man, that we know of, is our knowledge. Not that we know more. Only that we know different. Like, instead of knowing what local plants to eat, instead we know how to operate a computer. Different knowledge. And with their knowledge being far more oriented to the natural world around them.....

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


I am just thinking about the odds of it happening. The Earth also wasn't as densely populated back then. The chances of a meteor striking the Earth anywhere near you in your lifetime are very slim. Yet we see them all the time. As I said, yeah, it could have happened, but the odds are slim.

But as they say, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Obviously someone is eventually gonna be around to see one crash to Earth, but it isn't like ancient man was out tracking meteor impacts. That requires sophisticated technology.

As noted above the kaaba black stone was probably just such a meteor. It may have been seen coming down it's probable that this happen more than a few times. It would have been quite a dynamic set piece. especially if it hit someone!

not just iron! nickel.

Makes me think about nickel hydrogen heat engines with iron oxide nanoparticle catalyst..

Originally posted by Astyanax

Ah, I see Hans has anticipated me. As ever...

Such is my task in life - along with my hobby of....

reply to post by Astyanax


Agree but...

All Earth's metals are of extraterrestrial origin. Metals are created in stars.

may lead some in error in comprehending what you are stating. Earth itself was created in a star.

It goes back to availability and technology evolution, the rocks that fall from the sky do not need to be dug up or refined and if observed are immediate attractors.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

The only difference between ancient man and modern man, that we know of, is our knowledge.

Ancient Homo Sapiens was certainly more like us than popular perception gives him credit for being, but that statement isn't altogether correct. We know, for example, that many physical mutations have occurred since the Paleolithic, and some, like the ability to tolerate lactose, have spread very widely through the human population.

However, you are quite right to say that, to a first approximation, early humans were very much like us, and would have appreciated sharper knives and finer sempstress-work just as much as we do.

*

Concerning intelligence, especially verbal intelligence, there is some evidence that it is sexually selected and therefore subject to what biologists call 'runaway selection' (meaning it happens fast, over a few generations). If this is so, then present-day humans could well be considerably more intelligent – in some ways, at least – than early ones. The author of the linked paper, Geoffrey Miller, wrote a good popular book on the topic, The Mating Mind, which I recommend.

If you're interested – seriously interested – in the evolution of human intelligence, explore the other chapters of the scholarly work linked to above. Heavy going, but there's fascinating stuff in there.

reply to post by Hanslune

Especially if it hit someone!

Greatest hits

reply to post by Panic2k11

Agree but...

All Earth's metals are of extraterrestrial origin. Metals are created in stars.

...may lead some in error in comprehending what you are stating. Earth itself was created in a star.

Agree but...

The Earth's most precious metals arrived on meteorites

...apparently.

reply to post by Astyanax


I'm no geologist but we only see a very little percentage of the material that forms Earth at the surface since our little planet is very active I would think that defining a moment as the end of the planet formation would be the first line of coming to a consensus on that, to me it seems that the Earth can only be said to be fully formed after a few millennial after the creation of our moon (whatever theory one prefers) in a point in time that the average meteorite fallout maintains a stable decreasing ratio (the moon has served as a shield for many).

Now if we were talking of water then I would be 100% certain that most of it came at a later stage after most of the planets become more or less stable (cooled down) as for metals I think that due to the way our planet surface renews itself a lot of the heavier elements would sink. IIRC most of the lave minerals are also a clue that volcanic eruptions tend to spew less dense mater, so yes to a point most metals on the surface would be very old deposits or from meteors (but I would not say that a majority of it is as we do not have a very good idea in regards to the Earth's innards (even the core that many thought to be mostly iron has been under dispute, the best we can say is that it has strong magnetic properties)...

The latest isotope study showed that metals were present during the Earths formation 4.5 billion ya however most of the terrestrial "precious metals" are buried too deep for us to access.

Most of the precious metals we access were deposited during the meterite "terminal bombardment" which apparently happened 3.9 billion years ago meaning that most gold mined to date is extraterrestrial in origin.

It's also worth mentioning that this "terminal bombardment" is supposed to be the reason why the moon is so scarred.

When you hypothesise the moon must be covered in a similar percentile of precious materials from meteorites, covered only by dust- it suddenly becomes worth visiting...

I wonder why they didnt find any...maybe it had already gone??

According to legend it was tubalcain who first made use of meteorite iron:

As in any legend, we begin at the dawn of time. We start with a man named Tubal-Cain, who was born to the seventh generation of Adam and the last generation of Cain, the world's first murderer. The story goes that Tubal-Cain prayed to God for a new metal with which to forge a mighty weapon. God immediately answered him by dropping a flaming meteorite nearby. Tubal-Cain used the meteoric iron to make a lance that would never rust and would always stay exceptionally sharp

www.65media.com...

Even if ancient people never seen a meteorite land near them they would have seen shooting stars and would have known objects fall from above. I'm sure they would have sent search party's out to see what the object was. When they would come across a rock buried in the middle of a crater they would have known it came from above. I'm sure they would also believe that this is an object sent by God and therefore very special, even today keris daggers made of meteorite iron in Indonesia are considered to have magic ability's as are phurbers made in Tibet from meteorite iron or meteorite/brass alloy (thokcha)

Originally posted by EzekielsWheel
SOURCE
...and explains that all of our planet's gold, silver, and platinum may be extraterrestrial in origin.

I believe you may be interpreting that statement in ways it wasn't intended.

Ultimately, EVERYTHING on Earth (and Earth itself) is "extraterrestrial in origin." The atoms were forged in the hearts of billions of ancient stars which turned hydrogen into iron and other elements. Supernovas distributed the atoms across space, and gravity formed and reformed stars and planets.

But the gold that's found on Earth is strictly from terrestrial sources. Meteoric iron does exist, but it's in very small amounts.