(Re)sources: Origins of metals in Late Period Egypt

Abstract

• Metal trade and access to raw materials during the Late Bronze Age—roughly covering the New Kingdom in Egypt—have received substantial attention from past and present scholarship. Despite copper and lead remaining essential commodities afterwards, our knowledge about their supply during the Iron Age and later periods, in contrast, remains limited, even if it has improved recently. This paper presents the results of a pilot project investigating the possible sources of lead and copper available to Egypt during the Late Period (664–332 BCE), a period of intense contact and exchange between Egypt and the Mediterranean world. In the context of this research, a wide range of artefacts from Naukratis, a major cosmopolitan trading hub in the Western Nile Delta founded in the late 7th century BC, were analysed to determine their chemical composition and lead isotope ratios. They mostly consist of metal finds—including a crucible slag—but also some locally produced faience objects which used lead and copper to colour the glaze. Additional samples include metal objects and lead ores from Tell Dafana, a Late Period settlement in the Eastern Delta, and contemporary Egyptian or Egyptianizing bronzes from Cyprus. A total of 39 objects were analysed with a combination of lead isotope and elemental analysis, yielding surprising results for the likely origins of the copper. While Cyprus, an expected source for copper, is identified for one object, the copper deposits from Faynan or from northwestern Anatolia offer the best match for most finds, including those found in Cyprus. The lead analysed seems to originate from a variety of mines, particularly from Laurion in Attica, and mines in the northern Aegean and/or northwestern Anatolia, with one example possibly from a lead‑silver mine located in central Iran. The multiplicity of lead sources reflects the complexity of international trade in the Eastern Mediterranean at the time. The study offers a valuable insight into the trade networks of Egypt and, by extension, the whole of the ancient Mediterranean. A larger-scale project investigating objects from a wider range of sites in the Eastern Mediterranean world could revolutionize our understanding of metal trade and concomitant economic, political and social developments in the first millennium BC.