Rim of a crucible


Accession Number
AR50/3398
Current Location
House of Life (first floor), Metalwork case
Object Type
Receptacle/vessel
Period
Predynastic Period
Badarian Culture
Materials
Metals/alloys (Copper) | Pottery
Provenance
Egypt, Armant, Grave 1802
Measurements
Height: 55mm | Width: 54mm | Depth: 12mm
Number of Elements
1

This image may be used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. For uses not covered under the Creative Commons license, or to license images for commercial uses, please contact the Egypt Centre.
Description

This is the rim of a lumpy fabric vessel with copper on the interior, thus shown to be a crucible. It is from Armant, context 1802 (a hut circle dating to Badarian-Naqada I Period). The earliest copper known in Egypt dates to the Badarian Period. It is commonly believed that the earliest smelted copper in Egypt dates to around 4000 BCE. It would be interesting to know if the crucible is evidence of early smelting, or if it contained native copper. The presence of certain impurities is said to indicate the former.

Other Identity
P399 (excavation number written on the object in black ink)
Previous Owners
Egypt Exploration Society | University College London
Acquisition
Assumed long-term loan, The Wellcome Trust (15 Feb 1971)
Last modified: 10 Apr 2021
Back | Feedback about this object