Bitumen used as a preservative in ancient Egyptian mummies was previously thought to come only from the Dead Sea in Palestine. Other, closer sources of bitumen were investigated at Abu Durba and Gebel Zeit on the shores of Egypt's Gulf of Suez. Bitumen from these localities and from five mummies was analysed using molecular biomarkers derived from gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. It was found that four of the mummies contained Dead Sea bitumen, and the fifth and oldest (900 BC) had bitumen from Gebel Zeit, thus providing the first evidence for the use of an indigenous source of bitumen in ancient Egypt.

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Most of what we understand about the ancient knowledge of the origins and properties of rocks and minerals comes from the surviving works of two classical writers: the On Stones of Theophrastus (ca. 372–287 bce ), and the Natural History (books 33–37) of Pliny the Elder (ca. 23–79 ce ). There are also scattered mineralogical references in other texts, such as the Library of History of Diodorus of Sicily, the Geography of Strabo of Amaseia, and the epigrams of Posidippus of Pella. Many of the names given to stones by the ancient authors survive in the modern mineralogical and petrological nomenclature.

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