An Old Kingdom Basalt Quarry at Widan el-Faras and the Quarry Road to Lake Moeris

Harrell, James; Bown, Thomas M.

doi:10.2307/40000832

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…As for the archeologists, some have interpreted the pouring of the water in front of the sled as being purely ceremonial [1,2], which does not seem a correct interpretation in view of the results presented here. There is also evidence that in some cases the Egyptians built roads for the sleds out of wooden sleepers [3][4][5]. The possibility of dragging the sled through desert sand is often precluded because it is believed to be too difficult [3,5].…”

Section: Prl 112 175502 (2014) P H Y S I C a L R E V I E W L E T T Ementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ancient Egyptian tomb drawings suggest that wetting the sand with water may influence the friction between a sled and the sand (Fig. 1), although the significance of the person wetting the sand has been much disputed [1][2][3][4][5]. If adding water to sand has an effect on friction, this should have consequential repercussions for, e.g., sand transport through pipes [6].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Sliding Friction on Wet and Dry Sand

et al. 2014

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General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. We show experimentally that the sliding friction on sand is greatly reduced by the addition of some-but not too much-water. The formation of capillary water bridges increases the shear modulus of the sand, which facilitates the sliding. Too much water, on the other hand, makes the capillary bridges coalesce, resulting in a decrease of the modulus; in this case, we observe that the friction coefficient increases again. Our results, therefore, show that the friction coefficient is directly related to the shear modulus; this has important repercussions for the transport of granular materials. In addition, the polydispersity of the sand is shown to also have a large effect on the friction coefficient.

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Section: Prl 112 175502 (2014) P H Y S I C a L R E V I E W L E T T Ementioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Sliding Friction on Wet and Dry Sand

et al. 2014

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“…All potential quarry sources mentioned in the comprehensive survey by Klemm and Klemm (1993:413 -421) are represented in our data set. This includes Gebel Qatrani, the only verified ancient basalt quarry (Harrell and Bown, 1995). Modern quarrying may have destroyed any trace of ancient workings in other locations.…”

Section: Basalt Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Basaltic paving stones were used extensively in the floors and courtyards of funerary temples attached to Old Kingdom pyramid complexes (e.g., Great Pyramid, Giza). Circumstantial and petrographic evidence indicates these rocks originated from the Gebel Qatrani quarry in the Fayum (Harrell and Bown, 1995). Based on mineral chemistry fingerprinting, the rock used to make both vessels and paving stones appears to be Haddadin basalt (Mallory-Greenough et al, 1999a, 2000b.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The major‐ and trace‐element whole‐rock fingerprints of Egyptian basalts and the provenance of Egyptian artefacts

2001

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Discrimination diagrams have been developed that source Egyptian basaltic artefacts using whole-rock major element geochemistry. versus Zr/Y) to determine the bedrock sources. These diagrams have been applied to seven First Dynasty basalt vessels (Abydos), two Fourth Dynasty basalt paving stones (Khufu's funerary temple, Giza), and two Fifth Dynasty paving stones (Sahure's complex, Abu Sir). They show that the bedrock source for all the artefacts was the Haddadin flow in northern Egypt. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis applied to the whole-rock data (major elements and trace elements together) and previously published mineral fingerprinting studies confirm these results. Comparing mineral versus whole-rock fingerprinting techniques, a major advantage of the former is the small sample size required (0.001 g compared to Ն 0.1 g). Analytical costs are similar for both methods assuming that a comparison (bedrock) database can be assembled from the literature. For most archaeological problems, a whole-rock bedrock database is more likely to exist than a mineral database, and whole-rock analyses on artefacts will generally be easier to obtain than mineral analyses. Whole-rock fingerprinting may be more sensitive than mineral-based fingerprinting. Thus, if sample quantity is not an issue, whole-rock analysis may have a slight cost, convenience, and technical advantage over mineral-based methods. Our results also emphasize that the Egyptians cherished their Haddadin basalt flow and used it extensively and exclusively for manufacturing basalt vessels and paving stones for at least 600 years (ϳ3150 B.C. to 2500 B.C., approximate ages of the vessels and Abu Sir paving stones, respectively). ᭧

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“…Basalt, found within the sedimentary sequence, is described as one sheet lying between the Oligocene and the Miocene sands and gravels. It is mineralogically and chemically indistinguishable from the basalt at Gebel Qatrani and Abu Zaabal but quite different from other basalts in Lower and Middle Egypt (Harrell and Bown, 1995). An outcrop found near the city was sampled (oriented bloc) to test the properties of the basalt.…”

Section: Geologic Setting and Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cenozoic and Mesozoic basalts from Egypt: a preliminary survey with a view to paleointensity

2009

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Numerous phases of igneous activity took place in Egypt during the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic but no paleointensity results have ever been published from these rocks. Therefore a preliminary survey was conducted in the northern part of Egypt and in Sinai to test the suitability of these basalts for paleointensity determinations. Three Oligo-Miocene sites have been sampled north of Cairo: Abu Zaabal, Qatrani, and 6th of October City. In Sinai, we sampled Jurassic basalts in Wadi Budra and Oligo-Miocene rocks from Wadi Nukhul. The main magnetic carriers of these rocks are titanomagnetites with varying Ti content. Large secondary components are present in most middle Jurassic basalts and discrepancies remain in the directional analysis so this sill cannot be used for paleointensity experiments and the associated poles should not be considered for paleomagnetic reconstructions either. Directional analysis of the Oligo-Miocene basalts is very straightforward and updated mean VGPs have been calculated from the Cairo area (68.9• N, 91.3 • E; Kappa = 274; A 95 = 3.7) and from Wadi Nukhul (72.7 • N, 13.4• E; Kappa = 528; A 95 = 5.4). Pseudo-paleointensity results obtained as well from stable Egypt as from Sinai are promising, with values lower or similar (between 29 to 58 μT) to present-day field intensity.

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An Old Kingdom Basalt Quarry at Widan el-Faras and the Quarry Road to Lake Moeris

Cited by 28 publications

References 0 publications

Sliding Friction on Wet and Dry Sand

Sliding Friction on Wet and Dry Sand

The major‐ and trace‐element whole‐rock fingerprints of Egyptian basalts and the provenance of Egyptian artefacts

Cenozoic and Mesozoic basalts from Egypt: a preliminary survey with a view to paleointensity

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