Iron Smelting in Sudan: Experimental Archaeology at The Royal City of Meroe

Abstract

The Royal City of Meroe, ca. 200 km north of Khartoum in the modern-day Republic of the Sudan, was an ancient capital of the Kingdom of Kush. From the 3rd century B.C. to the 4th century A.D., Kushite rulers controlled significant territory from the banks of the Nile at Meroe, in part through their ability to ensure the production of significant quantities of iron. The extensive archaeological remains of Meroitic iron production have been investigated over decades, and recently a series of experimental iron smelts in a replica Meroitic furnace has shed new light on the archaeometallurgical evidence. The data generated during the smelting campaigns has provided an understanding of the type of iron ore used, the construction and operating parameters of the furnace, and the workshop space created by the ancient iron smelters during the later and post-Meroitic times.

The furnace and the goat—A spatio-temporal model of the fuelwood requirement for iron metallurgy on Elba Island, 4th century BCE to 2nd century ce

“…The values of furnace efficiency used in our model are in accordance with values reported from experiments [ 5 , 131 , 136 , 158 – 160 ] and other studies on the resource consumption of pre-industrial metallurgy outside the Italian peninsula ( Table 5 ). In smelting experiments conducted on Elba Island, Benvenuti et al [ 19 ] obtained a furnace inefficiency of 2.5 kg/kg and Brambilla [ 161 ] a furnace inefficiency of 6.17 kg/kg.…”

“…Furnace design contributed to the efficiency of smelting; smelting in shaft furnaces might have consumed less charcoal than smelting in a pit furnace [ 4 , 134 ]. Also the furnace diameter [ 135 ] as well as slag tapping [ 136 ] and air supply [ 135 , 137 ] might have influenced efficiency. However, skill of the smelters [ 136 ], ore mineralogy [ 4 , 136 ], charcoal quality and the iron economy [ 137 ] are also important determinants of the efficiency.…”

“…Also the furnace diameter [ 135 ] as well as slag tapping [ 136 ] and air supply [ 135 , 137 ] might have influenced efficiency. However, skill of the smelters [ 136 ], ore mineralogy [ 4 , 136 ], charcoal quality and the iron economy [ 137 ] are also important determinants of the efficiency. A quantification of the contribution of these factors to the furnace inefficiency parameter is not possible at the moment.…”

Fuel selection during long-term ancient iron production in Sudan

“…During the experimental iron smelting campaigns that form a major research avenue of the current archaeometallurgical investigations (Charlton and Humphris 2017;Humphris et al 2018b), a mining location was identified in the hills approximately 9 km to the east of Meroe. During intensive systematic survey of the mining landscape, a number of slag fragments were recovered, within one of which was a charcoal sample.…”

“…The quantity of charcoal used during iron production in the Meroe region is as yet unknown and likely changed over time in relation to changing intensity of production and technological style. Recent experimental work (Charlton and Humphris 2017;Humphris et al 2018b) suggests that between 30 and 90 kg of charcoal could have potentially been required for a single smelt, with additional charcoal needed for ore roasting and smithing. Further experiments are being conducted to test such aspects of the technology as fuel requirements.…”