New analyses of early Egyptian and Nubian copper alloy artefacts in the collection of Ägyptisches Museum - Georg- Steindorff - der Universität Leipzig
Abstract
Metal artefacts have not been used frequently in the study of Ancient Egyptian economy. It is important to study and analyze artefacts in the collections of world museums out of Egypt, foremost the artefacts with known provenance.
The collection of artefacts in Ägyptisches Museum - Georg- Steindorff - der Universität Leipzig contains provenanced artefacts from the Early Dynastic period, Old, Middle and New Kingdom from several important sites: Abydos, Abusir, Giza and Aniba. Most of them were acquired during the excavations of Georg Steindorff at Giza and Aniba.
Material from Abusir and Dynasty 2 tomb of king Khasekhemwy at Abydos is datable to the Early Dynastic period. Tools and vessels from Giza are from the Old Kingdom.
The cemeteries at Aniba brought to light artefacts from Middle and New Kingdom, including some of the finest New Kingdom vessels preserved. All artefacts have been radiographed, some have been scanned by computer tomography in IMKM Leipzig.
Samples have been analyzed at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague and we will present the results of XRF, SEM/EDS, NAA and metallographic analyses. We will focus on the diachronic changes in the use of ore sources and use of varying alloys for the production of the artefacts and model artefacts.