Geology of Ancient Egypt

The geology of ancient Egypt is simple. The total flat country is alluvial. The mounds on either side are, in the north, limestone, in the central part sandstone, and in the southern granite and syenite. The granitic establishment begins between the 24 and 25 duplicates, but occasional masses of primitive rock are poked into the secondary parts, and these extend north as far as lat. 2710'. Above the rocks are, in many places, repositories of gravel and sand, the former hard, the latter loose and changing. A portion of the eastern desert is metalliferous. Gold is found even at the face day in small quantities, and looks anciently to have been more abundant. Copper, iron, and leading have been also met with in modern times, and one iron mine points signs of having been anciently made. Emeralds abound in the area about Mount Zabara, and the east desert further yields jaspers, carnelians, breccia verde, agates, chalcedonies, and rock-crystal.

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