THE SMELTING FURNACES OF AYN SOUKHNA: THE EXCAVATIONS OF 2013, 2014 AND 2015

摘要

The smelting furnaces of Ayn Soukhna (Egypt), a Middle Kingdom port, allowed the reduction of malachite blocks, originary from the Sinai, thanks to their structural ventilation, and this within closed spaces. Two types of combustibles seem to have been used, green acacia wood and donkey's dung. Each furnace has a columnar shape, 1,4 m high, with three distinct areas, one for roasting the ore, one for it's smelting, and one to collect the metal. Within this metal-producing port a standardized system was put into place, with a chain production under ultimate state control, feeding the Nile valley with copper balls. The present study, based on recent excavations in the coastal plain and experimentation, presents the archaeological data.