— 10.31.2010 Yesterday, while making another escape to the vegetable market, the opportunity arose to photograph one jewelry shop. So small :)
In Alex we have entire streets with shops like this. There you forget about everything in the world, you can wander for hours, like in a museum

By the way, Egyptian gold is much better than Russian gold - both the standard is higher and the design is more varied.

Any country can produce gold of any standard, the main thing is that the percentage of gold in the metal meets the standard.

The British carat system is considered generally accepted. 24 carats = pure gold, without impurities, this is used only in chemistry. 1 British carat is equal to one twenty-fourth of the weight of the alloy. To change the quality characteristics of gold, alloys with various impurities are made for various purposes (for example, to increase hardness). For example, 18-karat gold (18K) means the alloy contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts impurities.

In the Russian Federation, the quality of gold is measured by its breakdown. 1000 standard - pure gold, without impurities. This corresponds to 24 British carats.

In the Russian jewelry industry, it is allowed to manufacture jewelry from gold of 375, 500, 585, 750, 958 and 999 samples. Upon request, the Assay Office can supply 583 samples.

9 carats = 375 standard (9/24*1000)
12 carats = 500 standard (12/24*1000)
14.04 carats = 585 standard (14.04/24*1000)
18 carat = 750 standard (18/24*1000)

Gold jewelry of 18 and 21 carats is popular in Egypt.

Gold has risen in price recently.

Today the price for 1 g is

18 carats - approximately 170 pounds (about 30 dollars)
21 carats - approximately 195 pounds (about 35 dollars)

The main thing is to buy gold in a jewelry store so that they give you a receipt.
Typically Egyptian Jewelry have minor defects. When purchasing, it is better to look at everything carefully.

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Ancient Egypt was considered the "great land of gold."

The text of a letter from Tushratta, the king of the Mittani people who owned lands in the northwestern part of Mesopotamia, has been preserved; he wrote to Amenhotep III (c. 1455-1419 BC), demanding gold from him in exchange for the hand of his daughter: (They came I have so much gold that cannot be measured, more than you sent to my father, for in the country of my brother (in Egypt. V.P.) it is scattered like dust).

Particularly abundant deposits of shiny gold grains were found east of Thebes, between the Nile and the Red Sea, in the mountainous desert at an altitude of more than two thousand meters. The sparkling grains found among the sands and pebbles aroused the curiosity of people who were looking for the cause of the incomprehensible shine.

Washing and blowing yellow metal - both of these methods, which were used by ancient Egyptian prospectors, opened up the possibility of extracting fines. They showed that it is more profitable to process the entire thickness of sand than to catch individual nuggets.

In most cases they were too small to pick by hand. The grains of gold had to be extracted by washing the gold-bearing sand in flat wooden trays. The lighter grains of sand, located above the settled grains of gold, were washed away with water.

Quite soon it was discovered that it is false to roll out a thin sheet, much thinner than others, and gild objects with it. True, such sheet gold was obtained only from large grains of the yellow metal. To use panned gold for this purpose, gold grains and gold dust were fused into small ingots.

The Egyptians were familiar with the firing of earthenware glazes used in pottery. They did the same with washed gold. It was melted in a clay crucible over a hot fire using a glass blowing tube.

In addition to sheet gold, they learned to forge jewelry from the ingots obtained in this way. Following the art of gilding, the art of cold processing and, finally, the production of gold thread made itself known.

Another step forward was the artistic processing of molten gold using casting. It arose around 3100 BC. e.

In dazzling sunlight, in terrible heat, for more than two thousand years, successive generations of gold miners bent over washing trays with sand from the eastern mountainous desert of Upper Egypt. Through a gold-bearing territory of 25,000 km2, they moved along the Nile to the south, encountering increasingly richer deposits along the way, and in the rocks of desert places they sometimes encountered quartz veins containing gold. Finely dispersed native gold in quartz could only be noticed when it reflected the sun's rays. Under the ground, only the ore miners recognized it in the reflections of the light directed at the vein.

There were no tools made of steel, but bronze chisels and hammer-shaped stones were used.

With the help of such a simple tool, people knocked out solid gold-bearing quartz rock piece by piece.

Two thousand years ago, it was first possible to obtain hard ore from brittle ore by smelting. were the basics of the art of melting, which played a decisive role in the ascent of mankind to a new stage in its history: from the Stone Age to the age of metal processing. This epoch-making discovery was followed by a new major achievement in mining craft: they learned to extract metal (gold) from hard rocks. Mining was labor-intensive, requiring a lot of time and enormous physical effort. Unlike copper, it is a metal.

widely used for practical purposes, gold was the metal of pharaohs and kings, who were worshiped on a par with deities.

Its durability and widespread use in art gave rise to an insatiable thirst for luxury and grandeur among the pharaohs. In 2000 BC. e. They took possession of almost inexhaustible sources of wealth in the extremely gold-rich Nubia (“golden country”), located south of Egypt. Just as it was done in Egypt, gold grains were extracted from sand, and very small grains were washed, 1300 BC. e. prospectors moved up the Nile River to look for the sources of gold-bearing sands. This has happened often in the history of mining. At first, people discovered “placers” - loose deposits that form “secondary birthplaces”, and then they looked for “primary deposits” in solid rock.

In Nubia, quartz veins up to 10 km long and from a few centimeters to four meters wide were mined at a depth of 120 m. “He who moves on a horse from the southern border of Egypt to the east, after a seventeen-day journey into a hot, waterless mountainous desert,” wrote Adolf Erman, - will meet in a place now called Eturanite, completely preserved mine workings. Deep shafts go inside the mountain, two cisterns collect water from winter rains. There are stone tables nearby. used for washing gold sand. About three hundred stone huts can be seen in the valley. In each there remains something like a granite hand mill, which was once used to grind quartz crushed stone.”

An inscription from the time of Pharaoh Ramses II (1301-1251 BC) was found in Luxor, which mentions 21 gold-bearing regions of Egypt.

Another inscription (obviously from the same time) indicates how important the presence of water was for the organization of prospecting and exploration work and the development of gold deposits. The Pharaoh was told: “There is a lot of gold in the country of Ikit, although the roads are very waterless and few of the gold panners go there - only half of them reach it, for they die of thirst on the road along with the donkeys...” The question arose about digging a well on the road. The nobles informed the pharaoh that Ikit (in Nubia) “has been in a state of lack of water since the time of the gods.” And yet, Ramses II gave the order to “drill a well.” Further, the inscription conveys the text of a letter from the pharaoh’s deputy from Nubia: “A miracle happened... a well was found in the middle of the valley, 10 cubits on each side, filled with water to the brim.”

Of great interest is the Egyptian “Map of Gold Mines,” which is about 3,300 years old. This is the mostthe oldest map of gold deposits known in the world. The map (the so-called “Turin papyrus”) was made on papyrus, which has a natural Brown color. All four roads, the buildings of the gold mining village and the sanctuary of the god Amun are painted in light pink color. More intense pink mountains are painted. The “mountain of gold” being developed is dark red.

According to the time of “publication”, the map apparently dates back to the reign of Pharaoh Seti I (1337-1317 BC) or, most likely, his son Ramses II, if we assume that the same Pure Mountain is located on the map mentioned in a list of gold-bearing areas discovered in Luxor. Looking at the impressive size of the building of the sanctuary of Amun, it can be assumed that the gold mining village and its settlement were significant, and the period of operation was quite long.

Foreign researchers who previously published this map did not quite correctly assess its practical significance. They considered it small-scale, designed to provide the most reliable indication of the path for search parties. If you look at the map through the eyes of a geologist, you can draw different conclusions. The scale, workload and relatively small area of ​​​​the territory shown on it indicate that it should be considered primarily a detailed map. Coloring "mountains of gold" in different colors, obviously indicates different degrees of study and development of the deposit.

The most reliable information about the development of gold in Egypt was left by the ancient Greek writer Agathrahides (200-120 BC): “At the end of Egypt, on the border of Arabia and Ethiopia, there is a country replete with gold mines, from which, at great expense and hard labor, this metal is mined. The black earth is filled with veins of marble of striking whiteness (obviously, we are talking about quartz. - V.P.), the fragments of which exceed their weight in their brilliance natural products. In this land, the overseers of the mines, with the help of a large number of workers, extract gold. These workers are predominantly convicted criminals, prisoners of war, and people who, often wrongly persecuted, were thrown into prison in a fit of rage; various groups of unfortunates whom the kings of Egypt were in the habit of sending to the gold mines.

People skilled in metal mining took the crushed stone and finished the work; First, they laid out this powdered stone on a wide and slightly inclined board, and then stirred it, pouring water on it. Then the part containing the earth, eroded by the logs, flows along the inclined board, and the gold, due to gravity, remains on the board. They repeated this operation several times, and lightly rubbed the substance with their hands, lightly squeezing with porous sponges, they gradually removed the part containing the loosened earth until only grains of gold remained on the board. Others received a certain amount of these grains, which were given to them by weight, threw them into vessels of porous clay and mixed them with pieces of lead weighing proportionate to the number of grains of gold, added another grain of salt, a little more tin and barley bran. After this, they (the vessels) are covered with clay and placed in the oven for five days and five nights without interruption. Then the vessels are pulled out of the fire and left to cool. And after they are opened, they find completely pure gold, which has lost very little in weight, while the rest have disappeared.”

The desert patrollers (medjai) transferred all the gold mined from the mines to the temple, and from there to the royal treasury. There no one dared to touch gold, for it was the “flesh of the gods”, which only the priests could touch. For its time: they didn’t know much about rocks, ores and metals. The priests not only studied in the mines what the “locked earthly abyss” hid, but also made natural scientific discoveries, which then became the subject of philosophical reflection. Attracted by knowledge that promised to provide a “teaching of the depths,” the ancient Greek scientists and philosophers Herodotus and Pythagoras visited Egypt.

The development of gold deposits of that time, sponsored by the priests, became a “life-giving breath” for all of Egypt. Gold mining contributed to the development of crafts, art, and science. Egypt became the most famous and gold-rich country in the world, and gold - in the minds of people - the greatest blessing in life. In Egypt and Nubia, before their conquest by the Romans (30 BC), 3.2 million kg of gold were mined. , what the desert and mountains did not want to give up, the conquered countries left to the pharaohs. They also paid tribute in wood and charcoal, which were used to smelt gold and other metals. At that time, gold was a material that was intended to create works of art and which the godlike pharaoh had the right to own in abundance. Only he alone could admit other mortals to this “divine metal,” granting “gold of courage” and “gold of reward” to his military leaders and dignitaries.

Created: 04/17/2012, modified: 04/17/2012, overall rating: 3.962

It is believed that the bulk of gold (both placer and ore) was mined in the mountainous region between the Nile and the Red Sea, which stretched for about 800 km. Even by modern standards, this gold-bearing area is quite extensive. It was divided into three districts - Koptos, Uauat and Kush. The Uauat region, which occupied the northern part of Nubia, was considered the richest.

The exact location of many of the mines of Ancient Egypt has not yet been established. There are references to the Hammamat mines that existed 3000 BC. The name of these mines is probably associated with Mount Hamata, located on the shores of the Red Sea. Some ancient documents mention the Elephantine mines. It is precisely established that the Egyptians developed gold deposits in Nubia, and the ancient Egyptian word “nub” itself means “gold”.

In Ancient Egypt there were mines, the development of which, judging by the records in papyri and inscriptions on stones, lasted thousands of years. Available materials indicate that Egypt, for its centuries-old history managed to create a gold mining industry that was large for its time. This was facilitated by the large number of slaves and prisoners of war. Moreover, the gold mines were the property of the pharaoh. The Egyptian pharaohs accumulated a huge amount of gold; there were legends about their wealth in the Ancient World.

Ancient Egypt was undoubtedly the richest state in gold. It is curious that in predynastic times (about 3500 BC) there was almost no silver in Egypt and it was valued more than gold. The situation changed after the development of trade with the countries of the Middle East, where silver was mined in significant quantities.

Despite their enormous wealth, the pharaohs treated their gold quite prudently. Most of the objects found in the burials were not made of gold, but only gilded. Ancient jewelers even then knew how to make almost the same thin gold foil as in our time.

Due to the exploitation of slaves in Ancient Egypt, enough was obtained a large number of gold even for our days. It is possible to get an idea of ​​the amount of gold mined in Egypt only from the totality of all available data. According to researchers, in ancient times in Africa the amount of gold is estimated at 4185 tons - this gold was mainly mined by the Egyptians, with the exception of 320 tons mined during the period of Roman rule.

At the same time as Egypt, there were other fairly large states, primarily Babylon and Assyria, but none of these states achieved such power and wealth as Egypt. Suffice it to say that the Egyptian state existed for more than 4,000 years (for comparison, the Roman state lasted just over 1,000 years). And although in the history of Egypt there were periods of decline and foreign conquests, it played a huge role both in the history of mankind and in the history of gold.

Egypt is a fairly popular tourist route, and Russians are happy to buy inexpensive trips to soak up the southern sun, as well as spend a certain amount on new clothes and decorations. Why do our tourists buy Egyptian gold? Some are attracted by the low price per gram of precious metal, while others are seduced by the original design of jewelry.

By the way, gold jewelry in Egypt looks much more interesting than in Russian stores. The Egyptians know how to surprise the Russian soul, and compared to our jewelry they clearly have an advantage in design. However, the quality of Egyptian gold leaves much to be desired - under the guise of gold, tourists are often sold electron (gold diluted by more than a third with silver), polyxene (very dirty platinum), an alloy of copper and aluminum, belgica (chromium-iron-nickel alloy).

Even real gold turns out to be very low-grade, so investing money in such metal is simply out of the question. Gold purchased on vacation in Egypt cannot be taken seriously - it is just trinkets, unusual and inexpensive jewelry for a couple of months. Of course, this country also has high-quality jewelry, but it costs accordingly, and finding stores with such jewelry is not easy.

How to buy gold in Egypt

When entering an oriental jewelry store, the average Russian man or woman is literally blown away by the variety. Gold “trinkets” look very beautiful, even chic, but do not rush to part with your banknotes right away - in Eastern countries it is customary to bargain, and you can quite realistically reduce the price of the product you like by half, or even more.

True, you will have to spend a lot of time bargaining, because in Egypt there is an unwritten rule of trading - the longer you bargain, the greater the discount you will be given. Moreover, the seller will still end up “in profit”; he names the initial price several times higher than the final price in order to be able to graciously reduce the cost during the bargaining process.

It is better to refrain from buying gold at street markets or in small shops - there is certainly no hope for a more or less high-quality product, and besides, you will not receive any documents or certificates for the products.

Also, you should not purchase Egyptian jewelry at the hotel or shops where your guide took you during the tour. You should definitely understand that all the jewelry for tourists, despite its nice design, is of very poor quality and if you don’t mind a couple of thousand, then you can buy a gold trinket exclusively as a souvenir.

It must be said that Egyptian gold appearance is much inferior to the Russian one: it has a grayish color and the shine is not so bright. And all due to the fact that gold contains a large percentage of low-quality alloy. This is why products are fragile and crack and crack in the cold.