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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 5, 2018 17:05:02 GMT -5
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zekesman
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2016
Posts: 637
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Post by zekesman on Nov 5, 2018 17:20:38 GMT -5
It appears I need to up my eye of Horus game. LOL These ancient pieces amaze me. Vic
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 5, 2018 17:24:31 GMT -5
I know, right? I never get tired of looking at the work. Beautiful!
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Post by MsAli on Nov 5, 2018 20:14:32 GMT -5
It really amazes me how they did this work back then And how in the world did they get the stones? Or in this case the desert glass?
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Nov 5, 2018 20:22:23 GMT -5
Alexandria was a huge trading center. I'm sure they used gemstones for trade.
Sure is a beautiful piece. Ancient Egyptian anything fascinates me.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2018 2:34:46 GMT -5
The article made me wonder how they came to the conclusion that the LDG was from an impact 23 million years ago. I don't think any sort of natural glass would hold up that long (obsidian certainly devitrifies in a shorter time). Moreover, the Egyptian pharaohs had a thing for using extra-terrestrial material in their jewels. Tutankhamen himself had a sword made out of meteoric iron. Were the meteor falls observed, leading to the material being especially revered? This was the case with other ancient cultures (the Greeks had the statue of Ephesian Artemis that came from an observed meteor, the Arabs had the Kaaba Stone in Mecca, the worshipers of Baal in the late Roman Empire had the bætyl of Elagabal, Amerindians revered pieces of the Canyon Diablo meteorite, etc.).
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Post by stephan on Nov 12, 2018 10:43:53 GMT -5
The article made me wonder how they came to the conclusion that the LDG was from an impact 23 million years ago. I don't think any sort of natural glass would hold up that long (obsidian certainly devitrifies in a shorter time). Moreover, the Egyptian pharaohs had a thing for using extra-terrestrial material in their jewels. Tutankhamen himself had a sword made out of meteoric iron. Were the meteor falls observed, leading to the material being especially revered? This was the case with other ancient cultures (the Greeks had the statue of Ephesian Artemis that came from an observed meteor, the Arabs had the Kaaba Stone in Mecca, the worshipers of Baal in the late Roman Empire had the bætyl of Elagabal, Amerindians revered pieces of the Canyon Diablo meteorite, etc.). Since it is essentially hydration, would the lack of humidity in a desert environment slow down the devitrification?
I expect that it's still unusual for the glass to last 23M years, but just wondering, in a general sense.
Wikipedia states that the glass has been dated as being 26MYO, but there is no citation, and no indication of what dating method was used (i.e carbon-14, or another radiometric method).
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2018 13:17:44 GMT -5
Since it is essentially hydration, would the lack of humidity in a desert environment slow down the devitrification?
I expect that it's still unusual for the glass to last 23M years, but just wondering, in a general sense. Wikipedia states that the glass has been dated as being 26MYO, but there is no citation, and no indication of what dating method was used (i.e carbon-14, or another radiometric method).
I doubt that lack of humidity would affect it. The Sahara we know hasn't been around all that long (the evidence for desertification started further south in Chad some 7-million years ago; growing and shrinking since). In most parts, it was relatively wet even into early Egyptian history (more a savannah climate). North Africa, including what is now the northern Libyan desert, was an important wheat-growing region through Roman times and earlier in human history sported lakes and abundant wildlife. So, if the date of the supposed meteoric even was 25-million years from present, that leaves 18-million years during which the glass would have existed under very moist conditions, plus another 7-million years during which the glass would have endured under varying drier and moister conditions. The initial 18 million years should have provided more than enough time for significant hydration and devitrification to have taken place. Whether the Libyan Desert Glass is of meteoric origin at all is still debated, though most list it among the tektites, so no surprise to me that the age is also unconfirmed. The pieces have been said to show rounding and other characteristics consistent with being deposited in a shallow marine or alluvial environment. Just more missing puzzle pieces in addition to why this material would have found its way into a pharaonic jewel (during a period in which the Egyptians were already adept at making glass).
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