A recent petrographic study reported that potteries unearthed in the Egyptian city of Giza, dating to ancient Egypt during the rule of the fourth dynasty and the pyramid builder’s era (around 2163 – 2494 BC) came from the Lebanese coast, precisely from Beirut, Tripoli, and Byblos.
The petrographic studies analyze rocks and look at their different chemical and physical properties. This type of analysis was conducted by archeologists from the Universities of Durham (UK), Macquarie (Australia), Arizona (US), and Paris (France) on potteries that date back to the era of pyramid builders. The study will be published in the journal Archaeological Science in February.
Using the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), a tool that determines the percentage of metals in compounds, the archeologists analyzed a selected collection of pottery samples from the pyramid builders’ era in ancient Egypt, and compared them with the data of old potteries found in Lebanon’s Byblos.
The results proved that the pottery products imported by Egypt were made from a common type of stones found in the Lebanese city. The findings back other evidence suggesting that some old boats dedicated to ship exports to Egypt were constructed in specialized workshop in Byblos’ suburbs.
In the introduction of their study, the archeologists explained that their discovery shed lights on the ties between ancient Egypt and the political regime that ruled Byblos in the early Bronze age, and suggest the local production and commodities were designed based on the needs of a large trade entity. They also confirmed that the export of potteries and their contents to Egypt passed through maritime routes upon the request of the Egyptian state.
