Egypt’s Ancient Pharaohs, the first to discover gold

CAIRO – 28 July 2020: The first to discover gold was the Pharaohs, through excavations in the Eastern Desert, Red Sea and Nubia. Ancient Egyptians excelled in manufacturing gold and it had a strong presence in their life.

In this context, Director of the Antiquities Museum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Hussein Abdel-Basir, said that the Pharaohs discovered gold in ancient times, as the ancient Egyptians discovered about 125 mines in the Eastern Desert, the Red Sea and Nubia, which means the land of gold in the ancient Egyptian language.

Abdel-Basir added that Pharaonic Egypt was rich in gold; one of the rulers once said to King Amenhotep III, "Send me a quantity of gold because gold in your country is like sand."

The director of the Antiquities Museum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina added that it is evident that the pharaohs excavated in the Eastern Desert, where the golden papyrus in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy that dates back to the reign of King Seti I of the 19th Dynasty  refers to gold mines scattered in the Eastern Desert.

The successive archaeological discoveries reflected the ancient Egyptians' vast experience in the field of gold prospecting and quarrying, as well as its manufacture, as they used fire and containers made of porcelain to melt it.

Among the examples of the Pharaohs' ingenuity in gold making is the golden dome of Queen Hetepheres I tomb, the 11- kilogram mask of King Tutankhamun, and his sarcophagus that weighs about 110.5 kilograms of pure gold.

Abdel-Basir explained that Ancient Pharaohs did not worship gold but on the other hand sanctified the golden color that symbolized the color of sunlight, because its color does not change over time.

The gold industry was one of the most important Egyptian crafts and gold was associated with funerary rites.

It is worth mentioning that acclaimed archaeologist Zahi Hawass has finished the script for Tutankhamun Opera, set to debut in the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum 2021. 

Hawass announced that one of the most important scenes in Tutankhamun Opera revolves around Nefertiti's attempt to kill Tutankhamun and snatch the throne for one of her six daughters. 

Composed by Zamboni, the opera's score will be completed this December, according to Hawass. 

Hawass added that November 4, 2022 will be the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun tomb, who is an important king to the whole world not Egypt only. 

He stated that the DNA tests will reveal a lot of information about the death of Tutankhamun and that he will announce to the whole world in 2020 how the golden king died. 

Hawass previously said in an interview with Italia 1 Channel that the temporary exhibition of King Tutankhamun that was displayed at the Grande Halle La Villette in Paris broke the records of turnout of the French cultural exhibitions. 

It was the most visited exhibition in France, as recounted by Hawass. 

In his interview with the Italian channel, Hawass revealed a number of important facts about the family of the Golden Pharaoh, announcing that his father is King Akhenaten and that the mummy of his mother is located at tomb number 35 where the grandmother of Tutankhamun, Tiye, was buried. 

Hawass added that Tutankhamun was suffering from lack of blood reaching the feet, flatfoot and malaria. 

Grand Egyptian Museum witnessed a celebration of breaking a new record at Guinness world Record by drawing a portrait of King Tutankhamun's mask made from 7260 coffee cups on Saturday, December 28.

King Tutankhamun, the child ruler who died at the age of 19, turned into a famous figure whose luster has not yet disappeared. 

Since the early 1960s, mobile exhibitions displaying pieces of the golden king tomb have created a new global feeling. 

The ongoing exhibition, which began at the Science Center in California in 2018 and then moved to Paris recorded unprecedented turnout for exhibitions in France. 

The previous record was also for an exhibition of Tutankhamun, which sold 1.4 million tickets.