DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49262#0039
THE METALS
*9
ch. r]
In Africa there were two chief sources of gold ; the mysterious
interior, whence gold was brought by caravans to Egypt and
Carthage ; and the Abyssinian and Egyptian mountains. The
island of Meroe was rich in gold and other metals ; but most
famous were the mountains between the Nile and the Red Sea.
near Berenice Panchrysos, on the road from Assuan to Abu
Hammed, near Olaki. The east coast of Africa, south of the
Red Sea, was perhaps the land of Ophir.
In Asia, gold came from several places in Arabia; but
far richer sources were the Altai Mountains and Siberia.
The Indian supplies probably came from the region north
of the Punjab. The fame of these districts came to the Greeks
in the form of the well-known stories about the gold-digging
ants, and the gold-guarding griffins. The gold mines of
Armenia and Colchis were also important · the legend of the
golden fleece not improbably originated in the practice of
catching the gold dust by means of fleeces. In Asia Minor,
there is record of a number of sources of gold, but their wealth
was probably exaggerated. Gold was found in mines on Tmolus
and Sipylus, and in the rivers Pactolus and Hermus which
flowed from those mountains. These sources were already
exhausted in Strabo’s time. It is necessary also to mention
the mines between Atarneus and Pergamum, near Abydus,
Cremaste, Astyra, and Lampsacus; for these go a little way
towards explaining the early gold and electrum currencies
of the north-west corner of Asia Minor.
The tradition that the island of Siphnos possessed rich gold
mines is supported by the fact that its inhabitants were
unusually wealthy. The only other island to be mentioned
here is Thasos, where, in the part lying opposite to Samo-
thrace, the gold mines were early exploited by the Phoenicians.
These mines belonged really to the same system as those of
Thrace. In that country there were several important mines.
Those at Skapte Hyle yielded as much as eighty talents a year
in the beginning of the fifth century. We know that Athenian
interests were strong in this district, and that the historian
Thucydides owned mines there Baton was proverbially rich
will be found. For the distribution of gold in antiquity, see also
W. Ridgeway, Origin of Currency, pp. 66 if.
1 The reference in Lucian (De. Sacrif n) to statues made of Thracian gold
hardly applies, as Bliimner thinks, to Athens in particular.
C 2
*9
ch. r]
In Africa there were two chief sources of gold ; the mysterious
interior, whence gold was brought by caravans to Egypt and
Carthage ; and the Abyssinian and Egyptian mountains. The
island of Meroe was rich in gold and other metals ; but most
famous were the mountains between the Nile and the Red Sea.
near Berenice Panchrysos, on the road from Assuan to Abu
Hammed, near Olaki. The east coast of Africa, south of the
Red Sea, was perhaps the land of Ophir.
In Asia, gold came from several places in Arabia; but
far richer sources were the Altai Mountains and Siberia.
The Indian supplies probably came from the region north
of the Punjab. The fame of these districts came to the Greeks
in the form of the well-known stories about the gold-digging
ants, and the gold-guarding griffins. The gold mines of
Armenia and Colchis were also important · the legend of the
golden fleece not improbably originated in the practice of
catching the gold dust by means of fleeces. In Asia Minor,
there is record of a number of sources of gold, but their wealth
was probably exaggerated. Gold was found in mines on Tmolus
and Sipylus, and in the rivers Pactolus and Hermus which
flowed from those mountains. These sources were already
exhausted in Strabo’s time. It is necessary also to mention
the mines between Atarneus and Pergamum, near Abydus,
Cremaste, Astyra, and Lampsacus; for these go a little way
towards explaining the early gold and electrum currencies
of the north-west corner of Asia Minor.
The tradition that the island of Siphnos possessed rich gold
mines is supported by the fact that its inhabitants were
unusually wealthy. The only other island to be mentioned
here is Thasos, where, in the part lying opposite to Samo-
thrace, the gold mines were early exploited by the Phoenicians.
These mines belonged really to the same system as those of
Thrace. In that country there were several important mines.
Those at Skapte Hyle yielded as much as eighty talents a year
in the beginning of the fifth century. We know that Athenian
interests were strong in this district, and that the historian
Thucydides owned mines there Baton was proverbially rich
will be found. For the distribution of gold in antiquity, see also
W. Ridgeway, Origin of Currency, pp. 66 if.
1 The reference in Lucian (De. Sacrif n) to statues made of Thracian gold
hardly applies, as Bliimner thinks, to Athens in particular.
C 2