The desert roots of Alchemy...

Tutankhamun, his mysterious chest pendant, alchemy and the discovery of glass making.

Walking through the desert in Egypt I was surprised to see things like this:

Kind of weird tubular grey things. Very fragile and hard to transport. An Italian desert geologist explained to me it was fulgarite- a natural form of glass caused when lightning strikes the desert sand.

There are many forms of natural glass- obsidian and tektites are two more- created by volcanic high temperatures. There is even a kind of natural glass you can only find when an atom bomb has exploded. Called Trinitite after the Trinity atom bomb test in the American desert. However only one of the natural glasses is so pure it can easily be compared to manmade glass in terms of transparency- this is so called silica glass found after a large meteorite has hit the sand.

We know that the Ancient Egyptians were among the first to make glass, along with the Mesopatamians. We also know the Egyptians travelled in, and emerged from, the Sahara desert- a place where fulgarite is very common. It is quite possible they observed it being made and learned from this how to make their own glass…

Over time, they discovered that quartz pebbles, crushed up and mixed with the ash of desert plants was the best recipe. The ash had high carbonate levels and together with lime helped bring down the temperature at which glass could be made using charcoal. This is yet another example of an ancient technology requiring quite specific techniques or recipes to work. It is hard to imagine this discovery proceeding by trial and error- an element of hypothesising or dreaming up also seems necessary.

No Mesopatamian glass has been found in Egypt and no Egyptian glass found in Mesopatamia. This suggests both places independently arrived at how to make the stuff- which is perfectly likely. Glass in Crete has been found to originate in both Egypt and Mesopatamia.

To make the blue glass that the Egyptians became famous for- and what was used for the head rest above found in Tutankhamun’s tomb- required cobalt infused alums- rock that has been traced to the Oasis of Dakhla far in the south. Dakhla was known to the ancient Egyptians as the start for the desert trail that led all the way to the corner where Libya, Sudan and Egypt meet. This trail was an alternative connection to sub-Saharan Africa and the mythical Land of Yam.

We may find the origins of alchemy- that most Egyptian of arts, in glass making (the name al- kemi refers to Egypt’s rich soil, known as ‘the black land’). The glass vessel allows of distillation though the ancient Egyptians did not distil alcohol as we do today. There is a link connecting alchemy and alcohol. Alcohol comes from Al kohl. The name al kohl refers to the antimony based eye liner – kohl- that was worn by Egyptians as a cosmetic- though quite possibly also as a sun protector. At the same time, antimony became associated with refining processes as it can used to purify gold.

The idea that you could make gold from antimony is a kind of hypertrophy of that process- one that has lodged in the public mind as the prime aim of the alchemist. But really the valuable aspects of alchemy are its metaphorical elements and its actual use as a precursor to chemistry.

The central analogy of alchemy- that the unrefined human can become pure gold if they refine themselves is well known. However one needs some parallel version of antinomy to do it. What could that be? Maybe something that allows you to look closer at the truth, at the source of truth, at the sun… an ancient form of sunglasses? Maybe eyes lined with kohl…

Eyes lined with kohl resemble the Egyptian eye hieroglyph, which of course later becomes the ‘evil eye’ symbol still painted on the prow of boats in Egypt. The hieroglyph means the eye of Horus, a falcon’s eye, that symbolises the awareness and all seeing nature of the falcon headed God Horus.

That alcohol- a distillate of wine- assumed the name from al kohl is simply due to the common factor of refining, though some would say that alcohol offers a quick trip to enlightenment, something that alchemical processes take rather longer to deliver…

For many years after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb it was assumed the scarab that takes pride of place in the pectoral pendant worn by the king was a precious stone, quartz or chalcedony. Then in 1996 it was tested and found to be made of glass. But not the glass that was used to make, for example the blue head rest also found in the tomb, this was natural silica glass formed by a giant meteorite hitting the Sahara desert millions of years ago.

Having made many trips to the area between the Gilf Kebir and Siwa I can attest to the fact that natural silica glass is spread over a much wider area than many believe. It can be found over a 150km stretch from the Gilf plateau north though the bulk of the larger pieces are found in a relatively small area. This supports the idea that the impact was long long ago. The crater has tentatively been identified from satellite imagery and it is around 31km in diameter though filled in.

The glass you find is sometimes yellowish, sometimes greenish and smaller pieces can be completely transparent like colourless glass. It is possible to find stone tools made of glass, fashioned by prehistoric man, desert dwellers who may have lived in the Sahara in the wetter period that preceded dynastic Egypt.

We know that journeys were made to the Uweinat by donkey during the early dynasties. It is even possible trips were made south from Siwa, though this remote oasis saw no permanent settlement by ancient Egyptians until after Tutankhamun’s death.

Somehow, though, that piece of silica glass made its way to the court of the young king. From other artefacts we know that glass making was well understood, so why use a natural desert glass to make the chest pendant? The clue lies in the creature- the scarab- a desert beetle- one of the most important symbols in Egyptian life. The scarab- indicating again the desert origin of much ancient Egyptian thought- signified many things. There is the symbolism of the dung ball being rolled as if in imitation of the sun rolling across the sky. But the deeper symbolism is of dung being transmuted into life- a form of nothing- waste- being made into something- life. This is the essence of the idea of the creator God, of the continual acts of creation necessary to sustain life.

That the desert glass was incredibly rare would be known. It is doubtful whether its exact location would be recorded except by Tebu tribesmen who appear to have had little interest in the stuff. Knowing how to make glass, though, the Egyptians must have surmised the incredible heat required to make that glass out in the open. Being astute astronomers and collectors of meteorites it is quite possible they linked the presence of the glass to some kind of astronomical event. Symbolically, and indeed, literally, the glass was a gift from the heavens.

As such it would have to be used for a special place- right over the King’s heart. And above it we see the eye of Horus- the kohl lined eye that stands for the truth seeking part of all of us.