Bechen (Ancient Egypt)
| Cup in hieroglyphics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
bechen bḫn beech stone ( greywacke ) |
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Bechen is the ancient Egyptian name for a Precambrian greywacke , which has a fine-grained, rough structure and is only found in Wadi Hammamat . The rock is dark gray when freshly cut, but turns reddish due to weathering .
In Wadi Hammamat there are over four hundred hieroglyphic and hieratic rock inscriptions that document the mining of Bechen from the Old Kingdom to the Greco-Roman period . The rock was mainly used for statues , sarcophagi and pharaonic building projects.
literature
- Kathryn A. Bard, Steven Blake Shubert: Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt , Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18589-0 , p. 869.