gems, beryl, emerald, Egypt

Sinkankas: Jomard, the editor of the main work above, summarizes the importance of Cailliaud’s exploration in his introduction: “M. Cailliaud, favoured by a chance prize which fortune allotted him, discovered at Mount Zabarah the famous Emerald Mines, hitherto only known by passages in ancient authors, and from the recitals of the Arabs. Forgotten, as it were, during a lapse of centuries, the French voyager has retraced them, nearly in the same condition wherein the engineers of the Ptolomies left them. He has not only penetrated into subterranean cavities of a vast depth, but he has arrived at causeways, has collected tools, instruments, utensils of various kinds … [also] … he commenced the labours of the mines, and by dint of application and exertion, he is enabled to present to Mohammed Aly Pacha ten pounds of Emeralds.” The plates include a plan of the mining town of Sekket (Sikait) showing mines & buildings, a view of the town, a map of the desert region between the Nile River and the Red Sea, and several views of temples at Sikait. In addition to his descriptions of mines, ruins, etc., Cailliaud also gives an excellent mineralogy of the emerald deposits and the mode of occurrence of emerald crystals in the schistose rocks. Landmark in the history of Egyptian emerald.