Discovery of Gold Dr. Doug Stewart Humans have known gold and treasured it since prehistoric times. Who discovered gold? We do not know, it was discovered before there were written records. We know there is a good chance the discoverer found it in a river bed. Gold is usually associated with rocks such as quartz and pyrites. As these rocks undergo weathering or erosion by water, the gold can be washed into rivers allowing people to find it easily. Currently we can trace our use of gold back to at least 6200 years ago. A variety of objects made of gold have been found in Bulgaria from 4500-4000 BC. (1) (shown left). Gold artifacts dated to 5000 years ago have been found in Egyptian tombs; gold was already being beaten into sheets, foil and wire in Egypt at this time. (2) The Egyptian word for gold was ‘nub’ and is related to Nubia, the land south of Egypt where much of Egypt’s gold was obtained. Gold in the native state (i.e. found naturally) is usually mixed with other metals, such as silver. Its purity can be increased by depletion guilding or refining – a significant step forward in technology. (3) Gold of 98% purity has been found in Nahal Qunah in the ancient kingdom of Israel, dating from about 6000 years ago. (4), (5) Analyses of gold from ancient Egypt indicates refining began there about 2500 years ago. (6) The legendary wealth of King Croesus of Lydia (now in modern Turkey) came from refining gold found in several local rivers. (7), (8) Gold became the basis of money in many ancient civilizations, and even today most countries maintain large reserves of gold for financial credibility. Most modern currencies, however, are not tied to gold as they were in the days of the Gold Standard, described by economist John Maynard Keynes as “a barbarous relic.” (9) In ancient times people viewed gold as the perfect substance. Alchemists began a relentless but fruitless pursuit spanning many centuries, trying to discover how to transform other metals into gold. Although alchemy failed in its goal, the experimental techniques alchemists developed were important to the early chemists. Alchemists believed gold was made of a mixture of perfectly purified mercury and sulfur, mixed in the perfect proportions. (10) Constant failure to produce gold simply meant substances were not yet pure enough, or the perfect proportions had not yet been found. Alchemist’s concepts of mercury and sulfur were different from ours; while they did include the substances we call mercury and sulfur, they also encompassed other metals and substances. The word ‘gold’ is an Anglo-Saxon word, similar to the Anglo-Saxon word for yellow, ‘geolo.’ It is believed to have come from the Sanskrit ‘jval’ meaning ‘to shine.’ (10) The chemical symbol Au comes from ‘aurum’ the Latin word for gold. (Aurora was goddess of dawn or the morning glow.) (11)
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 06:28:58 +0000
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