GHOZZA, EGYPT—La Brújula Verde reports that some miners in ancient Egypt faced harsh conditions. Gold exploitation in Egypt dates back thousands of years, but reached its peak during the Ptolemaic period (304–30 b.c.), when government authorities controlled and operated as many as 40 mines. Over the past five years, French researchers have been investigating the mining site of Ghozza, in Egypt’s Eastern Desert, and have revealed a village with various streets, residential blocks, administrative buildings, and baths. Inscriptions found at the site suggest that some workers were paid, but recently discovered iron shackles dating to the third century b.c. indicate that some of the Ptolemaic labor force consisted of enslaved individuals who were forced to work the mines. The manacles were designed exclusively to restrain humans and would have been fastened around the ankles. This would have made it difficult for the wearers to walk, but they would have still had full use of their hands and arms to carry out their mining tasks. The existence of these shackles lends credence to descriptions made by the second-century b.c. Greek historian Agatharchides, who recorded that miners in Egypt were sometimes prisoners of war and condemned criminals who worked ceaselessly, day and night, with their feet chained. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. To read about an Egyptian geological map, go to "Mapping the Past: The Goldmine Papyrus."
