subject: The Glittering Metal In Ancient Times [print this page] The Incas talked about gold as being the "tears of the sun". The yellow metal has been mentioned in Iliad and Odyssey. Where Homer said that the metal was a sign of wealth among ordinary people and of immortality among gods.
The first gold treasure map was created around 1320 B.C., in the time of Seti. The Turin Museum now holds parts of the papyrus called "Carte des mines d' or". In this papyrus there are illustrated roads leading to gold mines and gold-bearing mountains. Of course, everybody is curious where the road to the golden treasure leads but, like in most maps, the explications are a bit vague. Specialists now say that the treasure is located in the Wadi Fawakhir region, where the El Sid gold mine is situated. Even so, nobody can be sure that the treasure is not sitting somewhere, just waiting to be found.
The Greeks used a special method of mining gold: they disposed of tons of water in order to propel the gold-bearing sand. This method was still used during the California Gold Rush in 1949 even if the method was invented thousands of years ago.
The glittering metal became currency and was introduced on the market somewhere around 700 B.C. when the Lydian merchants produced the coin. These first coins were made out of 27% silver and 63%gold. With the discovery of the "Gold of Troy" treasure, ancient delicate jewelry and a gold gravy boat was also discovered. The ancient treasure hoard was found in Turkey and it dates back in 2450-2600 B.C. At that time, the precious metal was considered to be very valuable but it was not considered money. Only the wealthy used to own gold and from it they made objects of warship to decorate sacred locations.
The glittering metal was and still is a valuable asset to own. This is why economists advise us to invest part of our money in gold.
