Page 55 - Handbook of Gold Exploration and Evaluation

36 Handbook of gold exploration and evaluation

1.13 The world as known by the ancients. Adapted from a map by Herataeus,
517 BC (after Nolan, 1980).

land to steal gold. The original legend held that Phrixus, son of Althamus and
Nephele, escaped with his sister Helle from their wicked stepmother, riding into
Colchis on the back of a golden ram, Chrysomallus. Helle fell into the sea,
which was then called the Hellespont. Phrixus married the daughter of King
Aeetes, and the Golden Fleece was placed, by the order of the king, in the
custody of a dragon. According to the legend, it was from this dragon that the
fleece was later taken and carried away by Jason and the Argonauts.
Most nationalities of the Egyptian era (e.g., Hebrews, Cretans and Phoeni-
cians) engaged in trading rather than mining. Their chief source of gold appears
at first to have been Egypt, although quartz gold-veins of Krissites and other
areas in northern Greece were the backbone of the Greek economy. However,
with the development of major trade routes, gold was brought in from Spain,
Africa and south-east Asian countries as well as from various Eurasian mining
centres. The weight systems used were those originally developed in Mesopo-
tamia and gold eventually became a recognised standard of value against which
to measure the worth of other commodities. The shekel, originally containing
11.3 g of gold was used as a standard unit of measure throughout the Middle