Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3.t4.13

v2.c43.s3.t4.13

Though the occurrence of emerald in Ethiopia had been known to the ancients, the locality became completely forgotten. The earliest known emerald locality is in upper Egypt, not far from the coast of the Red Sea. The ancient mines discovered by Cailliaud in AD 1819 have been dated as early as 1650 BC; these are located in a depression of the long range of mountains which borders the west coast of the Red Sea. The mines are in Jebel (Mountain) Sikait (also Sakketto, from Sanskrit Saikat?) and Jebel Sabara (Zabara or Varvara in Sanskrit). Pliny mentioned the rocks about Coptos, as containing the celebrated mines of the old. These mines, known as Cleopatra’s emerald mines, located a little south of latitude 25°N, were close to the sea-coast as well as the desert and known as such by the Indian traders. The name marakata bears the imprint of maru (desert) and kata (from Pliny’s ‘Coptos’ or saikata meaning sea-coast or the mountain Sakketto?). In the justification of our hypothesis regarding the origin of word marakata, let us quote some Ratnaśāstra texts. Buddhabhaṭṭa wrote (RP, 150):