Shackles dating back to 2000 years discovered in Egypt: what is interesting

Two sets of iron leg shackles discovered during archaeological excavations in Egypt clearly demonstrate the cost of gold mining, which was used to finance the military campaigns of Ptolemy I. As explained by Béranger Redon, an archaeologist at the French Laboratory of History and Sources of the Ancient World (HiSoMA), these findings confirm ancient accounts that mention the harsh working conditions in the mines, as well as the use of prisoners of war and criminals.

After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great during the Ptolemaic dynasty (305-30 BC), dozens of mines were actively developed in the country. Some of them were equipped with living quarters for workers, but these places were strictly controlled and carefully guarded. Historical sources and archaeological findings indicate that there were both hired workers and slaves among the miners. This is reported by Live Science.

In her article published in the journal Antiquity, Redon spoke about a rare discovery in the territory of the Gozzi mine, the northernmost gold mine of the Ptolemaic era, which operated from about 250 to 200 BC. It was there that archaeologists discovered these shackles, which are among the oldest in the Mediterranean.

Archaeological research has shown that the Gozza complex consisted of a residential village with streets, baths and houses. Among the finds were hundreds of ostraca, fragments of pottery that served as a kind of note or draft. They gave an idea of the miners' everyday life. Some of them were paid for their labor, which included processing the ore by hand with grinding stones.

Redon emphasized that at the beginning of the study, it was believed that Gozza was staffed by mostly free people. Unlike other mines in ancient Egypt, where miners' dwellings were guarded at narrow entrances, no such security system was found at Gotha. However, the discovery of shackles indicates that at least some of the workers performed forced labor.

One of the sets of shackles consisted of seven ankle rings connected by two links, and the other consisted of four links and two fragments of rings. They were found alongside abandoned iron objects and slag in an ancient warehouse, indicating the systematic use of restrictions on freedom of movement in the workplace.

Redon also drew attention to the similarity of these shackles to those found in the silver mines of Lavrion in Greece. This may indicate that the Greeks transferred their mining technology to Egypt during the Ptolemaic period. The precious metals mined at these mines were largely used to finance Ptolemy I's military campaigns.

According to Redon, these archaeological finds have become indisputable proof of the plight of miners in Ptolemaic Egypt, a fact that had previously been only an assumption.

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