Turin Papyrus: map of the gold mines and the bekhen quarry
Papiro de Turín: mapa de las minas de oro y la cantera de bekhen
- Date
- c. 1150 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Wadi Hammamat, Eastern Desert, Egypt
- Credited to
- Scribe Amennakhte, reign of Ramesses IV
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What it is
Papyrus map of Wadi Hammamat showing tracks, wells, gold mines, settlements and the bekhen stone quarry, with different colours for the rocks of the terrain. It is the oldest surviving topographic and geological map of a real place.
The papyrus (split into fragments in Turin) was drawn up around the reign of Ramesses IV; some scholars have called it the oldest geological map, although its purpose was mainly logistic and administrative.
What it led to
- planning of state mining and quarrying expeditions under the Ramessides
- a tradition of resource and route maps for administrative purposes