EG Gemstones found here: Egypt
5 deposits listed · 5 species catalogued
Known origins & mines
Zabargad Island · peridot
The ancient "Serpent Isle" mined for pharaohs since 1500 BC — Cleopatra's "emeralds" were likely Zabargad peridot. Exhausted worki…
Gebel el-Asr Ancient Mines · amazonite
Tutankhamun's scarab came from these predynastic Egyptian amazonite quarries southwest of Abu Simbel — worked before 3000 BC.…
Nile Valley Carnelian Sources · carnelian
Pharaonic Egypt sourced orange-red carnelian from Nubian desert wadis — tomb seals and heart scarabs traveled to Tutankhamun's bur…
Sikait-Zabara Mines · emerald
Cleopatra's emerald mines — Ptolemaic and Roman workings in the Mons Smaragdus desert, abandoned after Spanish colonial Colombian …
Sinai Serabit el-Khadim · turquoise
Pharaonic turquoise galleries beneath Hathor's temple mined by expeditions from Menes era — the world's first recorded gem mining …