Reposted information on Egyptian copper written by Apiladey Apilsin:

The Ores - Copper ores are beautiful stones. In fact, it is hypothesized that it was the beauty of these stones which led to the discovery of smelting metallic copper from copper ores (the Chalcolithic Period). The ores malachite (green) and azurite (blue) had smelting temperatures low enough (1981 degrees F, 1083 degrees C) that, when potting technology in the hills of Mesopotamia had advanced far enough, some potter had an unusual surprise when retrieving his pots from the kiln. The beautiful blue and green stones which had been pressed into the pot as ornaments were gone...... and oddly, there was metallic copper in the bottom of the kiln. You can read a few alternate hypotheses in the next paragraph. These two ores are carbonates of copper, which is a form of oxidation of copper sulphide. For this reason, they are always found near the surface of the ground where they could be acted upon by the air (no more than 7 meters deep). Also beautiful, chalcopyrite (yellow) and chrysocolla (a blue or bluish-green copper silicate) were added to the list of copper ores a bit later, because they required higher temperatures. Chrysocolla and malachite were also used for eye-paint (malachite's use for eye paint goes clear back to the Badarian). Malachite was also an important pigment for coloring glaze and glass, as well as its occasional use for beads, amulets, and other small objects. Another copper ore, but one which has never been practical for smelting was turquoise, which is so often found along with the other ores that it makes it hard to tell whether the mines were operated to get gemstones or metal. Making it even harder is the fact that, apparently, Egypt didn't use native copper (naturally occurring metal) until they had learned about smelting. And they started smelting the ore at about the same time they began using the gemstones. About the only way to tell the purpose of the mine is by finding proof in the form of ingots, furnaces, molds, slag, crucibles, or graffiti. In the absence of any of these, it could have been mined for either. The earliest finds of this smelting hardware was in the Old Kingdom. In the 18th and 19th Dynasties, Egypt received several presents of copper from neighboring copper-bearing countries, which usually amounted to amounts between 5 talents and 200 talents.

The hypothesis that the smelting of copper from ore was invented through the pottery industry in Mesopotamia is the one which has the most backing (for instance, R. J. Forbes in Metallurgy In Antiquity and H. H. Coghlan). They feel that the first place man would have been likely to have reached the temperatures required for smelting would be in a pottery kiln, and pottery works have been decorated with copper ores. Another hypothesis is that it was discovered by a collector of native copper, perhaps in the Zagros Mtns in Iran or Asia Minor. Most native copper in these areas is in the mountains among steep canyon areas. Along with the naturally occurring copper metal, there were probably some blue and green rocks, which the man may have collected, knowing of their marketability in the powdered form for eye-makeup. At the end of the day, he makes camp. Being in a mountainous area, the encroaching night brings encroaching cold, and he prepares a fire. He already has several malachite and azurite stones at his camp of a suitable size to use for a fire ring, so he uses them. The cold already having chilled his body, he adds a bit more wood to the fire pit than usual. As is usual in these areas, the cold mountain air drains down the canyons to the valleys below, becoming a cold wind in the man's camp - perhaps a bit more wood on the fire. The wind whips the fire to an increasingly hot state, eventually dying back into a mass of hot, hot coals. Either before his bewildered eyes, or after he has fallen asleep, the rocks begin to seep a sparkly fluid into the fire-pit. After he awakens, he searches the cooled fire-pit to look for the sparkly materiel he saw in the fire, or, if he hadn't seen it, he collects his marketable stones from the fire ring only to find them attached to the now hardened copper metal. Poss, in Stones of Destiny mentions Wm. Gowland as a supporter of this hypothesis in Early Metallurgy of Silver and Lead - Archeologia, 1903 as well as T. A. Rickard in Man and Metals, New York, 1932 (most likely among the works cited by this author). This would require that the campfire reached a temperature of 800 degrees F. but they cite as support that beads of copper have been produced from copper ore in wood fires by natives of the Belgian Congo, central Africa and the Malay peninsula. T. T. Reed in The American Journal of Archeology (1934), suggests that it was discovered more through the melting of native copper with ore still attached, and the subsequent realization that there was more metal afterwards than there was in the beginning. Of course, this would require the understanding that copper would melt if it reached a high enough temperature. Lucas and Harris suggest that, although it isn't likely, Egyptians may have discovered the smelting of copper ores in their faience ovens. I believe I have listed all these hypotheses in order of their acceptance by the scientific community, but I could be wrong. If the "invention through pottery" idea is correct, Susa or Sialk, both in Iran, could have been the actual sites of invention as they both had easily available copper ores and a very advanced pottery industry.

Mining - In the earliest times of ore usage, the surface deposits were all that was needed, and flint tools were the only tools needed to dig it. When the shafts went below the surface in later times, copper chisels were required, which existed from the Late Predynastic Period on. The mined ore was then crushed and hand-picked for the best pieces.

The Sources - Egypt's copper deposits are in either of two places - the Sinai peninsula, or the eastern desert (between the Nile and the Red Sea). Oddly, Poss says Egypt got most of its copper from the Sinai and a much lesser amount from the eastern desert. Lucas and Harris state just the opposite.... that the large majority was from the eastern desert, while it can't even be said with assuredness that it was the Egyptians who did the mining in Sinai. Personally, I believe Poss, because the Egyptians made such a fuss about Hathor's help in the discovery of the mines, and the shipping routes in the Red Sea so often included ports in Sinai. Because Lucas and Harris give many more details, however, I'll present the following info from their book.

In the Sinai, the mines were either in the mountains of the southwest part, or in the southeast part of the peninsula. In the southeast, it was mined near the plain of Senned, in the hills west of the Nebk-Sherm, and near Wadi (Canyon) Ramthi. There were also places here where the ore was collected without mining: Wadi Nasb (where an estimated total production of 5,500 tons of metal was produced) and Gebel (Mount) Safariat. In the southwest part, it seems to have been mined at Magharah (where a Middle Kingdom mold for weapons has been recovered) and, though some dispute this, at Serabit el Kadim. In the vicinity of Serabit el Kadim, mines have been found at Gebel um Rinna, Wadi Malha, and Wadi Kharit (also called Wadi Halliq). The Sinai is too hot for these mines to have been operated during the summer months, and the native Bedawi (Bedouin) were always hostile, so military escorts were necessary. Three tests of the ore from these southwest Sinai mines yielded percentages of from 3% to 18% copper. Clear back in the First Dynasty, Semerket sent expeditions to the Sinai for copper. It was worked most heavily in the Old and Middle Kingdoms for copper but continued through the times of Ramesses III (though it may have been worked for turquoise as late as the 20th Dynasty). From Ramesses III's time forward, Egypt got most of its copper from Cyprus, whether it was under Egypt's control or not. The famous Timna copper mines are just past the Sinai in the Wadi Araba (the valley which runs from the Dead Sea south to the Gulf of Aqaba), about 15 miles north of Eilat in Palestine. Here, one man could bring out enough ore in a single day to smelt 8 Lbs of copper. I assume that figure was higher than average because another estimate says that the mine employed about 200 people and produced about 500 Lbs per day. Two specimens of ore from here yielded 36% and 49% copper.

The Sinai was full of treacherous ravines and canyons called wadis and the Egyptian word for malachite was Mafhat or Maghara, so the first copper mine found in the Sinai became known as Wadi Maghara. It was discovered during a tortuous expedition, which was about to end in massive desertions, till the leaders called upon Hathor for aid. Only a short while later, the men turned into a canyon with a bright green layer of malachite. This became the aforementioned Wadi Maghara and from that time on, Hathor became known as the "Lady of Turquoise". At Serabit el Kadem, a shrine to Hathor over 250 feet long was erected. If one made Pharaoh unhappy in the past, one could have found oneself leading an expedition to search for copper in the Sinai.

Some people include the Sinai in the area called the Eastern Desert. Lucas and Harris do not. In their description of copper sources in the eastern desert (exclusive of Sinai), they mention another Wadi Araba. This confused me greatly. Could there be two Wadi Arabas, both rich in copper, or did the author mistakenly use the name where another should have gone? After a reinspection of the book, I found it mentioned a second time, but this time with "eastern desert" in parenthesis after Wadi Araba. This, taken with the first mention of it being in the Eastern Desert east of Beni Suef (which is at the Nile) and near the Gulf of Suez, leads me to believe that, yes, there are two Wadi Arabas, both rich in copper ore. I doubt if they'd have made the same mistake both times they mentioned the site. At this location, chrysocolla was mined, probably in the New Kingdom. Other locations mentioned in the Eastern Desert included 2) Gebel Atawi, a little south of the latitude of Luxor but more than half way to the Red Sea 3) At Gebel Dara (28 degrees N. latitude and 33 degrees E. longitude), where chrysocolla was mined 4) In the Dungash gold mine east of Edfu (24 degrees 50 minutes N. latitude, 33 degrees 45 minutes east longitude). It wasn't rich and it may not have been worked in ancient times 5) In the low hills south of Wadi Gemal (24 degrees 35 minutes N. latitude, 34 degrees 50 minutes E. longitude). Green malachite, but it may not have been worked in ancient times. 6) At Hamish (24 degrees 32 minutes N. latitude, just east of 34 degrees E. longitude) where there were three main shafts of chalcopyrite which had been worked in ancient times. 7) At Abu Seyal (22 degrees 47 minutes N. latitude) where it had been worked extensively in ancient times for chrysocolla and, perhaps further down, for some copper pyrites. At least some had been smelted at this site, for the remains of ancient furnaces and slag have been found. A slag heap has been found elsewhere which is presumed to have come from the smelting of Abu Seyal ore, and the metal which would have left this much slag behind would have weighed 12 tons. Ore from here averaged just over 3% copper, but occasionally got as high as 20%. 8) At Um Semiuki at the base of Gebel Abu Hamamid (50 km from the coast and northwest of Ras Benas). Here, there were extensive workings with most of the malachite and azurite within the top 7 meters of soil, but some veins went down 40 or 50 feet. One specimen of ore from here measured 13% copper. The ore below 7 meters was copper pyrites along with some other ores - zinc sulphides (containing a bit of silver) and lead ore. Um Semiuki was Egypt's greatest copper mine. Most of this data is from Lucas and Harris, who state outright that the eastern desert was Egypt's greatest source, and that the Sinai was relatively unimportant. Poss, states outright that the Sinai was the greatest source for Egypt. I'm not sure who to believe - Lucas and Harris' material was more detailed, but Poss' is more recent.

Uses - The earliest copper objects are from the Badarian and include tiny little things like beads, borers, and pins. In the Early Predynastic period, bracelets, small chisels, finger rings, harpoon heads, small implements, needles, tweezers and other small objects were added to the list. In the Middle and Late Predynastic periods, larger sturdier objects were made of it, such as practical copper weapons. Added to the list, specifically in the First Dynasty were copper saws, vessels, bodkins, piercers (whatever they are), rectangular plates and hoes. Credited more generally to the early Dynastic period were heavy axe-heads, adzes, larger chisels, knives, daggers, spears, implements, ornaments, ewers, basins, and other household utensils.

Smelting - Modern copper smelting (of malachite and azurite) is done by mixing the ore with coke (not the cola, but what is left of coal after the gases have been expelled) and fluxes, then heating in a blast furnace. In ancient Egypt, the pieces of ore were mixed with charcoal and dumped in a small pile either on the ground, or in a shallow pit. These sites were usually located in a windy position such as in a valley or the side of a hill, because it was already known that a fire burned hotter if it was blown on (by man or nature).

Though copper melts at 1,083 degrees C, it can be smelted between 700 and 800 degrees. The early copper smelting probably resulted in incomplete melting, the result of which was a spongy mass of copper, fuel, ore, and slag, which could then be hammered to break it up. Copper has the unusual character of being more brittle when it has just become solid, which would have made this much easier. Typical of most metals, it then cools to a softer and more flexible stage before it enters its fairly rigid, cool state. An ancient copper-smelting furnace has been found in Sinai which consists of a brick-lined hole in the ground about 2 ½ feet deep, with two blast holes in the sides. During use, each blast hole would have a pair of human lungs attached via tubes to blow through.

At this stage of technology, the copper could be remelted to purify it even more, but the results of remelting would have been greatly improved after the invention of the crucible (a container for holding the molten copper and charcoal). Since this would insulate the copper from the fire, and since copper melts at a higher temperature than it smelts (as stated in the previous paragraph), I'm assuming this would also require some improvements in furnace technology. At any rate, the earliest known crucibles in Egypt come from the 7th to 8th Dynasties, and were made from rough, grey clay and coated on the outside with some kind of plaster. It was 5 inches tall and had no spout, but instead had a hole about half way down the side from which to pour the molten copper.

Crucibles should also be a prerequisite for casting copper in molds. An axe-head from middle predynastic times, however, is mentioned (in Lucas & Harris) which was "..cast roughly to shape, and then either cold-hammered and annealed or hammered while hot." Not only do they mention casting in predynastic times, they even mention annealing. *Sigh* Why can't archeology be easy to understand? Molds could be made of either clay or stone. Blowpipes were used as early as the 5th Dynasty and bowl bellows from the 18th Dynasty. Bowl bellows had been used in Mesopotamia from the 3rd millennium BC and Lucas and Harris suggest that they could have been introduced by the Hyksos to Egypt (about 3,500 BC).

When casting objects with a blade, a good deal of hammering would have been required. It wouldn't have taken long for them to notice that this hammering actually made the copper much harder. If hammered too much, however, the copper became brittle. The hammering produces an increased state of crystallization in the copper, which isn't a natural state. It could be that the same crystallization, when carried too far, makes the blade brittle. Since it is unnatural, the crystallized state ‘relaxes' after a while (probably a process occurring quickly for the first years, then slowing to gradually over the next several centuries - like a bell curve, if you're familiar with that). Normal copper has a hardness of 87 on the Brinell scale, while hammered copper can have a hardness of 135. An excellent piece of hammered copper piping has been retrieved from Sahure's 5th Dynasty pyramid complex. There were two 6th Dynasty statues found of Pepip which are the oldest known Egyptian metal statues. The larger of these is also the largest known Egyptian metal statue. Soft soldering, which could have sealed any leaks in such a pipe wasn't invented till late Roman times, but hard soldering has been known since Hetepheres (4th Dynasty) at which time silver was used to seal the edges together on a copper cylinder. Silver solder was also used to plug a hole in an 18th Dynasty flower bowl, and lead was used to plug two holes in the cow portrayed on the bowl.

Copper can also be hardened by alloying it with other elements. The most famous copper alloy, bronze, is made by mixing tin with the copper, but that didn't happen yet. The earliest successful harder-than-copper alloy was made with arsenic, which could then be made even harder through hammering. Lucas and Harris apparently feel the presence of arsenic was accidental though, because they later say (pgs 216 & 217), "The only constituents which were certainly added intentionally to copper in Egypt were tin, which produced bronze, and lead, which was added both to copper, and, at a later period, to bronze, which it made easier to cast."

Suggested Reading:
Journey to the Copper Age by Katherine Ozment in National Geographic 4/99, pg 70 - 79. Excellent photos of copper artifacts, an azurite deposit, drawings of a smelting community, and text on life in the Chalcolithic Age.

Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries by A. Lucas and J. R. Harris (1999 republication by Dover Publications of the 1962 publication by Edward Arnold Ltd.) 523 pp. Excellent source for the details of this and other industries in ancient Egypt.

Stones of Destiny by John R. Poss (1975). Publ. Michigan Technological University (253 pp). Except for a few mistakes, it was the first book I ever found to cover the details of metal usage in the ancient world.