Nubia is well endowed with the geological resources needed to supply a succession of ancient cultures and kingdoms. Igneous and metamorphic rocks of the region’s Basement Complex provided most of the materials, including gold, copper, gemstones, and a variety of ornamental stones. Overlying the Basement Complex are sedimentary rocks and among these is the Nubian Sandstone Formation, which supplied the material used to build Nubia’s many temples and pyramids. This formation also provided the oolitic ironstone that was the raw material for Kushite iron production as well as two unusually hard varieties of sandstone—iron oxide-cemented ferricrete and quartz-cemented quartzite—that were used in buildings where extra strength was needed and also for many ornamental applications. Surficial sediments deposited by the Nile River and desert wadis were important sources of gold, gemstones, and, for ceramics, clay. A total of 117 ancient mines and quarries have been identified in Nubia with twenty-three for sandstone, seven for ornamental stones, four for quartzite, seventy-six for gold, five for copper, one each for iron and lead, and three for gemstones.
Deriving a Correlation of Cementation Factor in Nubian Sandstone Formation (Upper and Lower Cretaceous), Sirt Basin
