ISLAMIC MINES

Information on Islamic mines occurs in geographical works, in books on mineralogy, in alchemical treatises and in various other sources. Obviously, mining was an important activity in Islam, as it is in any civilisation. It will be possible to mention here only some of the more important minerals and mining centres.

Gold mines were found in western Arabia, Egypt, Africa and in some eastern Islamic lands. One of the most important of the gold mining areas was at Wādī al-'Allākī, which is a right-bank tributary of the upper Nile. It lay in the Buja country between Ethiopia and Nubia. The mines were in a desert area between the Nile and the Red Sea. The nearest towns were Aswān on the Nile and 'Aydhab on the Red Sea. A second major gold mining area was called by al-Bīrūnī the Maghrib Sudan. This is the area south of the Sahara in Senegal and on the Upper Niger in Mali. According to al-Idrīsī, Wangāra was the most important gold mining centre on the Upper Niger. Salt, cloth and other commodities were exchanged for gold. Silver was either mined individually or in association with lead ores; the major silver mines were in the eastern Islamic provinces. Prominent among these were the mines of the Hindu Kush in the towns of Panjīr and Jāriyāna, both in the neighbourhood of Balkh. According to one report there were about 10,000 miners working at Panjīr. Other important silver mines were in Spain, North Africa, Iran and Central Asia.

Lead was obtained mostly from galena (lead sulphide), which was of very common occurrence. This lead ore is often associated with small amounts of silver. Only two other lead ores have any commercial value. One is cerussite (lead carbonate) and the other, which is of minor importance, is anglesite (lead sulphate). Lead ores, especially galena, were exploited in Spain, Sicily, North Africa, Egypt, Iran, Upper Mesopotamia and Asia Minor.