In 2023, a team of archaeologists from the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology, led by historian Bérangère Redon, found iron shackles during excavations in Ghozza, a mining settlement in Egypt’s eastern desert. The discovery is a strong evidence to forced labor in gold mining operations during the Ptolemaic period, according to Phys.org.
The excavations at Ghozza, initiated in 2020, revealed two major occupational phases dating to the late third century BCE. The first phase resembled a village with houses, administrative buildings, and baths, indicating that workers were paid and lived reasonably pleasant lives. Evidence from ostraca—pottery shards with markings—suggests that some workers received a salary for their labor.
However, the second occupational phase was markedly less favorable. Two sets of heavy iron shackles were discovered near what was once a storage facility, demonstrating the presence of forced labor. One set consisted of seven rings and two articulated links that closed around the feet, found in a pit inside a corridor. The other set had four links, with remains of the rings scattered in an adjacent room alongside other iron objects. The storage facility appeared to have been used to repair metal items such as shackles and manacles. The shackles are similar to those found in Laurion, an ancient silver mine in southern Attica, Greece, where slave labor was employed under comparable conditions.
The use of shackles suggests that workers were restrained, although it remains unclear whether they were prisoners of war, criminals, or slaves. Redon notes that walking with shackles around the ankles would have been slow and exhausting. She also mentions that it is not surprising that forced labor was used at the Ghozza site, as historical texts reference such practices. These findings reveal the harsh and inhumane working conditions endured by miners during the Ptolemaic period.
Ghozza’s organization differed from that of Samut North, another mining site excavated in 2014. While Samut North revealed a severe and controlled production system with mills used to crush quartz, Ghozza was structured like a village, complete with residential blocks, streets, administrative buildings, and baths. The findings suggest variations in work and social environments between the two sites. In Ghozza, workers ground the ore by hand using stones, indicating a more manual and labor-intensive process.
The similarities between the shackles found in Ghozza and those from Laurion suggest that Greek and Macedonian engineers may have imported their mining labor practices to Egypt during the reign of the Ptolemies. During this period, which spanned from 332 to 30 BCE, gold mining in Egypt intensified. Gold was needed to fund public works projects and finance military campaigns across the Mediterranean. Gold mines proliferated, reaching around forty active operations.
Egypt has a long history of gold mining, with sites spread across the country. The eastern desert, in particular, has been rich in mineral resources since ancient times. During the New Kingdom (1550–1069 BCE), mining in this region reached its first great peak. However, it was during the Ptolemaic period that gold extraction reached its zenith, with the metal playing a crucial role in the economy.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.
