10 PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND POLITICS
that asphalt, in the molten state, be poured onto the heads of delinquents. Pliny, the Roman author, also notes that bitumen could be
used to stop bleeding, heal wounds, drive away snakes, treat cataracts as well as a wide variety of other diseases, and straighten out
eyelashes that inconvenience the eyes. One can appreciate the use
of bitumen to stop bleeding, but its use to cure other ailments is
questionable and one has to consider what other agents were being
used concurrently with bitumen.
The Egyptians were the first to adopt the practice of embalming
their dead rulers and wrapping the bodies in cloth.
Before 1000 BC, asphalt was rarely used in mummification, except
to coat the cloth wrappings and thereby protect the body from the
elements. After the viscera had been removed, the cavities were filled
with a mixture of resins and spices, the corpse immersed in a bath of
potash or soda, dried, and finally wrapped. From 500 to about 40 BC,
asphalt was generally used both to fill the corpse cavities and to coat
the cloth wrappings. The word mûtnûia first made its appearance in
Arabian and Byzantine literature about 1000 AD, signifying bitumen. It is believed that it was the spread of the Islamic Empire that
brought Arabic science and the use of bitumen to Western Europe.
In Persian, the term bitumen is believed to have acquired the
meaning equivalent to paraffin wax that may be symptomatic of the
nature of some of the crude oils in the area. Alternatively, it is also
possible that the destructive distillation of bitumen to produce pitch
produced paraffins that crystallized from the mixture over time. In
Syriac, the term alluded to substances used for mummification. In
Egypt, resins were used extensively for purposes of embalming up
to the Ptolemaic period, when asphalts gradually came into use.
Arabian physician Al Magor used Mûmûia in prescriptions for the
treatment of contusions and wounds as early as the 12th century. Its
production soon became a special industry in the Alexandria. The
scientist Al-Kazwînî alluded to the healing properties of mûmûia,
and Ibn Al-Baitâr gives an account of its source and composition.
In his treatise Amoenitates Exoticae, Engelbert Kämpfer (1651-1716)
gives a detailed account of the gathering of mûmûia, the different
grades and types, and its curative properties in medicine. As the supply of mummies was limited, other expedients came into vogue. The
corpses of slaves or criminals were filled with asphalt, swathed, and
artificially aged in the sun. This practice continued until the French
physician, Guy de la Fontaine, exposed the deception in 1564 AD.
Many other references to bitumen occur throughout the Greek
Empire and the Roman Empire, and from then to the Middle Ages,
that asphalt, in the molten state, be poured onto the heads of delinquents. Pliny, the Roman author, also notes that bitumen could be
used to stop bleeding, heal wounds, drive away snakes, treat cataracts as well as a wide variety of other diseases, and straighten out
eyelashes that inconvenience the eyes. One can appreciate the use
of bitumen to stop bleeding, but its use to cure other ailments is
questionable and one has to consider what other agents were being
used concurrently with bitumen.
The Egyptians were the first to adopt the practice of embalming
their dead rulers and wrapping the bodies in cloth.
Before 1000 BC, asphalt was rarely used in mummification, except
to coat the cloth wrappings and thereby protect the body from the
elements. After the viscera had been removed, the cavities were filled
with a mixture of resins and spices, the corpse immersed in a bath of
potash or soda, dried, and finally wrapped. From 500 to about 40 BC,
asphalt was generally used both to fill the corpse cavities and to coat
the cloth wrappings. The word mûtnûia first made its appearance in
Arabian and Byzantine literature about 1000 AD, signifying bitumen. It is believed that it was the spread of the Islamic Empire that
brought Arabic science and the use of bitumen to Western Europe.
In Persian, the term bitumen is believed to have acquired the
meaning equivalent to paraffin wax that may be symptomatic of the
nature of some of the crude oils in the area. Alternatively, it is also
possible that the destructive distillation of bitumen to produce pitch
produced paraffins that crystallized from the mixture over time. In
Syriac, the term alluded to substances used for mummification. In
Egypt, resins were used extensively for purposes of embalming up
to the Ptolemaic period, when asphalts gradually came into use.
Arabian physician Al Magor used Mûmûia in prescriptions for the
treatment of contusions and wounds as early as the 12th century. Its
production soon became a special industry in the Alexandria. The
scientist Al-Kazwînî alluded to the healing properties of mûmûia,
and Ibn Al-Baitâr gives an account of its source and composition.
In his treatise Amoenitates Exoticae, Engelbert Kämpfer (1651-1716)
gives a detailed account of the gathering of mûmûia, the different
grades and types, and its curative properties in medicine. As the supply of mummies was limited, other expedients came into vogue. The
corpses of slaves or criminals were filled with asphalt, swathed, and
artificially aged in the sun. This practice continued until the French
physician, Guy de la Fontaine, exposed the deception in 1564 AD.
Many other references to bitumen occur throughout the Greek
Empire and the Roman Empire, and from then to the Middle Ages,