Natron

Naturally occurring compound largeh' consisting of sodium carbonate and. sodium bicarbonate. It was important principally for its use in purification rituals, not least during mummi-Fic.-VTION, and was subject to a royal monopolv

Licig afiuilroi! fro})] Deir el-Bahri. Natron is a common constituent of caches ofembahners' materials, mcll known from Thebes. I8th Dynasty.

(R147807)

In the Ptolemaic period (332-30 Bc). It was often used in dail}' cleansing, serving those purposes for which soap or toothpaste would now be used. It had a variety of ‘industrial’ uses, the most important of which was the making of glass and glazes, although it does not seem to have been widely used as an alkali source in glass-making before the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.

The best-known source of natron is the Madi Natrun in Lower Egypt, although deposits are also knewn at la. KAR in Upper Egypt, as well as in the Behcira province of I. ower Egypt. In all of these regions, the substance has accumulated on the shores and beds of ancient lakes. The deposits at Wadi Natrun and Elkab are mentioned in textual sources from the Pharaonic period, and the histori. nns. Strabo ((••-64 nc—All 21) and Pliny (ad 23—79) both mention the presence of natron in Egvpt.

.¦. Lut;AS,. Incienl materials and industries, 4th ed.

(London, 1962), 263-7.

T. Sanhisox, ‘The use of natron in mummiheaiion in ancient Egvpf, y.V7;A 22 (1963), 259-67.