The ancient Egyptians were skilled metallurgists and were able to make weaponry, armour, trinkets and jewellery out of copper, gold, precious stones and other available resources. The Egyptians were also skilled in magical arts which included primitive chemistry, these artforms were known as “Al Chem” - “The Art of the Black Lands” or “Black Arts” and were an early precursor of Alchemy, these arts worked with all manner of materials including metals but would also incorperate the creation of alcahols, natron salts from dried lake beds used to make nitric acids, experiments in medicine and fermentation and would also lead to the sophisticated Egyptian practices of embalming the dead for mumification. The Egyptian Alchemical work probably began with experimentations in the preperation of the black soils although Egyptian Alchemists were also known to have used camel dung to heat chemical mixtures and developed mead from mixing honey with fermented grains. The Egyptian obsession with immortality proved to be the ultimate goal of these art forms and it is speculated that they may have even developed redumentary battery’s such as those found in the Middle East (Baghdad Battery) using citrus or acids and copper. It is also likely that a certain level of stage magic or illusion could be utilised from these arts such as changing the colour of substances, creating smoke, sparks, fire or even magnetism all of which appear mystical to the primitive mind.
