Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 18:53:55 -0800 (PST)
From: sonofthemummy <sonofthemummy@bellsouth.net>
Subject: AEL Dynasty 18 Pens with Brass Nibs
To: Ancient Egyptian Language List <AEgyptian-L@rostau.org.uk>

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/virtualmuseum/index.php?page=object_detail&prefix=ABDUA&num=24269&firstview=true&mt=&sign=&viewnumber=&resultsperpage=9

Hi;
Does anyone know more about this kind of equipment? I have long suspected 
that the scribe of the House of Life had special tools, from the look of the 
illuminated papyri. But, I never suspected that they had brass nibbed pens. 
Bob
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Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:21:58 +1100
From: Rob Persson <rob.p@optusnet.com.au>
To: Ancient Egyptian Language List <AEgyptian-L@rostau.org.uk>
Subject: Re: AEL Dynasty 18 Pens with Brass Nibs

Dear Bob,

Firstly, it's really crucial here to note that 'brass' is a poor 
archaeological term as it means different things to different people. I 
guess generally speaking, 'brass' means a copper-zinc alloy. Copper-zinc 
objects do appear in Egypt (eg in a few Predynastic burial contexts at 
Naqada), however the inclusion of zinc was likely unintentional and due 
to the fact that some copper ore deposits in Egypt contain zinc. The 
appearance of zinc in copper ore was often accompanied by another 
element, eg nickel, which is also present in these earlier attestations 
of copper alloys. The amount of zinc, nickel, and others is usually 
quite low in both pre-Pharaonic and Pharaonic use of copper. It appears 
that copper-zinc alloys specifically weren't intentionally utilised in 
Egypt until the Roman times, and that is when it was present in more 
higher concentrations.

So, it is far more likely that the objects at Aberdeen actually have 
nibs of copper-tin, ie 'bronze', which sometimes seems to be confused 
with 'brass'. Some people say that 'bronze' has to have a certain amount 
of copper:tin ratio and that no other elements can really be present, 
whilst others say that certain other elements in certain ratios are 
acceptable but within certain ranges, etc etc etc. It's the same 
definition debate for 'brass', except that it obviously has a 
copper:zinc ratio instead. It's all very confusing and is a reminder 
that scientific terms are best.

Sorry about the slight tangent, but I feel that the less imprecise 
terminology we use, the better. A great outline of this is by Jack Ogden 
in Nicholson and Shaw's /Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology/.

Regards,
Rob