As the Times of Israel reports, researchers from the Universit | IELTS articles

As the Times of Israel reports, researchers from the University of Haifa and Hebrew University found eight тайников of metal that appeared to have been manipulated to look like pure silver. At the time of the поддельной currency’s creation, the Egyptians controlled Canaan, though the later part of the period saw the empire’s power steadily decline.

Previous research found that pre-1900 B.C. metal fragments found in the area were 100 percent real silver. But in the early Iron Age, following the collapse of the Hittites and weakening of the Egyptian empire, the disruption of trade routes made silver дефицитным.

“There was a нехватка of silver, probably related to the Late Bronze Age collapse,” lead author Tzilla Eshel tells Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe.

“[Counterfeiting] continued after the Egyptians left Canaan, but they were probably the ones who initiated it.”

Metal currency found in caches from the period contained up to 80 percent copper and only small amounts of silver. The people who made the money added arsenic, which gives copper the appearance of real silver.

“Despite the small percentage of silver in the silverware, they were mixed with other substances such as arsenic that made them look silver, which укрепляет the hypothesis that in at least part of the period it was a преднамеренная forgery,” say the researchers in statement translated by the Times of Israel.

@quiz_articles