146 SURVEYS of ancient Near Eastern crucibles used for metal working have almost invariably assumed that they had a bowl shape. This is well demonstrated by Tylecote who has a typology of types A to L of such crucibles (Tylecote 1976: 17–19, table 12, fig. 13). This approach reflects modern practice where deep bowl shaped crucibles are placed on top of the coals of a furnace to melt the metal charge and then manip- ulated with tongs to pour the contents out. Tylecote developed his typology in The prehis- tory of metallurgy in the British Isles, where he ac- knowledges that British crucibles often differ from early foreign crucibles which were normally placed under the fire (1986: 97). Crucible fragments from sites such as Marsa Matruh (White 2002: 189), Qau (Davey 1985: 145), Qantir (Rehren 1995: 102; Philip 2007: 203) and el-Amarna (Eccleston & Kemp 2008) have slag on the internal surface showing that the fire was in or over the crucible. The New Kingdom tomb paintings in the Tomb of Rekh-mi-re depict the fire over the crucible (Dav- ies 1943: pl.17). The use of tuyeres in these depic- tions may raise a question about the location of the seat of the fire, however in a discussion about tuyeres, Tylecote describes how they may be configured to de- liver forced air into a crucible (1981: 117). Tuyeres of the type referred to by Tylecote have also been dis- covered at Qantir and el-Amarna in second millen- nium contexts (Pusch 1990: 86ff; Eccleston & Kemp 2008). The use of green branches to carry fully charged crucibles as depicted in the Tomb of Rekh- mi-re confirms that the external surface of the cruci- ble was comparatively cool and that the heat was concentrated inside the crucible (Rehren 1995: 103). The crucible shape depicted in the Old Kingdom Tomb of Mereruka has not occupied much discussion although the crucible was ubiquitous enough for its sil- houette to become the hieroglyphic symbol for copper (Davey 1985; Gardiner 1957: 490, 529; Ockinga 2005: 113). The discovery of such crucibles at Tell edh- Dhiba’i revealed a geographic and chronological distri- bution of the ‘Mereruka’ technology not previously appreciated (Davey 1983, 1988). The Tell edh-Dhiba’i – Mereruka-style crucibles do not feature in any typologies and present an obvi- ous problem, in their upright position they will not retain a liquid. This feature prompts the need for an explanation of their operation. Is it possible to melt metal in crucibles of this shape using the system de- picted in the Tomb of Mereruka? The apparent ab- sence of such crucibles from the western Asiatic archaeological record also warrants clarification. THE MERERUKA RELIEFS There are four metallurgical scenes found in the Tomb of Mereruka, Saqqara, depicting weighing, melting, casting and hammering of copper (Fig. 1). The melting scene shows two crucibles back to back and two teams of three people using blowpipes to ventilate the fire which is at least partly in front of the crucibles. There is something like a lid on top of the crucibles. The Old Kingdom ideogram for copper appears above the weighing scene which is to the left of the melting scene. The use of three blowpipes for each furnace is logical as it is possible for them to apply a steady CRUCIBLES FROM THE BRONZE AGE OF EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA CHRISTOPHER J. DAVEY & W. IAN EDWARDS Australian Institute of Archaeology, La Trobe University, Victoria 3086, Australia. DAVEY, C.J. & EDWARDS, W.I., 2007. Crucibles from the Bronze Age of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 120(1): 146–154. ISSN 0035–9211. Crucibles of the design depicted in the Old Kingdom Tomb of Mereruka at Saqqara were found at the Old Babylonian site of Tell edh-Dhiba’i in Baghdad revealing a significant geographical and chronologi- cal distribution of the crucible style and the technology they represent. It is argued that these previously unrecognized artefacts were the normal means of melting metal in the drier regions of western Asia during the Bronze Age and that crucible fragments often found in these areas are not ‘bowl shaped’ but are in fact Mereruka-style crucibles. Casting experiments with replicas of such crucibles have demonstrated their operational efficacy and attested to the accuracy of the tomb reliefs. Key words: Bronze Age, Crucible, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Metallurgy.