Wadi Natrun Natron Works
About
A chain of alkaline lakes sunk twenty-three meters below sea level in Egypt's western desert supplied natron, the sodium salt that dried and preserved mummies for millennia before Rome ever arrived. Glass factories sprang up right beside the lakes, since natron was also the flux glassmakers needed to melt sand into glass, tying this remote valley into Mediterranean trade. Harvesting ran on an industrial scale, caravanned out to the Nile and beyond.
What happened here
Shallow pans are cut into the flats behind a beach or a lagoon and filled at high tide through a gate. The water is walked through a sequence of pans, each shallower and saltier than the last, and the sun does the rest over the summer. In late season the crust is raked into ridges, left to drain, then carried off in baskets. The work is hot, glaring and hard on the feet, and it is done by contracted labour on a short season. Salt preserves fish and meat, cures hides and pays part of the state's revenue, so the pans are regulated and often leased from the state. A salina needs sun, wind and a tide, and it shuts down entirely when it rains.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →