Orichalcum is the legendary metal used in Atlantis. There has been a lot of speculation about what it might have been. Based on it’s color, the thought has always been that it might be an alloy of copper. The theory has been given some credence based on a 2600 year old ship wreak which was found off of Sicily. Divers recovered 39 ingots of an alloy made of copper, zinc and charcoal were found among this shipwreck. Since then, an additional 47 ingots of this cast metal were found in the same vicinity of the shipwreck.
The Zinc Mystery
Nothing like this has ever been found before. What’s even more interesting is that zinc was not first processed until around 1000 years ago. So this metal represents a technology that was over 1000 years before it’s time.
The discovery of these ingots, referred to as orichalcum, could be proof of the existence of the mythical Atlantis. This rare find lends credence to the fable that the island of Atlantis sank into the ocean, taking all of its orichalcum with it. It is believed that the ancient ship was making its way from Greece or somewhere in Asia Minor, carrying the metal to southern Sicily, Gela, when it was caught in a storm and sank at 1,000 feet from port.
How valuable is this metal? The alloy consists of 75 to 80 percent copper, 15 to 20 percent zinc, and small percentages of nickel, lead, and iron. We can look to the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, for an assessment of orichalcum’s worth. In his description of it, in the Critias dialogue , he states that only gold was a more precious substance than orichalcum. Plato also describes, in this same dialogue, that the city of Atlantis was gleaming with “the red light of orichalcum.”
As discovery and investigation continue, there could be much to be learned about Sicily’s ancient economic history. There is the possibility, here, to learn more about artisan workshops in antiquity. There is also the chance to make the myth of Atlantis a reality.
