Editing Bitumen (section)

=== Ancient times ===
The use of natural bitumen for [[waterproofing]] and as an [[adhesive]] dates at least to the fifth [[millennium]] BC, with a crop storage basket discovered in [[Mehrgarh]], of the [[Indus Valley civilization]], lined with it.<ref>McIntosh, Jane. The Ancient Indus Valley. p. 57</ref> By the 3rd millennium BC refined rock asphalt was in use in the region, and was used to waterproof the [[Great Bath, Mohenjo-daro|Great Bath]] in Mohenjo-daro.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |entry=Great Bath |encyclopedia=Britannica |entry-url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Great-Bath-Mohenjo-daro |access-date=26 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[ancient Near East]], the [[Sumer]]ians used natural bitumen deposits for [[mortar (masonry)|mortar]] between [[brick]]s and stones, to cement parts of carvings, such as eyes, into place, for ship [[caulking]], and for waterproofing.<ref name="Abraham1938" /> The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] said hot bitumen was used as mortar in the walls of [[Babylon]].<ref>Herodotus, Book I, 179</ref>

The {{convert|1|km}} long [[Euphrates Tunnel]] beneath the river [[Euphrates]] at [[Babylon]] in the time of Queen [[Semiramis]] ({{circa|800 BC}}) was reportedly constructed of burnt bricks covered with bitumen as a waterproofing agent.<ref name="Abraham1938" />

Bitumen was used by [[ancient Egypt]]ians to [[Embalming|embalm]] mummies.<ref name="Abraham1938" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Pringle, Heather Anne |title=The Mummy Congress: Science, Obsession, and the Everlasting Dead |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |location=New York|year=2001 |pages= 196–197|isbn=978-0-7607-7151-8}}</ref> The [[Persian language|Persian]] word for asphalt is ''moom'', which is related to the English word [[mummy]]. The Egyptians' primary source of bitumen was the [[Dead Sea]], which the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] knew as ''Palus Asphaltites'' (Asphalt Lake).

In approximately 40 AD, [[Dioscorides]] described the Dead Sea material as ''Judaicum bitumen'', and noted other places in the region where it could be found.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pedanius Dioscorides |url=https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_dioscsprengelx01 |title=De Materia Medica |year=1829}} Original written c. 40 AD, translated by Goodyer (1655) [https://web.archive.org/web/20090206022946/http://www.therenaissanceman.org/images/DIOSCORIDES-Intro_Book_1.doc] ''or'' ''(Greek/Latin)'' compiled by Sprengel (1829) [https://books.google.com/books/download/Pedanii_Dioscoridis_____de_materia_medic.pdf?id=JwAUAAAAQAAJ&output=pdf] p. 100 (p. 145 in PDF).</ref> The Sidon bitumen is thought to refer to material found at [[Hasbeya]] in Lebanon.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Connan|first1=Jacques|last2=Nissenbaum|first2=Arie|title=The organic geochemistry of the Hasbeya asphalt (Lebanon): comparison with asphalts from the Dead Sea area and Iraq|journal=Organic Geochemistry|volume=35|issue=6|year=2004|pages=775–789|issn=0146-6380|doi=10.1016/j.orggeochem.2004.01.015|bibcode=2004OrGeo..35..775C |url=https://www.academia.edu/16512751}}</ref> [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] also refers to bitumen being found in [[Selenicë|Epirus]]. Bitumen was a valuable strategic resource. It was the object of the first known battle for a hydrocarbon deposit – between the [[Seleucid]]s and the [[Nabateans]] in 312 BC.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://payperview.datapages.com/data/open/offer.do?target=%2Fbulletns%2F1977-79%2Fdata%2Fpg%2F0062%2F0005%2F0800%2F0837.htm|title=Dead Sea Asphalts – Historical Aspects [free abstract]|author=Arie Nissenbaum|journal=AAPG Bulletin|volume=62|issue=5|date=May 1978|pages=837–844|doi=10.1306/c1ea4e5f-16c9-11d7-8645000102c1865d|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In the ancient Far East, natural bitumen was slowly boiled to get rid of the higher [[Fraction (chemistry)|fractions]], leaving a [[thermoplastic]] material of higher molecular weight that, when layered on objects, became hard upon cooling. This was used to cover objects that needed waterproofing,<ref name="Abraham1938" /> such as [[scabbard]]s and other items. [[Statuettes]] of household [[deities]] were also cast with this type of material in Japan, and probably also in China.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

In [[North America]], archaeological recovery has indicated that bitumen was sometimes used to adhere stone [[projectile point]]s to wooden shafts.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Fauvelle | first1=Mikael | last2=Smith | first2=Erin M. | last3=Brown | first3=Sean H. | last4=Des Lauriers | first4=Matthew R. | title=Asphaltum hafting and projectile point durability: an experimental comparison of three hafting methods | journal=Journal of Archaeological Science | volume=39 | issue=8 | date=2012 | doi=10.1016/j.jas.2012.04.014 | pages=2802–2809| bibcode=2012JArSc..39.2802F }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map |url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18502 |title=C.Michael Hogan (2008) ''Morro Creek'', ed. by A. Burnham |publisher=Megalithic.co.uk |access-date=27 August 2013}}</ref> In Canada, aboriginal people used bitumen seeping out of the banks of the [[Athabasca River|Athabasca]] and other rivers to waterproof birch bark [[canoe]]s, and also heated it in smudge pots to ward off [[mosquito]]es in the summer.<ref name=oilsandfacts/> Bitumen was also used to waterproof plank canoes used by indigenous peoples in pre-colonial southern California.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Fauvelle | first=Mikael | title=Acorns, Asphaltum, and Asymmetrical Exchange: Invisible Exports and the Political Economy of the Santa Barbara Channel | journal=American Antiquity | volume=79 | issue=3 | date=2014 | issn=0002-7316 | doi=10.7183/0002-7316.79.3.573 | pages=573–575}}</ref>