Egyptian meteorite beads
Jewellery made from space metal, 5,000 years ago.
In 1911, nine small iron beads were excavated from two graves at Gerzeh, about 70 km south of Cairo. The graves date to around 3200 BC, long before ancient Egyptians could smelt iron.
In 2013, researchers used electron microscopy and X-ray scans on one bead held by the Manchester Museum. They found it was made from thin sheets of meteoritic iron, rich in nickel, hammered and rolled into a tube. The metal still showed the internal structure typical of iron meteorites.
The beads were strung with gold and gemstones, showing that sky-iron was treated as a precious material alongside gold.