On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:50:12 -0800 (PST), Mkop
wrote:

Cross posted to sci.engr.metallurgy

In a discussion on another site, a metallurgy question came up.

(Quoted on http://haprozdor.blogspot.com/2008/0...lden-calf.html.
See there for his suggestion.)


The Bible (Exodus 32:20) recounts that Moses burned, then ground the
Golden Calf. One commentator (Ibn Ezra) states that 'burned' doesn't
mean 'melted' as one might have thought (given that the Calf was
Gold), but that there is a substance that when inserted into a fire
with gold makes it irreversibly black. Does anyone know what this
substance is?


Thanks for your help,
Michael Kopinsky

==========

Assuming this was an actual event, and not an allegorical tale,
my best guess is that it was a carved wooden idol covered with
gold. Given the situation where/when the idol was supposed to
have been created, it is doubtful if there was enough gold to
make a solid gold statue of any size, but most likely enough [ear
rings?] to beat into something like gold leaf to cover an idol of
moderate size. This was a well known technique at the time as
evidenced by recovered Egyptian artifacts/ tomb goods from the
period. A hollow wooden statue would have burned well and would
have been lighter for transport.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_calf
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06628b.htm