On the Occurrence of tin in Asia Minor and in the Neighbourhood of Egypt

Extract

I have read with great interest Prof. Sayce's discussion on the home of the Keftiu in the previous part of the JHS., and I am glad to see that on the whole he shares Mr. Wainwright's views, which I myself believe to be correct, if only we admit the possibility that Cretans may have been included under the term during a short period. Prof. Sayce definitely states, in opposition to Mr. Wainwright, that no tin is found in Asia Minor. He seems not to be aware that in the Sitzb. Kgl. Bayer. Ak. d. W., Ph. Hist. Kl. 1911, 6, pp. 6 ff., I have quoted Hintze, Handbuch d. Mineralogie, I, pp. 1678 ff., where it is stated (p. 1702) that at Eskishehir, in Central Asia Minor, tin had been found quite recently and that the mines were exploited under the old Turkish government. Prof. Rothpletz, the well-known authority on alpine geology and mineralogy, at that time of the University of Munich, added that there was every chance of tin occurring as ‘Seifenzinn’ or ‘Stromzinn’ on Sinai and in the desert between Assuan and the Red Sea.