The mines of the Sinaitic peninsula were worked for copper at the time of Seneferu, about 3733 B. C., and probably much earlier (Gowland, p. 245, and elsewhere), “but long before the actual mining operations were carried on, how long it is impossible to say, the metal must have been obtained by primitive methods from the surface ore. It is hence not unreasonable to assume that at least as early as about 5000 B. C. the metal copper was known and in use in Egypt.” The same writer believes “that an earlier date than 5000 B. C. should be assigned to the first use of copper in the Chaldean region.” In this he bases himself on the discovery of copper figures associated with bricks and tablets bearing the name of King Ur-Nina (about 4500 B. C.), and the fact that the upper Tigris region is known to contain rich deposits of the mineral. Jastrow, Jr., assigns the date of 3000 B. C. to Ur-Nina, which may be more correct. Gowland dates copper in Cyprus at 2500 B. C., or even 3000, judging by the finds at Crete dated 2500 B. C. In the Troad he thinks it was used not later than in Cyprus. For China the date is unknown, but if we accept 2205, given in the Chinese annals as the time when the nine bronze caldrons were cast, which are often mentioned in the historical records, then copper may have been in use as early as 3000, or even earlier. De Morgan dates copper at 4400 B. C. in Egypt, where it was found in the supposed tomb of Menes. See also Lord Avebury, _Prehistoric Times_, pp. 71–72, who gives 3730 for copper-working in Sinai, and its first appearance about 5000 B. C. Montelius, 1, p. 380, gives copper in Cyprus as about 2500 B. C., hardly 3000; and for Egypt 5000; he regards it as having been known in Babylon at about the same time. Breasted, _Ancient Times_, assigns the date of the earliest copper as at least 4000 in Egypt. 125 : 27. Eduard Meyer, 1, p. 41. But _cf._ Reisner, _Naga-ed-Dêr_, I, p. 126, note 3. Also Hall, _Ancient History of the Near East_, p. 28. 126 : 1. Elliot Smith, 1, p. 8: “Most serious scholars who concern themselves with the problems of the ancient history of Egypt and Babylonia have now abandoned these inflated estimates of the lengths of the historical periods in the two empires; and it is now generally admitted that Meyer’s estimate of 3400±100 B. C. is a close approximation to the date of the union of Upper and Lower Egypt and that the blending of Semitic and Sumerian cultures in Babylonia took place shortly after the time of this event in the Nile valley.” See also Hall, _Ancient History of the Near East_, p. 3.