Bitumen has been used for centuries in many different ways.
It’s believed that approximately 40,000 years ago, the Neanderthals in Syria used bitumen. Historians
found the material adhered to stone tools.
Bitumen was also used in Syria during the Uruk and Chalcolithic periods, mainly to construct buildings
and waterproof reed boats.
In antiquity, bitumen was used as an adhesive to repair broken statues or pottery. It was also used to
manufacture handles for tools. In fact, the use of bitumen to attach stone edges to handles of various
tools was widespread until the Neolithic era, with samples found in Syria dating back to 6800BC, in Israel
from 8900–7800BC and Pakistan from 3500BC.
Interestingly, bitumen was also used during the mummification process in Egypt. The bitumen was
sourced from the Dead Sea, which was known to the Romans as Palus Asphalites, translated to Asphalt
Lake. The connection between the ancient Middle East and the mummification process is also
understood through the actual word ‘mummy’, which is derived from the Arabic word for bitumen –
mumiyyah