“Glass from the Great Sand Sea.” A Libyan treasure threatened by political and security turmoil

Benghazi, January 12, 2024 (Al-Anbaa Al-Libya) – Natural glass, spread in areas of the Libyan desert near the eastern border with Egypt, is one of the most valuable gemstones spread in the country. Its presence has constituted a scientific mystery over the past years, and has always been the focus of attention of “geologists” who They offered dozens of scientific explanations for its existence.

-A valuable Libyan treasure

These widespread crystal stones represent a valuable treasure, as they are valued at very high prices, as they are used as a substitute for diamonds, and the scarcity of these stones causes their prices to rise significantly.

According to what the head of the Department of Science and Natural History at Christine’s Auction House, James Hislop, said about the price value of this glass, one piece of it may reach 20 thousand US dollars.

-Glass forming mechanism

Hislop said: These bottles scattered among the desert sand in some locations were formed by asteroids colliding with the Earth millions of years ago, stressing that these rocks collided with the Earth and then melted, pointing out that such areas may contain other stones and minerals that resulted from The collision itself.

-Geological research examining the origin of glass

Last November, the British scientific website (phys.org) published an article about the origin of Libyan desert glass, confirming that it represents a strange and rare type of yellow glass found exclusively in the Great Sand Sea Desert, which extends over an area of ​​(72) thousand square kilometers, between Egypt and Libya. .

The website confirmed in the scientific article that this glass can be observed spread throughout the eastern Libyan desert and the southwestern parts of Egypt, but these riches need someone to care for them and protect them from smugglers and traditional prospectors.

– Fears of theft of Libyan wealth

Because these stones are precious, they require security agencies capable of accessing such areas and imposing oversight on them to ensure their protection for future Libyan generations. However, the political and security turmoil experienced in the Libyan border regions exposes such wealth to danger.

By simply searching on Facebook, many people appear offering such bottles for sale illegally, which means that there are excavations for them in the Libyan desert, where they are sold at low prices that do not represent the value of such precious glass stones.

Many people interested in combating smuggling and travelers are calling for the need to develop a government vision to protect the areas where such glass is widespread, whether through security patrols or increasing awareness campaigns about such wealth and how to preserve and protect it.

-Tutankhamun necklace

What is strange about the issue of Libyan glass spread in the deserts is that it is old, as pieces of it were found in the necklace of the famous Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, and despite its rarity, it is found in other regions of the world, such as the “Moldavite” stone, from the Reis Crater in Europe, and “Tektites” (a type of black or gray glassy object) from Ivory Coast, but these types are not rich in the silica found in Libyan desert glass. (Libyan News Benghazi) S.H.

You can also read the news in the source from the Libyan News Agency