Were the people in Egypt refining heavy water ?

Question

There are strange structures at Abu Gharub involving bowls, and an abundance of Mica , also around Inca Pyramids there are a series of sluces - lined with mica - for transporting water.

People presumed this was for gold - but how can gold be separated this way? Some were saying electrostatic deposition, but would this work for deuterium also?

There are things found that are never discussed. If an advanced civilisation existed before the Egyptians, it is possible they used whatever technology they could understand afterwards, the rest just abandoned.

Answer 1

Well for one, I love Egyptian myth and lore. I have some odd theories of their advanced technologies myself. So, did they refine heavy water?  They had flashlights and batteries!! They even had power generators!!!! Don't believe it, look at the evidence yourself. I think they could have. They came up with electroplating gold to nickle and copper. How?? Batteries! and the powergenrators!! They had wooden wheels with copper ingots laid in them with copper wire strains wrapped around the poles with a second wooden wheel with nickle ingots laid in them and the spun the wheels in opposite directions to create the electro-staic charges which were fed down the copper wires into their primitive batteries. There are paintinf of people carring "light"in to the pyramids, they show one man holding an object with the light rays shoot out and 3 others carrying the "batteries!!!! I kid you not!!! besides it the pyramids were lit by torch light .... where is all the soot from the torch fuel????? None has ever been found.   Like you I could probaby go on forever, but theres my answer.. Yes I believe they did.

Answer 2

So they lined bowls with mica.  That must mean some amazingly advanced civilization was here before them!!

Answer 3

With gold mining, the "waste rock" is a matter of perception. Gold, being copresent with quartz and other specific types of rock, might be what they were originally mining, but what about iron? Iron was much more valuable than gold, and I can think of a way that an electromagnet might be able to pick this up, rather than just an electrostatic charge.

Answer 4

It is very difficult to synthesize heavy water. It is difficult to imagine how this could be done simply by lining a sluice with mica.

It is much more likely that they built sluices to carry water to where it was needed and the mica was used because it was available.

Answer 5

There were two correct answers but what RJ stated most emphatically is the answer you sought. AND the most correct answer by the way.