Orichalcum
Mythological · Legendary · Ancient
The legendary metal of Atlantis, described by Plato as the second most precious substance after gold. The walls and pillars of Poseidon's great temple were said to be clad in it, glowing like fire.
Identity
- Source
- Greek mythology / Plato's Critias
- Composition
- Copper ~75-80%, Zinc ~15-20%
- Over time
- Plato gives no recipe. The Romans called brass aurichalcum, and the ingots raised from a 6th-century BC wreck off Gela, analysed in 2015, were 75 to 80% copper and 15 to 20% zinc with a little nickel, lead and iron.
- Also known as
- Aurichalcum, Mountain copper
- Ores, before industry and since
- Azurite (Copper), Chalcocite (Copper), Chalcopyrite (Copper), Copper (Copper), Malachite (Copper), Tetrahedrite (Copper), Hemimorphite (Zinc), Smithsonite (Zinc), Sphalerite (Zinc)
- Ores of the industrial age
- Bornite (Copper), Chrysocolla (Copper), Covellite (Copper), Cuprite (Copper), Enargite (Copper)
- Comes from
- Atlantis
Physical Properties
- Appearance
- Deep burnished gold with reddish undertones, almost flame-like in direct light
- Luster
- Metallic
- Density
- 8.9 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 1800 °C
- Boiling point
- 3200 °C
- Lighter
- Orium
- Denser
- Nickel
- Magnetism
- Non-magnetic
- Electrical conductivity
- High
Mechanical Properties
- Mohs hardness
- 7
- Tensile strength
- 900 MPa
- Softer
- Vanadium
- Harder
- Tungsten
- Workability
- Difficult
- Brittleness
- Moderate
- Malleability
- Moderate
- Ductility
- Moderate
Chemical Properties
- Corrosion resistance
- Very High
- Reactivity
- Very Low
Lore & Narrative
No smith alive has seen true orichalcum. What ancient texts describe may have been a lost copper-gold alloy, a misremembered mineral, or something that simply no longer exists.
- Notable uses
- Temple cladding, ritual vessels, royal ornamentation
- Forge uses
- Ornamentation, Ritual vessels, Architecture
- Worldbuilding traits
- Lost, Divine, Atlantean, Legendary
Sources
- Plato, Critias, 114e and 116c-d (trans. W. R. M. Lamb), Perseus Digital Library
- Orichalcum, Wikipedia
- Unusual Metal Recovered from Ancient Greek Shipwreck, Archaeology Magazine, 2015
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