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Gibeon Meteorite
 

	Found in Namibia, radiometric dating places the age of crystallization of the iron-nickel metal in the Gibeon Meteorites at 4 billion years!
	Gibeon Meteorites are 90% iron, 8% nickel, 0.4% cobalt and 0.04% phosphorus.
	Gibeon Meteorites are a member of the Iron (Octahedrite) Meteorite family and known as the “King of the Irons” because of their incomparable stability, beauty and ease of working. In fact, the Nama and Kalahari Desert tribes’ people have been using these meteorites for generations to produce spear points and other weapons.

These indigenous people were not the first to use meteorites as a source of iron. Early man’s experience with the smelting and melting of other metals did not help in producing iron; it first came into use about 1,000 years later than bronze. But the ancients did know that iron existed. It was regarded as extremely rare and precious because it fell from the sky in exceedingly small quantities.
 

In old Sumeria, iron was called “Sky Metal” and the pharaohs in ancient Egypt knew it as “black copper from the sky”. King Tut (Tutankhamun) was buried with a little iron dagger made from meteorite iron right on his breast; obviously it was his most precious possession.
 

Legends also exist that Excalibur was made of metal found as an iron meteor and that the armor and weapons of the ancient Greek hero Achilles were similarly composed. These would consequently contain a lot of nickel, and would accidentally produce “steel”. Interestingly, there are such weapons in the world. The Indonesian Keris (Kris Knife) is traditionally made from meteor steel.
 

The Gibeon Meteorite shower is the most extensive meteorite shower known on Earth and covers a large elliptical area of some 275 by 100 kilometers. Most fragments fell just southeast of Gibeon in Great Nama Land, Namibia. To date, some 120 specimens with a weight of almost 25 tons have been recorded. In addition, an unknown number have been collected but never recorded.
 

The Gibeon Meteorite was first reported by Capt. J.E. Alexander in 1838. He heard of masses of native iron up to two feet square on the east side of the Great Fish River. He sent some materials to the chemist John Herschel in London, who established their meteoritic origin.
 

In the years following, Europeans established large cattle ranches in the area and recovered many more large meteorites. The first large piece weighing 81 kg was carried by ox-wagon for 800 miles to Cape Town by John Gibbs in 1853. A 232 kg mass was recovered in 1857. Many masses between 100 and 500 kg were recovered in the years shortly after 1900. These specimens are displayed in the Post Street Mall and at the museum of the Geological Survey of Namibia in Windhoek (Namibia’s Capital) and a number of them have also been donated to various museums around the world.
 

Extremely rare and highly coveted by collectors and jewelers alike, Gideon Meteorites are frequently fashioned into Jewelry, guitar picks, knife blades and other ornamental objects.