Mercury is thought to be one of the first metals used by humans. Historical records provide evidence of mercury use by ancient Chinese and Hindu civilizations. Archaeologists have also found traces of mercury in an Egyptian tomb dating from 1500 BC and in the writing of a Chinese alchemist around 4500 BC. Both the Egyptians and Chinese may have been using the mercury ore, cinnabar, as a pigment to paint their tombs, anoint their statues and even preserve their dead. Many civilizations believed mercury had mystical properties and the power to prolong life. Alchemists tried for ages to transmute base metals into gold through the action.
