Basanite - Oxford Definition

A type of greywacke (conglomerate rock formed as a by-product of the decomposition of basaltic rock). It was highly prized and first used for sculpture by the ancient Egyptians who, until the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great c.332 BC, reserved it for statues of the gods. Varying in colour from very dark green to dark rusty brown, it was known to the Egyptians as the ‘stone of Bekhan’ and extracted, with considerable difficulty, from Mount Uadi Hammmt. In the 18th century Josiah Wedgwood invented and sold an imitation of basanite known as black basalt.