Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 134, February 2016, pp. 1-44. | Page 30

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and the Mediterranean (e.g. Eocene limestones from Egypt). Fossils up to 6
inches wide are found in the Middle Eocene rocks of Turkey. They are valuable
as index fossils (Wikipedia).
The ancient Egyptians used nummulite shells as coins and the pyramids were
constructed using limestone that contained nummulites. It is not surprising then
that the name "Nummulites" is a diminutive form of the Latin nummulus meaning
"little coin", a reference to their shape (Wikipedia).
In
1913,
naturalist Randolph
Kirkpatrick published
a
book, ―The
Nummulosphere: an account of the Organic Origin of so-called Igneous Rocks
and Abyssal Red Clays‖, proposing the unconventional theory that all rocks had
been produced through the accumulation of forams such as Nummulites
(Wikipedia).

Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Khalaf-von Jaffa studying the Nummulite
fossils at Wadi El-Hitan (Whales Valley), Al-Fayyum, Al-Sahraa Al-Gharbiah (Western
Desert), Egypt. Photo: Ola Mostafa Khalaf. 11.07.2012.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15306630049/

Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 134 – February 2016