Oil has been used since ancient times. Excavation on the bank of the
Euphrates River revealed the existence of an oil field 6-4 thousand
years before Christ. At that time, oil was used as fuel, and oil
bitumen - in construction and road construction. Already in Ancient
Sumer made bricks from burnt clay, which were used for construction, and
earth tar - bitumen as lime for bonding bricks. Bitumen is oil, from
which all the most easily evaporating fractions are removed. Oil was
also known in Ancient Egypt, where it was used to embalm the dead.
Plutarch and Dioskorid mention oil as a fuel used in Ancient Greece.
About 2 thousand years ago it was known about its deposits in Surakhany
near modern city of Baku. Oil is also mentioned in the Old Testament in
the following books: Genesis; Joshua; Third Book of Kings; Fourth Book
of Kings; Psalter; Prophet Isaiah; Prophet Daniel; Third Book of Ezra;
Solomon's Wisdom; Second Book of Maccabees.