A new study suggests that small branding irons from ancient Egypt were likely used to mark the skin of enslaved persons. The branding irons (made of bronze) are thought to date roughly to the 19th dynasty (c. 1292 BC) until the 25th dynasty (c. 656 BC).

https://www.livescience.com/ancient-egypt-branding-irons-slaves?fbclid=IwAR0NNu1N_NUPNTsx0WVdFuMd-r9-kAjeaCt2YX-kbZ6mEFYkq2Ydxlazsew

‘Mark them with my Mark’: Human Branding in Egypt - Ella Karev, 2022 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03075133221130094?fbclid=IwAR3fMuhoQIhCAcsCuClt5YlI8BrnCs0kUQ_NJU7NDsWn948K4rugGatql6U