Vintage Ancient Egyptian Faience Bead-Amulet, A Rare Amulet, Valley Of The Queens, West Thebes - Egypt. 24 mm.

VINTAGE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FAIENCE BEAD - AMULET, RARE BEAUTIFUL BEAD.

CARVED ALL THE WAY AROUND

- FEATURES THOTH GOD OF KNOWLEDGE-WISDOM AND THE FEATHER OF JUSTICE (SYMBOL OF GODDESS MAAT)

A FASCINATING EXAMPLE OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS ART

*ACTUAL PHOTOS - AS IT WAS AQUIRED

Egyptian faience is a glassy substance manufactured most expertly by the ancient Egyptians, Faience was made by grinding quartz or sand crystals together with various amounts of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and copper oxide. The resulting substance was formed into whatever shape was desired, whether an amulet, beads, a broach or a figurine and then said pieces were heated. During heating, the pieces would harden and develop a bright color finely glazed. It is thought that the Egyptian artisans perfected faience in an attempt to imitate turquoise and other hard to find gem stones. The calcium silicates in the mixture were responsible for the bright colors and the glassy finish.

The Egyptians used faience for the manufacture of jewelry (rings, amulets, necklaces) but also in statuary, for scarabs, to create the board and pieces for the game of Sennet

The Egyptian word for faience was tjehenet which means 'gleaming’ or 'shining’ and the

faience was thought to reflect the light of immortality. So closely was faience associated with

the Egyptian after-life that the tiles for the chamber walls of tombs were made of faience as

was seen at King Djoser’s tomb at Saqqara and, most famously, in the tomb of

Tutankhamun where over one hundred objects were entirely or partially of faience.

The earliest evidence of a faience workshop has been unearthed at Abydos and dated to 5500 BCE. The workshop consists of a number of circular pits, clearly the remains of kilns, with a lining of brick and all of them fire-marked. Layers of ancient ash in the pits are evidence of continuous use over many years. Small clay balls were also discovered and it is thought that they may have been used as the surface on which faience beads were fired in the kilns. The names of the faience makers are lost to history save for one man, Rekhamun, who was known as “Faience Maker of Amun”, and another known as Debeni, the overseer of faience workers. Of the other craftsmen in faience, and there must have been many, nothing is known..

-ACQUIRED FROM VALLEY OF THE QUEENS, WEST THEBES (LUXOR), UPPER EGYPT, IN 1965

Exact age is not determined

IT IS GUARANTEED THAT THIS AMULET IS 50 YEARS OLD OR OLDER

DIMENSIONS: 24 X 14 mm, 1 X 2/3 inch.. (APPROXIMATELY)

COLOR: GREEN, GREENISH BLUE AND REDDISH BEIGE

HOLED, 5 mm HOLE

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