Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Stone Beads

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Ancient Egyptian Beads

  • 1004 Accesses

Abstract

The technical possibilities and difficulties offered by hard stone to the bead-maker are quite different from glass. The essential processes involved in the manufacture of beads of hard stone are as follows: firstly, roughly shaping into the required form; secondly, surface treatment by smoothing or polishing; and thirdly, perforation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Reisner, Kerma, IV, p. 93.

  2. 2.

    This bead has been illustrated in Mond and Myers, Armant, I. pl. XXXVII, Fig. 5, together with a grooved grinder, but these two were not found together according to Petrie, see his Prehistoric Egypt, p. 42, Sect. 105.

  3. 3.

    Green and Quibell, Hierakonpolis, II, p. 12, Sect. 31; illustrated in Mond and Myers, Armant, I. pl. XXXVII, Fig. 1, but without giving their provenance.

  4. 4.

    Petrie, Memphis, I, P. 11, Sect. 33.

  5. 5.

    Petrie, Prehistoric Egypt, p. 42, Sect. 105.

  6. 6.

    Mond and Myers, Armant, I, pp. 74–75.

  7. 7.

    Mackay, Bead-making in Ancient Sind, p. 9.

  8. 8.

    Mackay, Bead-making in Ancient Sind, p. 4, Fig. 12. Pl. II.

  9. 9.

    Mac Donanl, Beth-pelet, II, p. 19 (probably for grinding ostrich egg-shell beads alone.).

  10. 10.

    Orchard, Beads of American Indians, p. 34.

  11. 11.

    Petrie, Naqada and Ballas, pp. 44, 45; Petrie, pp. 41–42, Sect. 105. One of the two specimens in the U.C. Collection has been illustrated in Mond and Myers, Armant, I, pl. XXXVII, Fig. 5, and described as “quartzite” on p. 75. Another two of them are now in the Ashmolean Museum, one of which has a depressed cup mark and called “fragment of a corumdum vase” in the official guide (see the Summary Guide, Department of Antiquities, 4th ed. 1931, p. 40).

  12. 12.

    British Museum, Bronze Age Guide (1920), p. 87, Fig. 86.

  13. 13.

    Davies, Deir el Gebrawi, I, p. 20, pl. XIV.

  14. 14.

    Mond and Myers, Armant, I, p. 75.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., pp. 74–75.

  16. 16.

    Cf. Mackay, Bead-making in Ancient Sind, p. 5.

  17. 17.

    Woolley, Ur Excavation, II, The Royal Cemetery, p. 373.

  18. 18.

    Mond and Myers, Armant, I, p. 75.

  19. 19.

    Woolley, op. cit., p. 373.

  20. 20.

    Arkell, Cambay and the Bead Trade, p. 297.

  21. 21.

    Arkell, Cambay and the Bead Trade, p. 297.

  22. 22.

    Platt, op. cit. p. 182.

  23. 23.

    Mond and Myers, op. cit. p. 76.

  24. 24.

    Green and Quibell, Hierakonpolis, II, p. 12, Sect. 31.

  25. 25.

    Reisner, Kerma, IV, p. 93.

  26. 26.

    Woolley, op. cit. p. 373.

  27. 27.

    Marshall, Mohenjo-Daro, p. 511, 526.

  28. 28.

    Mackay, Bead-making in Ancient Sind, p. 8.

  29. 29.

    Brunton, Badarian Civilisation, p. 46, pl. XLVII, 6.

  30. 30.

    Caton-Thompson, The Desert Fayum, p. 32.

  31. 31.

    Woolley, op. cit., p. 373.

  32. 32.

    Cf. Mackay, Bead-making in Ancient Sind, p. 5.

  33. 33.

    For example, no. 1232 in the Petrie Collection; cf. Petrie, Nebesheh p. 24, Sect. 23.

  34. 34.

    Orchard, Beads of the American Indians, p. 41; Figs. 29–37, 71; pls VIII–IX; Winlock, A Discovery of Egyptian Jewelry by X-ray, in B.M.M.A., XXXI, pp. 274–278, Figs. 1–3.

  35. 35.

    Cf. Petrie, Tools and Weapons, p. 39, Sects. 102–105; and Brunton Badarian Civilization, p. 56, Sect. 118.

  36. 36.

    Green and Quibell, Hierakonpolis, 11, p. 12, Sect. 31.

  37. 37.

    Mac Donald, Beth-pelet, 11, p. 3, 8; pl. XXII.

  38. 38.

    Mackay, Bead-making in Ancient Sind, p. 6.

  39. 39.

    Peet, Cemeteries of Abydos, 11, pp. 3–4; pl. 111, Fig. a, upper half.

  40. 40.

    Lucas, Anc. Egypt. Material, p. 339.

  41. 41.

    McGuire, A Study of the Primitive methods of Drilling. P. 672; cf. Orchard, Beads of the American Indians, pp. 39–41.

  42. 42.

    Reisner, Kerma, IV, pp. 93–94.

  43. 43.

    Brunton, Badarian Civilization, p. 33, pl. XXVI; and Petrie, Tools and Weapons, p. 52, Sect. 144; pls. LXII, LXV.

  44. 44.

    Vernier, La Bijouterie et al joaillerie égyptiennes, pp. 137–138.

  45. 45.

    Lucas, Anc. Egypt. Materials, pp. 64–66.

  46. 46.

    Mond and Myers, Armant, 1, pp. 77–78, pl. XXXIX, 1.

  47. 47.

    Lucas, op. cit. pp. 67–69.

  48. 48.

    Petrie, Tools and Weapons, p. 39, Sect. 105; pl. LXXVIII, M19, pp. 24–25.

  49. 49.

    Ibid. p. 52, Sect. 144; pl. LXV.

  50. 50.

    Steindorff, Grab des Ti (1913). pl. 133; see also Newberry, An unpublished scene from the Tomb of Thy. In P.S.B.A. XXVII (1905), p. 286.

  51. 51.

    Davies, Deir el Gebrawi, 1, pp. 78–79.

  52. 52.

    Mond and Myers, Armant, 1, pp. 78–79.

  53. 53.

    Griffith, Beni Hasan, 111, pl. V, 80; p. 26.

  54. 54.

    Petrie, Tools and Weapons. P. 39, Sect. 103; pls XLIII, and XLVIII.

  55. 55.

    Theban Tombs, Nos. 39, 75, 100, 178, and 181; see Wreszinski, Atlas, 1, pls. 154, 242, 313, 73, and 360; see also the publications of individual tombs by Davies. According to Davies, the drills are shown also in the tomb No. 95, besides these five (see his Tomb of Puyemre, 1, 75).

  56. 56.

    Davies, Tomb of Puyemre, vol. 1, p. 75. Myers also regards it as “a very difficult feat”, see Mond and Myers, Armant, 1, p. 76.

  57. 57.

    For fish-spearing, see Wreszinski, Atlas, 1, pls. 70, 77, 106, etc.; for the famous picture, British Museum 37977 (bird-hunting with cat), see various publications, e.g. Wreszinski, Atlas, 1, pl. 423.

  58. 58.

    Petrie, Tools and Weapons, p. 39, Sect. 102; pl. XLIII, M5.

  59. 59.

    Lucas, Anc. Egyp. Materials, p. 70.

  60. 60.

    Mond and Myers, Armant, 1, p. 79, and the references quoted there.

  61. 61.

    Lucas, op. cit. pp. 70–73, 219.

  62. 62.

    Lucas, op. cit. p. 71.

  63. 63.

    Ency. Brit. 14th ed., vol. 1, p. 62.

  64. 64.

    Lucas’ information, quoted in Mond and Myers, Armant, 1, p. 79, Footnote 1.

  65. 65.

    Petrie, Tools and Weapons, pp. 45–46.

  66. 66.

    Mond and Myers, op. cit. pp. 79. 93–94.

  67. 67.

    Cf. Beck, Classification, pp. 55–57.

  68. 68.

    Cf. Vernier, La bijouterie, p. 139.

  69. 69.

    Mond and Myers, Armant, 1, p. 75.

  70. 70.

    Petrie, Memphis, 1, p. 11. Sect. 33.

  71. 71.

    Brunton, Mostagedda. pp. 51–52.

  72. 72.

    Mond and Myers, Armant 1, p. 75; Pl. XXXVII, Fig. 6.

  73. 73.

    Ibid., p. 80.

  74. 74.

    Marshall. Mohenjo-Daro, p. 526.

  75. 75.

    Brunton, Mostagedda, pp. 51–52. Sect. 64.

  76. 76.

    Mond and Myers, Armant 1, pp. 79–80, and Footnote 1.

  77. 77.

    Mond and Myers, Armant 1, p. 72, 89. It is identified by Maufe as “probably glazed serpentine”.

  78. 78.

    Ibid., pp 72, 89, 91, (Predyn. beads). For some green-glazed carnelian beads found in a Nubian tomb, see Reisner, Kerma IV, p. 14, 49, 53.

  79. 79.

    Reisner, op. cit. IV, Chap. XXIV, and also pp. 49–50, 52–53; and Beck, op. cit., pt. 11. p. 19, 23.

  80. 80.

    Beck, op. cit. pt. II, p. 19, 23, 29.

  81. 81.

    Beck, op. cit. pt. III, p. 35–36.

  82. 82.

    Reisner, Kerma, IV, p. 49.

  83. 83.

    Reisner, Kerma, IV, p. 93.

  84. 84.

    Beck, op. cit. pt. II, pp. 25–26.

  85. 85.

    Ibid., pt. I, p. 73.

  86. 86.

    Reisner, Kerma, IV, p. 94.

  87. 87.

    Beck, op. cit. pt. II, p. 21.

  88. 88.

    Reisner, op. cit. p. 49.

  89. 89.

    Cf. [7].

  90. 90.

    Beck, op. cit., pt. II, p. 23.

  91. 91.

    Ibid., pt. I, pp. 74–75; and also Brunton, Mostagedda, pp. 60–61 (containing both Beck’s remarks and Lucas’ comments).

  92. 92.

    Bannister and Plenderleith, op. cit., p. 5.

  93. 93.

    Petrie, Arts and Crafts, p. 107; see also his Prehistoric Egypt, p. 43.

  94. 94.

    Beck, op. cit. pt. III, p. 36.

  95. 95.

    Ibid., pt. III, Pl. V, 5; p. 36.

References

  1. Daniel, F. (1937) Bead workers of Ilorin, Nigeria. Man, XXXVII(2).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Platt, A. F. R. (1909). The ancient Egyptian method of working hard stone. In Proceedings of Society of Biblical Archaeology (Vol. XXXI, p. 183).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Daniel, F. (1937) Bead workers of Ilorin, Nigeria. Man, XXVII(2).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Beck, H. C. (1933). Etched carnelian beads. The Antiquaries Journal, XIII, 384–398.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Mackay, E. (1933) Decorated carnelian beads. Man, (150), 143–146.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bannister, F. A. & Plenderleith, H. J. (1936). Physico-chemical examination of a scarab. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, XXII, p. 4.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Lucas, A. (1936). Glazed ware in Egypt. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, XXII, pp. 154–156.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China

    Nai Xia

Authors
  1. Nai Xia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nai Xia .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Social Sciences Academic Press(China) and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Xia, N. (2014). Stone Beads. In: Ancient Egyptian Beads. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54868-0_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation