Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Jewellery : Necklace of "Egyptian blue" beads [Σ-Κ260]

Necklace of "Egyptian blue" beads

Σ-Κ260

Cast material

Intact

Length: 8.5 cm.

Phaistos

Kalyvia

Late Bronze Age. Final Palatial period, Late Minoan ΙΙΙΑ1- IIIA2 early.:

1400-1350 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

110

Exhibition thematic unit:

Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC) - Final Palatial period (1450-1300 BC).The cemeteries

Cemeteries of Phaistos

Description

Necklace of nine beads of "Egyptian blue" (blue frit) shaped like wheat grains and papyrus heads, and one bead of glass. Found in a tomb in Kalyvia, Phaistos and strung together for display. The necklace is a representative example of jewellery made of materials (faience and glass) cast in a mould, an Egyptian technique adopted and perfected by Cretan artisans, as we see from the wealth of such ornaments in tombs of the period 1450-1300 BC. This technique produced identical beads, usually imitating and replacing gold ones. The light "Egyptian blue" may have been used as a substitute for turquoise, while dark blue glass was a substitute for lapis lazuli. Both semiprecious stones had a symbolic significance in Egypt, and the Minoans may also have attributed apotropaic qualities to beads made of these materials.

Bibliography:

Savignoni, L. Scavi e scoperte nella necropoli di Phaestos (Monumenti Antichi 14), 1904, fig. 77. Panagiotaki, Μ., "106. Περιδέραιο". In Karetsou, A. M. Andreadaki-Vlazaki and N. Papadakis (eds), Κρήτη-Αίγυπτος. Πολιτισμικοί δεσμοί τριών χιλιετιών, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ηρακλείου, 21 Νοεμβρίου 1999-21 Σεπτεμβρίου 2000, Heraklion, 2000, 126, no. 106. Panagiotaki, M. "The technological development of Aegean vitreous materials in the Bronze Age." In C.M. Jackson and E.C. Wager (eds), Vitreous Materials in the Late Bronze Age Aegean, Sheffield Studies in Aegean Archaeology, Oxbow Books, 2008, 34-63 (44-45).

Author:

G. F.

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