Examples of Egyptian, and Roman-Egyptian, eye-beads, and a fragment of a Nubian eye-bead. Throughout much of the history of glass-making, glass was used as a substitute for precious and semi-precious stones as it could be cut and polished with greater ease than harder natural materials. Egypt, under the Pharaohs, had a profitable glass-making industry. Glass vessels were among numerous objects buried with the dead for use in the afterlife, as well as glass amulets and scarabs. Beads, cups and bowls and bottles for ointments and scents were all formed in glass, and glass tableware was made by skilled craftsmen.
Two small Egyptian eye-beads, c. 100-300 AD. Egyptian glass is amongst the finest of the ancient world. Glass was a highly favoured luxury material but was only produced in small quantities until about 400 BC. Glass then became popular among the rich in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt.
