Egypt, Faience "Mummy" Beads, New Kingdom to Late Dynastic Period

Each order includes three small beads. Please note that shape and color may vary!

These ceramic beads date back to ancient Egypt, from approximately the New Kingdom to the Late Dynastic period (c. 1500 - 300 BCE). They were made to imitate the appearance of precious stones such as turquoise or lapis lazuli, but are actually a non-clay ceramic material known as "faience," which consists primarily of powdered quartz or sand, lime, soda, and mineral colorants. Blue hues signified the Nile, sky and rebirth, while green hues were symbolic of regeneration and the afterlife.

Egyptian faience beads are sometimes nicknamed "mummy" beads—a nod to the bead-nets that were often found draped onto Egyptian mummies, acting as both a decorative garment and as an item of protection for individuals passing into the afterlife. In reality though, most uses of these beads had nothing to do with mummies. Faience beads were strung into necklaces, bracelets, and other elaborate garments that were used in various personal adornment, religious, and funerary practices.

Beyond their spiritual and aesthetic use, faience beads were highly valued in trade. Prized for their vibrant colors, faience beads were produced in large quantities by skilled artisans and distributed along Egypt’s extensive trade routes through the Mediterranean and Middle East. Archeological finds of Egyptian faience beads have been widespread, with sites across Levant, Mesopotamia and the Aegean, proving these beads were highly valuable and a sought after commodity from ancient Egypt. As a result, they are one of the most common Egyptian artifacts around today, and can be very affordable!

These beads were purchased at auction by History Hoard, and were originally part of the collection of "Y. Kayvan" in Los Angeles, California, who acquired them from a different Los Angeles based gallery that formed the collection in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Each coin comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.