Thread by @TheOnionGod

1/ Today on #Archaeology_Online let's talk about Egyptian faience. This #thread is all about ancient Egyptian art, but let's start with an explanations of what fiance is & where it came from. >>

** P.S. I Saved the best for last **

@nickfshort @nidgethompson

2/ >> Egyptian faience is a type of ceramic that after glazing it's colors alternate between blue and green. There is no clay in the fiancee so it is not considered an actual ceramic, & because of it's special properties it was one of the main export products of ancient Egypt. >>

3/ >> Faience appeared at the end of the 5th millennium BCE at Ur in Mesopotamia, & was later developed further by the Phoenicians. But without a doubt the ones who took Faience to the highest degree of craftsmanship were the Egyptians, hence it's name, Egyptian fiance. >>

4/ >> The walls in the tomb of Pharaoh DJoser, from the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE, were covered in faience tiles. The earliest evidence of a faience workshop was found in Petrie's excavations in Abydos, dated to 5500 BCE. >>

5/ >> In addition, evidence was also found of a faience workshop in the excavations (again by Petrie) at the famous El-Amarna site. Other than figurines, jewlery made of faience was also found including rings, amulets, necklaces and scarabs. >>

6/ >> However, one of the most common faience item found in archeological excavations are the Uhabti figurines which are found in the tombs of the pharaohs. Aditionally, faience also entered the Egyptian fashion world. >>

7/ >> There is evidence that women also wore luxury clothes in everyday life that can be seen in Egyptian murals. In the paintings one can see women and deities wearing a beaded dress. But what exactly is a beaded dress? >>

* A papyrus with a woman in a beaded dress.

8/ >> It turns out that it is more than a painting, in the 1920s real examples of dresses made of faience beads were discovered in archeological excavations. The dresses were created with thousands of beads arranged in a pattern. >>

9/ >> Most of the dresses were found in burials, & today only 20 dresses of this type are known in the world & displayed in various museums. The dress below is dated to the period of Pharaoh Khufu who ruled between 2589-2566 BCE & buildt of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

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