The Glass Industry in the Mycenaean Palace of Thebes
Tradition, Innovation and Exchange 2006-2007
Dr Kalliopi Nikita
Funded by: Dr M. Aylwin Cotton Foundation Fellowship Award in Mediterranean Studies 2006-2007 (£9,000)
Electron microprobe analysis and laser ablated inductively coupled mass spectrometry are used to examine the chemical composition and micro-structure of glass and vitreous materials that found in jewellery workshops and storerooms of the palace at Mycenaean Thebes. The material under investigation includes not only the typical Mycenaean glass jewellery but also glass, faience and 'frit' objects imported from vitreous industries of Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia (Figures 1, 2, 3).
The research aims to:
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Elucidate the innovatory stages marking the evolution of the Theban glass industry, which set it apart from its contemporaneous glass industries in Egypt, Anatolia, the Levant and Mesopotamia
Figure 1: Three-handled vessel. Translucent dark blue glass. Core-formed. Threads of opaque yellow and white glass applied in a zigzag pattern. H. 0.12m. R.D. 0.07m. Mycenaean cemetery at Megalo Kastelli in Thebes. Early 13th century BC. Possibly imported from 18th Dynasty Egypt. Thebes Archaeological Museum.
Figure 2: Pendant in the form of a sixteen-petalled daisy. White faience bearing translucent turquoise glaze. Moulded. D. 0.01m Th. 0.004m. Mycenaean cemetery at Megalo Kastelli in Thebes. Early 13th century BC. Imported from 18th Dynasty Egypt. Thebes Archaeological Museum.
Figure 3: Disc beads. Faience core of white colour bearing translucent turquoise glaze. Moulded. D. 0.008m. Th. 0.001m. Mycenaean cemetery at Megalo Kastelli inThebes. Early 13th century BC. Imported from 18th Dynasty Egypt. Thebes Archaeological Museum.
Organisations
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, 9th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Thebes Archaeological Museum.
Laboratories
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Microanalysis Research Facility, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Nottingham
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British Geological Survey