Glass beads and pendants from Meroitic and Nobadian Lower Nubia, Sudan: Chemical compositional analysis using laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed elemental analysis of 64 glass beads and pendants dated to the Meroitic period (first-third centuries AD) and the Nobadian period (fourth-sixth centuries) from burial sites in the Lower Nubian Nile Valley region. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used to determine the chemical composition of the glass and to gain knowledge about its origin. Four main glass types were identified: low-alumina soda-lime glass, high-alumina glass, plant-ash soda-lime glass, and mixedalkali glass. Mineral soda-lime glass (m-Na-Ca) of East Mediterranean/Egyptian provenance is dominant within the low-alumina glass group from Meroitic and Nobadian periods. Mineral soda high-alumina glass (m-Na-Al) appeared in the Nobadian bead assemblages, and the m-Na-Al 1 subtype was produced in Sri Lanka/South India. An initial insight into the origin of the glass beads in Nubia from the first to sixth centuries is described, indicating the first evidence for the presence of Asian objects in Nubia. The data obtained for the bead trade in North-east Africa in this study has allowed a new light to be shed on the westward flow of Asian glass during a time of intensive maritime trade contacts with the wider Indian Ocean world.

Beads for the nomads of late antiquity: Chemical characterization of glass from the Blemmyan tumuli at Kalabsha, Nubia, of the mid‐fourth century CE

“…Despite a high level of alumina in these glasses, the low contents of trace elements (Zr, U) exclude a South Asian provenance. Non‐South Asian high‐alumina glass has been already traced in Nubia and the contents of its trace elements fit with the results for the East Mediterranean glass (Then‐Obłuska and Wagner 2019a, m‐Na‐Al X). The high Al 2 O 3 level may be caused by the recycling and mixing of different types of glass or by contamination from the ceramic vessel or furnace mudbrick (Shortland et al .…”

“…They were identified at Wadi Natrun and Bubastis. As discussed for plant ash‐soda glass beads from the Meroitic and post‐Meroitic Nubian assemblages (Then‐Obłuska and Wagner 2019a), compositions from both of these Egyptian sites do not resemble the plant ash glass analyses from Nubia, including the OINE sample. The Wadi Natrun plant ash glass is richer in CaO (10–16 wt%) and Al 2 O 3 (4–7 wt%) and lower in soda (9.5–12.5 wt%) when compared with the OINE plant ash glass.…”

“… (a) Chemical variability of the investigated beads: low‐alumina soda‐lime glass, high‐alumina glass, and plant ash‐soda‐lime glass based on MgO and Al 2 O 3 determination (data are wt%); and (b) ratios of Y/Zr to Ce/Zr showing the Egyptian and Levantine origins for the low‐alumina soda‐lime subtypes, plant ash‐soda glass, and high‐alumina subtypes of uncertain provenance (for data for OINE, see in the additional supporting information; and other Nubian sites, see Then‐Obłuska and Wagner 2019a ) . [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

“…South Indian/Sri Lankan glass (m‐Na‐Al 1: green, orange, black, yellow and orange‐on‐red) has been found in the Nubian Nile Valley (Then‐Obłuska and Wagner 2019a, 2019b) and the Blemmyan samples represent the northernmost scientifically proven presence of South Asian glass beads in the river valley region. They were made using a diagnostic technique for South Asia, that is, drawing a glass tube and heat‐rounding its sections (e.g., Francis 2002).…”

“…These are sites where glass beads of East Mediterranean and South Asian origin have been macroscopically recognized (Francis 2002, 2007; Then‐Obłuska 2015, 2016, 2017a, 2017b; Then‐Obłuska and Wagner, 2019b). Additionally, laboratory analysis of beads from Quseir and numerous Nubian sites proved their East Mediterranean and South Asian identification (Then‐Obłuska and Dussubieux 2016; Then‐Obłuska and Wagner 2019a, 2019b).…”