gems, glyptic, engraved gems, agate, cameo, intaglio, beads, India, Mesopotamia, trade

Between 1922 and 1934 a joint expedition of the British Museum and the University Museum, Philadelphia, under Leonard Woolley, excavated at Ur in south-eastern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq. The most dramatic result was the discovery of the Royal Cemetery of the third millennium B.C., which revealed Sumerian civilization as a far more elaborate phenomenon than had been appreciated previously. Among the smaller objects from Ur that attracted attention at that time were a number of carnelian beads decorated with white “etched” or “bleached” patterns. Similar beads were being found at another important Mesopotamian city, Kish, then being excavated by another joint expedition, sponsored by the Field Museum, Chicago, and the University of Oxford. Mackay (1925) recognized that etched beads might have been exported from India, where carnelian is abundant (During Caspers 1972: 75-6). In due course evidence for their manufacture was found at the Indus (or Harappan) sites of Chanhu-daro (Mackay 1943: 199-202) and Lothal (Rao 1973: 103). Important studies of etched beads were made by Beck (1933) and During Caspers (1972). Beck was principally concerned with the technology, and with beads of all periods down to modern times, while During Caspers concentrated on the early groups. Unfortunately it is still impossible, without reference to the diverse original publications, to ascertain where which beads were found; significant numbers also remain unpublished. This is particularly so with the Ur beads; thus During Caspers estimated that a total of twenty or thirty of the White-on-Red variety were found at this site, whereas it is evident from Woolley’s Ur publications, together with the objects and field-notes preserved in the British Museum, that the true figure is well over seventy. The purpose of the present study is to make this additional evidence accessible, and to examine what contribution it can make to the growing study of early intercultural relationships in the area. Most of the Ur beads can be dated to the second half of the third millennium B.C.; there is a small group dating from the mid first millennium B.C. For this time range I have accumulated references to etched beads both from Ur and from elsewhere in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. I also cite, for the earlier period, the examples from Indus sites. I do not deal, except marginally, with the etched beads which were being produced abundantly in India from the mid first millennium B.C. onwards. Three basic varieties of etched bead have to be considered. The most common is White-on-Red: white lines of varying thickness and density on a carnelian base. Ur has produced one example of Black-on-Red: black lines on red carnelian, though the red in this instance happens to be streaked with white. The third effect, and the easiest to achieve, is Black-on-White: black lines on a white stone that may sometimes be whitened carnelian. Mackay (1933) watched the White-on-Red process carried out in the Indus valley; in that case an alkaline paste was painted directly on to the stone, which was then baked. Beck (1933: 384-8) described more elaborate processes. The beads were etched before they were perforated; at Chanhu-daro there were some that had broken during perforation. The quality of the etching varies. The result partly depends on the individual stone and the precise firing temperature, and there is normally no prospect of distinguishing the work of different factories by readily available criteria. Beck noted, however, that some beads were made by a distinctive and inferior technique, and the same may apply to others that I have not inspected.