faience and glass beads from the late bronze - Department of ...

11Aegean and Cypriot pottery suggests that they were owned by a foreigner, who perhapsexpressed his cultural identity through the use of distinctive beads. 63Amuletic or Religious PropertiesBeads in ancient Egypt possessed a distinct amuletic value, and there is anetymological link between the Egyptian term for luck and that for bead. 64Amulets inthe form of beads and pendants were widely used in Egypt, as evidenced by thethousands of clay molds used in the production of faience amulets at Amarna. 65Manyvarieties of eye beads and pendants were also found in Bronze Age Egypt, whichperhaps protected the wearer against the evil eye. 66This belief in the powers of the evileye, also commonly known as “fascination”, was a widespread phenomenon in theancient world. The primary cause of fascination is envy, 67 and, in many parts of theMediterranean today, the simplest charm to protect against this harmful force is a beadrepresenting an eye or merely a blue bead, worn attached to clothing or jewelry. 6863 Petrie 1891, 17, no. 26.64 Dubin 2004, 42.65 Petrie 1974, 28-30.66 Brunton 1928, 25.67 Gifford 1958, 20.68 Maloney 1976, 49. The color blue itself symbolizes protection against the evil eye, and the majority ofeye beads that continue to be produced in the eastern Mediterranean are blue. There exist differingexplanations for this preoccupation with the color blue. Adorning donkeys with blue or turquoise beadsmight be linked to a belief that the stone turquoise enhances the sure-footedness of the animal (Erikson1993, 135). Several anthropologists link the commonality of blue eye beads with the rarity of that genetictrait in eastern Mediterranean regions (Maloney 1976, 8, 80; Gifford 1958, 21-2). Gifford furthermoresuggests that any eye abnormality, whether an uncommon color or a rare defect such as double pupils,suggests an inclination toward fascination. Because studies in magic suggest that “like produces like”,incorporating an abnormality into a talisman will enhance its ability to draw the gaze of a fascinator; thefrequent depiction of double pupils on eye beads of various periods certainly supports this theory.Perhaps, though, the proliferation of blue beads simply occurred because of the ease with which that coloris obtained in both glass and faience. Kçkerman (1988, 81), in studying the glass bead industry inTurkey, suggests that, because various factors such as temperature, oxidation level and rate of coolinghave relatively little effect on this blue color, it might have been the test color in the developmental stagesof glassmaking. It would follow, then, that blue beads were the most widely available, and the preference