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

Abstract

The mobility of the Blemmyes between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea coast, and their skill in trading, are well attested in the literary sources and in the archaeological record. While they operated mainly in the Eastern Desert, their cemeteries, dated to the mid-fourth century ce, were located in the strategic region of the Dodekaschoinos of Lower Nubia. The personal adornments of the Blemmyes are mainly composed of beads, but the glass imports have not yet been scientifically studied. This paper presents the results of an analysis of 34 glass beads from Blemmyan cemeteries around Kalabsha. Compositional analyses using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry has identified glass belonging to four groups. Numerous glass beads were made from low alumina soda-lime glass (m-Na-Ca, m/v-Na-Ca), mainly associated with Egyptian production. Five beads were made of high-alumina glass. While three of them were produced in South India/Sri Lanka, mixed or recycled glass was the probable source of high alumina in another two beads. One bead was made of plant ash-soda glass. Results provide scientific evidence for the northernmost presence of South Indian/Sri Lankan glass beads in the Nile Valley and hint at the Blemmyan participation in broader regional exchange networks in North-east Africa during a time of intensive overseas trade.