Ellen Swift has been investigating the beads within the Petrie’s Roman collection, to see what we can learn about the lives of these artefacts through analysis of their style and manufacturing techniques.
Evidence of bead-making has been found in Egypt at Alexandria, with scholars believing that many bead types found in Egypt were made there. In order to decide where a bead may have been made, we need to identify the technique of manufacture – this is because different techniques were used in various geographical areas. For example, in Alexandria it is thought that there was a production centre for beads with complex patterns made from mosaic canes, such as the example below.
Beads (UC6772) made from glass mosaic canes. [Photo: Petrie Museum]
Occasionally however, manufacturing evidence suggests a more exotic location, and we were excited to discover some Indo-Pacific beads, not previously identified as such, in the Petrie Museum collection. These beads are made from drawn tubes of glass. Instead of pressing these into moulds and then cutting them into individual beads or segmented sections of bead – as would be the norm for Roman production – the tubes have been cut into individual beads. Furthermore, the ends have been heat-rounded to remove any sharp edges, which results in the surface of the bead around the hole looking a bit melted. This specific technique links them to production in Asia.
The Petrie Indo-Pacific beads are mainly small green drawn cylinders with the distinctive heat-rounded ends, and probably originated in Sri Lanka. They occur in assemblages UC74124/UC74125 and UC74134 from Qau, a site in Egypt.
Bead assemblage UC74134, showing the heat-rounded edges of the Sri Lankan beads. [Photo: Ellen Swift].
In assemblage UC74124/UC74125 they appear to have been strung separately to the Roman turquoise blue cylinder beads that are the other main bead type present. The turquoise Roman beads have many string fragments preserved, however there are no string fragments in the Indo-Pacific beads. In assemblage UC74134 green glass and white shell disc beads may have been combined in one necklace.
Bead assemblage UC74125, showing the green Indo-Pacific beads alongside strung blue Roman beads. [Photo: Ellen Swift].
It is difficult to know whether the owners of these beads regarded them as exotic and special items, as they are quite similar in shape and colour to other beads available at Qau. It is only the detailed observation of the manufacturing method, which was not used in the production of Roman beads, that allows them to be identified as an imported foreign product.
The beads will have arrived via the Red Sea port of Berenike where similar Indo-Pacific beads have also been found (see Then-Obłuska 2015), and their presence at Qau illustrates something of how such trade goods became distributed more widely in Egypt. Excavations at Berenike have also revealed the presence of other exotic consumables such as black pepper and precious gems (Sidebotham 2011), demonstrating the extent of trade between Roman Egypt, India, and Sri Lanka.
Map showing the location of the port of Berenike, on the Red Sea. [Photo source]Our initial identifications were kindly confirmed by Marilee Wood and Joanne Then-Obłuska.
Bibliography
Sidebotham, S. (2011) Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route (Berkeley & Los Angeles, California: University of California Press).
Then-Obłuska, J. (2015) “Cross-cultural encounters at the Red Sea Port of Berenike, Egypt. Preliminary assessment”, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 24, 735-777.
The Petrie has a number of different kinds of bags surviving within its Roman collection. These intriguing items provide us with an insight into how people stored and carried possessions or raw materials, and gives us an idea of what everyday life in Roman Egypt looked like.
The bags are made from diverse materials. One bag from the collection (UC59044) is formed of twined vegetable fibres to create a flexible fabric, much like matting. This fabric has then been folded over and stitched along the open edges with a thicker plied cord of the same material. There is also the remains of a thick cord handle that now sits on top of the bag – likely a shoulder strap of some kind.
The woven bag UC59044. Photo: Jo Stoner
Although complete, it is very fragile. The top edge has been left open – and still contains its original contents of long lengths of palm or straw fibres. This raw material is suitable for weaving into baskets or matting, or perhaps more bags. The bag is completely full of this stuff, neatly looped and folded into skeins, and is firm to the touch. Perhaps it had a secondary function as a pillow or some sort of padded support. Unfortunately we don’t have an excavation context for this object, but if it came from a burial (as many of the artefacts in the Petrie Museum do) it might have been funerary furniture used to support the head or feet.
The bag’s contents, still in situ. Photo: Jo Stoner.
A second bag in the Petrie is completely different. Made of leather, it is a small lozenge shaped pouch that bears a resemblance to the shape of modern saddle-bags. The small pouch is formed of two pieces of leather sewn at the edges with natural thread. There is a crease in the leather that shows how the top of the bag was simply folded over to close it. It is much more decorative than the previous woven bag, which is starkly utilitarian in its style. The front has cut out circles finished with corroded copper alloy ring studs. Some of these are now loose in the storage box due to the deterioration of the leather.
Leather bag UC72705. Photo: Jo Stoner.
The box also contains 2 green glass beads – these might be unrelated, or represent further decoration or strapping that is now lost. Excitingly, the contents of this pouch also still survive in situ. They appear to be very fine wood chips or saw dust – the texture is a lot like modern rolling tobacco, as you can see from the loose material in the bottom right corner of the box in the image above.
The mysterious contents of the leather bag. Photo: Jo Stoner.
It seems an unusual material to keep in this attractive bag. However, it could be a part of a fire-making kit, representing the material used to kindle a flame. Fire-making paraphernalia are known from elsewhere in the Roman Empire and from Anglo-Saxon grave contexts in Britain. Additional tools like firesticks could easily represent the missing pieces of this Egyptian assemblage. Leather is certainly an appropriate material for such contents as it is durable, waterproof, and would prevent any of the fine material falling through the gaps that occur in a woven bag. The folded over closure could also feasibly fit over a leather belt, allowing the pouch to be carried on the owner’s person, making its decoration all the more appropriate.
The excellent preservation conditions of Egypt allow organic materials – such as wood, leather and plant fibres – to survive in a way that they cannot in the damper climates of Europe. Thus the Petrie collection contains a range of objects rarely found elsewhere in the Roman Empire. Furthermore, perishable contents that might otherwise have deteriorated over time are often still in place, providing a valuable insight into artefact assemblages and what different containers might have been used for in Roman Egypt.
There are a number of wooden boxes within the Petrie’s collection that still have their contents extant. These boxes, whilst of different sizes, generally take the same form – of a long rectangular container, often with compartments within, topped with a sliding lid.
Wooden box with compartments containing organic material. Photo: Jo Stoner
One such box in the collection is carved from a solid piece of dark brown wood, and feels heavy and of a good quality. It has decorative incised grooves along the top, and when the top is removed six compartments are revealed. Astonishingly, the contents are still in situ – each compartment is filled with pellets of what appear to be an organic substance. Their texture and colour resemble resin that has been formed into small balls. Furthermore, their presence within a securely lidded box suggests a certain level of value – therefore these small balls of matter might be pellets of incense, or some other desirable aromatic (sadly, having given them a sniff, there is no longer any aroma detectable!).
Another lidded box in the Petrie’s Roman collection reveals a different set of objects within.
Lidded wooden box with scale pans and weight in situ (UC3821a&b). Photo: Jo Stoner.
This item is clearly made to specifically contain a set of scales, parts of which are still found within it (there are several other boxes in the Petrie Museum that have the same pattern of recessed shapes within them, but are missing their contents). This one has one set of scales pans, a bronze weight, and a needle. The pans, which have 3 holes each to accommodate the string that would have attached them to the balance arm, fit the circular recesses in the box perfectly, suggesting they represent the box’s original contents. However the weight – inscribed with a ‘N’ and of the Roman Ungia/Uncia standard – is clearly too small for the rectangular compartments. The third object in the box is a copper alloy needle, again clearly not original to the box but perhaps instead used as a replacement for the original balance and scale arms that are no longer part of the assemblage. The contents of the box might therefore represent a later stage in the life of this piece of equipment, with items added or being repurposed to fill in for the lost or damaged originals.
It is a similar story for the larger box UC80559, a much larger lidded box that contains two levels of carefully shaped recesses for scales pans, balance arms, and weights.
Box UC80559, containing a mismatched scales and balance set; some of the weights are decorated with crosses, helping to date the assemblage to the early Christian period. Note also the ill-fitting scale pans in the tray at the bottom of the image. Photo: Jo Stoner.
The large pans on the inset tray are too large for the circular recesses. However, one loose pan located underneath them fits perfectly, as do the pans stored in the level beneath the tray which also are of a similar colour copper alloy to the loose pan above. This suggests that they actually represent the original contents of the box, with the larger pans a later addition.
Inset tray showing the additional scales pan. The string and S-hook to the left are all modern additions, presumably added to demonstrate how the scales originally functioned. Photo: Jo Stoner.
Many of the weight sections are also empty, with the original contents lost. Their replacements are two coins, along with a very small blue blob of glass, also a weight (UC80570). This weighs only 0.36 grams so must have been used for a light or expensive commodity that would be used in small amounts – perhaps spices or medicines.
One final box is worth mentioning in this context as it also contains a coin. The contents are a true mismatch of items, none of which fit the carved compartments, and consist of 2 scales pans, some sort of wooden fitting (perhaps used in a balance), a melon bead, a rod of glass, and a coin dated to the Ptolemaic period.
Box UC3824 a&b with contents in situ. photo: Jo Stoner.Corroded Ptolemaic coin (UC3825). Photo: Jo Stoner.
The coin is badly corroded, but weighs 4.94 grams, very close to that of the N-inscribed Uncia weight mentioned above, which weighs 4.72 grams. This Ptolemaic coin also has an irregular shape despite the corrosion, with one distinct flat edge – this might represent the coin being clipped to adjust the weight and ensure its suitability for use in the scales set.
There are many more examples of containers that still have their contents within the Petrie, providing us with a valuable insight into the life span of objects, and the way assemblages can change over time to meet the different needs of their owners. We’ll bring you some more examples of objects and their contents in some future posts!
