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The history of Egyptian jewelry inlayed with vitreous composition goes back to the beginnings of the dynastic period.

Jewelry has been made in diverse materials, shapes and for different uses. However, even if the purpose of jewelry is to be worn in life, the Egyptians used it for death, adorning the mummies as part of funerary rites since according to their beliefs, based on well defined eschatological basis, death was a step into another condition of earthly existence. According to their beliefs, jewelry and amulets had to be elaborated with specific materials which gave the piece certain magical powers that helped the deceased to acquire ever lasting life in the eternal plane.

Among the different types of jewelry made with some kind of vitreous composition we have necklaces and pectorals in large quantities as well as many examples of arm and ankle bracelets, rings and earrings. In regards to their role and importance as part of the funerary equipment jewelry, more than ornaments they were pieces possessing magical powers because of their physical attributes.

In chapter XXVII of “The Book of the Dead” is written a magic spell for a golden vulture that had to be placed on the deceased throat. The vignette includes precise instructions on how to make it, even includes detailed instructions on how to elaborate it specifying the shape and the material. Tutankhamun’s great treasure has been an important evidence in the study of Egyptian jewelry embedded with vitreous composition, not to mention that it has been the means to verify how the instructions in “The Book of the Dead” were followed. In Tutankhamun’s mummy was found an extraordinary pectoral such as the one in “The Book of the Dead”, made in pure gold and inlayed with glass.

Most of the jewelry had to be elaborated in gold since it was the element deities were more related to and had to be combined with different colored semiprecious stones which, because of their mineral origin, gave it magical powers.

Since semiprecious stones were difficult to obtain, the art of stone inlaying benefited from achieving the perfect imitation of the stones in vitreous composition, considered an ideal material since, due to its mineral origin, possessed the same physical characteristics
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Very quickly, artisans achieve perfect imitation of semiprecious stones, developing extraordinary skills in cutting and polishing details where embedding required of millimetric precision. Their work reached such perfection that, when running your hand over the surface, the sensation of continuity is so incredible that it could very well be thought of as enamel.

Jewelers were called neshedi nubi, goldsman, and hemu nub, gold artisan. Several artisans’ tombs have been located. The titles “Chief of the Goldworkers on the State of Amun” and “Chief of the Goldworkers” may imply that they might have been royal artisans.

We can even find higher and more important positions than that of the artisans above mentioned, one of which was that of being responsible for organizing the whole industry, these men never even touched the blow cane. Among the different titles we can find the following: “Overseer of the Treasury of Gold and Silver”, “Overseer of the Gold Land of Amun” and “Weigher of Amun”. Their main responsibilities were: giving precise instructions about the minerals needed for the elaboration of the treasures as well as following up on each phase of the elaboration of the piece. Even though the organization of Gold Work Industry did not allow for personal signatures, that of Neferronpet can still be read on “The Book of the Dead”.

Due to the precision required by the craftsmanship, before beginning the elaboration of the piece, it was necessary to come out with a design template for the piece to be made. One of the most important things to be planned from the beginning was determining the thickness and the distance of the grooves where the polished fragments of material were to be inlayed. Each piece of material had a specific place within the design, pieces could never be replaced by another, which made the artisans work even more difficult.

Mainly, the jewel settings are gold made, worked in different techniques as required by the design: laminated, open-cast mold, or when great detailing was required, in lost wax.

When pieces of large dimensions were elaborated, such as masks or sarcophagus, it was necessary to elaborate the piece in sections, which were later united by welding.
Once the jewel setting was finished, vitreous composition ornaments were cut and polished according to the size of the depression, to be finally inlayed into place. The stones imitated in vitreous composition were: agate and opal for white, turquoise and lapiz lazuli for blue, cornelian for red, malachite for green and obsidian for black. All these stones, according to Egyptian beliefs, had great symbolic content.

The art of inlaying is closely linked to mosaic making art, which flourished during the Old Kingdom and of which magnificent samples still remain such as the ones found in the tomb of King Djoser in Saqqara. The influence of this type of art spread into other materials used to elaborate items for the funeral equipment such as furnishings made in different woods.

At the beginning of historical times, during the first dynasty, we come across a fascinating and varied production of fine jewels that present an excellent overview of this craftsmanship showing a great variety of materials and techniques among which we can appraise a large variety of necklaces and bracelets.

Pieces form the Old Kingdom embody elements already existent in earlier times elaborated with an interesting artistic inventive but, at the same time, the pieces display a primitive handling of the elements.

Undoubtedly, the most characteristic necklace in Egyptian jewelry is the weskhet, elaborated in cylinders vertically strung in semicircles with terminals at the ends. It was common for this design to have falcon-headed terminals.

From the Badarian period remain even more ancient pieces of Egyptian jewelry elaborated with some type of vitreous composition. Among these pieces, there is a necklace made out of small beads strung by several blue colored threads. This particular piece was commonly worn around the knees. One of the most antique vitreous composition and gold funerary necklaces still remaining is that of Impy from the VI dynasty. This necklace is finely elaborated in blue from which hang 63 beetle shaped pendants, the incised prename of ‘Impy’ is found on both terminals.
In the diadem of rosettes with inlayed copper center can be appraised how, since ancient times, vitreous composition inlaying was used in jewelry.

In XII dynasty jewelry, the finest work carried out during the Middle Kingdom can be found. Even though not of a luxurious nature, these pieces show great symmetry and beauty, the materials and color are carefully chosen to enhance the finishing touches.

One of the most outstanding piece from this period, because of the beautiful and unostentatious design, is Khnumet’s pendant, which is elaborated in grind gold and inlayed with vitreous composition. The medallion in the center is elaborated with a blue frit and decorated with a miniature painting of a cow on a leaning posture. To highlight even more the main detail a rock crystal layer was placed on top. Grind gold work is typical of the Middle Kingdom and even though it can be found in later times the detailing would never be matched.

A noted example of the meticulousness vitreous composition was carried out in the Middle Kingdom was Senebtisy’s beadwork belt composed of twenty-three pendant strings made out of interposed green and black composition beads. One way to appraise the outstanding vitreous composition work during the Middle Kingdom is noting the shine on the necklace of blue beads combined with silver. It is definitely a unique piece in this particular style.

The climax of glass applications in jewelry took place in the New Kingdom, during the XVII dynasty and this effect can be appraised in the magnificent jewels with vitreous inlaying elaborated by the artisans from that period.

In the samples that still remain, it can be noted how the models and techniques are practically the same. The thoroughness of the work and the balance in the use of colors show how jewelry from the New Kingdom reaches its highest point in beauty and perfection.

During the reign of Thutmosis III jewelry of very high quality was elaborated and as evidence we have the jewelry found in the tomb of his wives in Thebes. Among the most outstanding pieces remain bracelets of fine detail and beauty, an assorted quantity of necklaces like the elegant necklace decorated with fish-shaped figures and combined with glass beads, also, the beautiful headdress almost fully covered with rosettes inlayed with coloured glass and the diadem with the ureus.

Jewelry from the XVIII dynasty reaches its highest point during the reign of Tutankhamun and there is no better example to illustrate such statement than the jewelry found in his tomb where the ultimate artistic skills can be appraised.
Among the most beautiful jewels dressing Tutankhamun’s mummy there is a vulture shaped pectoral elaborated in gold and inlayed with glass; the vulture is spread-winged and his head shows a left profile. This work is truly masterful, on the surface it is embedded with three hundred pieces of dark glass of different shades of blue and red, and the chased feathering on the underside shows the same craftsmanship. Tutankhamun’s vulture also stands out due to the controversy brought about by several authors who state that the piece is actually enameled but there is still no evidence that enameling was carried out during the pharaonic period. However, the perfection of this piece is such that doubt still subsist, but if it were true, it would be the most ancient sample of enameling.

Because of the great detail shown by most of the metal pieces used as jewel setting, it is very likely that lost-wax technique was used in their elaboration. To carry out this procedure, a wax model was elaborated to highlight the detailing, afterwards, it was covered with a layer of clay bearing two cavities, one to pour out the flowing metal and the other to drain lost wax. This process allows for great detailing in the pieces but has the disadvantage of not being suitable for mass or serial production as attained with open cast technique, which was used in the making of most amulets.
Tutankhamun’s jewels were made out in gold and semiprecious stones, integrating shapes and designs from nature, animals and plants. The pectoral displaying as main decoration a full moon elaborated in electron, is an example. The moon rests on a gold barque that floats on a base in the form of lotus buds and flowers. The pectoral, in addition to being a very beautiful piece, combines to perfection semiprecious stones with glass, which gives the piece a very peculiar appeal.

Because of its great symbolic content, the hawk shaped pectoral is probably a royal symbol. The winged falcon representing the Pharaoh crowns his head with the solar disk, a symbol of divinity. The falcon firmly holds in its claws the shen, the symbol of eternity and the anj, symbol of life, thus, in one single piece we have power, life and eternity. The falcon’s feathers are arranged in elaborated sequence, with colorful vitreous inlaying.

The pectoral combined, in one single piece, several purposes as amulet. The frame surrounding it is, most of the time, a temple’s facade and inside of it always appear magic elements like the vulture, the djet, anj or shen.

No less than twenty six inlayed pectorals were found in Tutankhamun’s tomb, some were dressing the mummy and others were placed on different objects of the funerary equipment. Even though most of them show vitreous composition inlaying, semiprecious stones like quartz, jasper and cornelian were occasionally used and, only in a few cases, lapiz lazuli and turquoise.

The XIX dynasty displays an important quantity of pieces elaborated with inlayed vitreous composition, like those found in Serapeum, among which stands out, for its elegance and colorfulness, the falcon-shaped pectoral that belonged to Ramesses II. Also, there are bracelets, anklets and pendants extremely unrefined and over elaborated. Even though these cannot be compared to the jewels from the previous period, they show great technical detail in the elaboration and final polishing, even the grooves are very fine, which indicates that the tools used in the elaboration of the jewels were of great quality.

In the third intermediate period, at the end of the pharaonic era, glass continues to be generously used in jewelry and, as an example, we have the jewelry belonging to the famous Pharaoh mentioned in the sacred scriptures called Psusennes.
Among the pectorals form this period we have two outstanding pieces. The pylon-shaped pectoral with a winged beetle in the center made out of gold and vitreous composition inlaying, and, the beetle-shaped pectoral elaborated in green jasper, which is considered as one of the most beautiful pieces from this period because of its coloring and symbolic content. The gold wings are meticulously inlayed with glass pieces arranged in vertical lines. Above the head of the beetle the royal cartouche is found, with the name of the Pharaoh inlayed with glass and jasper pieces. All the details are carefully composed, which accounts for the notability of this piece among many others.

From Sheshonq reigning period, during the XXII dynasty, we can mention the conic shaped bracelets elaborated with lapiz lazuli and glass embedding and the beautiful pectoral of a lapiz lazuli beetle rising from the horizon with the solar disk above his head, flanked by two ureus serpents bearing the white crown.

Because of its high symbolic content, jewelry was an inseparable part of the Egyptians in life as well as in death, thus, its presence is found throughout the pharaonic history. The tomb would be the best example to understand which objects and materials were important in the after life. Originally, these were simple objects that besides meeting a daily purpose, they possessed a symbolic function but little by little became more elaborate till reaching their peak during the New Kingdom.
The materials used in jewelry making were practically the same since the beginning of the pre-dynastic period, such as vitreous composition, semiprecious stones and gold, which clearly show that the Egyptians always tried to seek protection from the great beyond. Everything was interrelated: cult, magic, religion, form and material. Glass was always present.