2025 Poster Session

Faience was a significant material in ancient Egypt, serving as a successful imitation of precious stones. The ancient Egyptians utilized faience in jewelry-making from ancient times. This material, along with turquoise, lapis lazuli, and green feldspar, is noteworthy for its resemblance to these precious materials.

This study investigates four Ushabti statues crafted from faience, focusing on the methods used to determine their dating and authenticity. The research involved comparing artistic and technical styles across eras using X-ray and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis.

1. Artistic and Technical Dating and Authenticity:

Ushabti statues are renowned for their elegance, high-quality craftsmanship, and detailed features, including well-defined body features and tightly woven garments. These characteristics are indicative of the New Kingdom period, particularly because the colors used in glazing—blue and green-blue—were prevalent during this time due to the discovery of cobalt.

2. Technical Analysis:

* X-ray Analysis: The internal core and formation process of the statues were examined using X-ray imaging. Results revealed that the statues were molded using open molds and then joined by placing a fabric strip during the casting process to connect the two parts. X-ray images showed fabric remnants inside the statues where the halves were joined with the same paste material. Excess material was removed with a sharp knife. One statue exhibited fine workmanship, while remnants of the joins were visible in the other three statues to the naked eye.

* XRF Analysis: The statues were created from faience paste cast in open molds. After the paste set, it was removed from the mold and fired in a kiln at temperatures ranging from 900 to 1000 degrees Celsius for up to five hours to completely evaporate the water. Analysis of samples from the statues revealed that three of them were composed of silica derived from ground quartz, while one statue contained quartz with small amounts of silica from sand. Additionally, the first three statues included alkaline substances, specifically "natron," while the remaining statue had traces of "plant ash." All four samples contained small amounts of lime. The internal core of two statues, with removed glaze layers, appeared white with a grayish tint. The glaze layer on the other three statues was composed of calcium and sodium silicates, while one statue revealed copper oxides that produced a blue-green color. The analysis confirmed that the four statues contained 90% silica, with the remaining percentage made up of alkaline substances and oxides, including lime at 1-5% and soda at 5%.

These findings date the four statues to the New Kingdom period around 1500 BCE, when cobalt was used to achieve the turquoise blue color, a technique well-known during this era.

Keywords: Faience – Open Casting – Silica – Glaze Layer – Ushabti.