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The choice of materials used in bead production reflects the availability of the materials, the level of craftsmanship, and the intended use, as different materials reflected wealth and social status, and had specific cultic/religious significance and protective powers which played a significant role in the choice of material.
Beads from Urkesh were produced using different types of materials like precious and semi-precious stones, frit, clay, bone and shells.
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Lithic
Precious and semi-precious stones have been used in ancient times to make beads, not only for their value as precious stones or their beautiful bright colors, but also for their protective powers against evil or envy or apotropaic properties. And while northern Mesopotamia had supplies of common stones (Moorey 1999: 21), other, more precious types of stones had to be imported from other regions, as raw material or as ready to use beads.
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Obsidian
Obsidian is one type of naturally occurring glass, formed by some volcanic eruptions when magma cools quickly, before macroscopic minerals can grow in the molten rock (Frahm 2010: 16). It was used in making tools such as small blades and ornaments like amulets and beads, from the prehistoric time until the first millennium (Ogden 1982).
The choice to use obsidian in making beads, as with many other types of stones, was not arbitrary, as it is believed to have apotropaic purposes that can ward off evil. Some obsidian beads were used as magic charms, as one tablet instructs: “You string hulalu and black obsidian [beads] and place [them] on [the magic figurine]” (Frahm 2010: 91-92 The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary Project).
Only one bead made from obsidian has been retrieved from Urkesh (J6q264.1). Other obsidian objects were found in the site, and the sources of these obsidian artifacts have been identified by Frahm. In his analysis, he concluded that the source of obsidian was Anatolia, from different areas. The majority of obsidian in Urkesh came from Nemrut Dag, followed by Bingöl and Mus/Pasinler (Frahm 2010: 509-516 Frahm identifies nine sources of obsidian for the items of Urkesh. For the details on his analysis and the identification of a source of each of the item he analyzed, refer to Frahm 2010 (567-576, Fig. 7.32, table.7.2-7.4)).
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Agate
Agate was considered among the stones most popular to make jewelry items especially beads. According to Pieniążek and Kozal, the provenance is still debatable, and Egypt and the Caucasus were possibly a source (Pieniążek and Kozal 2014: 192). The fact that it had to be transported across a great distance, added significantly to its value. Known sources are Egypt, Negev, Iran, India and Moorey suggests that the finds of Mesopotamia were probably sourced from Iran or India through Turkey (Ogden 1982: 109; Moorey 1999: 99). Agate in different color shades, was used in Urkesh for making different shapes of beads such as the dominant barrel shaped beads (J1.20, J2q24.2).
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Turquoise
This is a hydrous aluminium phosphate produced in the presence of copper salts which give it its typical varying shades of blue. Its sources are Sinai and Iran. Afghanistan is a possible source as well. It is important to mention that turquoise finds are considerably rare in the archaeological record (Moorey 1999: 101-102 check beads).
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Jasper
Jasper is available in a variety of colors and is considered from the Quartz family. Jasper appears from the Akkadian period onwards, increasing in use in the second half of the second millennium BC (Moorey 1999: 93). Known sources are Egypt, Afghanistan and India (Aston, Harrell and Shaw 2000: 29–30), however, Moorey believes that it reached Mesopotamia from sources to the north (Moorey 1999: 85). Jasper was believed to possess magical power like dispelling sorcery (Winter 1999: 51). Despite its qualities and being sourced from the north, only one jasper bead was recovered from Urkesh (J1q1251.4).
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Amber
Amber is fossil resin. “Fresh” amber is shiny and usually translucent like the specimen from Urkesh (A16.75.4), but opaque variations are known and both types are present in a variety of colors (Pieniążek 2017: 51). Amber is one of the precious stones that show the range of the long-distance trade as it was imported from the Baltic (Moorey 1999: 80). The excavations at Qatna, reveal that amber was imported into Late Bronze Age Syria and used for making the prestige artifacts. Beads and a unique vessel in the form of a lion were found, and were likely fashioned in Syria from raw amber imported from the Baltic via the Aegean (Mukherjee et al. 2008: 49-59; Pieniążek 2017: 52).
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Quartz
Considered as a parent of silicate minerals, and it is either transparent crystal with a variety of colors or opaque. Since it is one of the hardest minerals, it is suitable for beads making which was practiced since the fourth millennium and became increasingly popular in the first millennium (Moorey 1999: 94). This stone was found in Egypt (Aston, Harrell and Shaw 2000: 49–52) and in the Anatolian highlands or Iran (Moorey1999: 94). Urkesh yielded 9 quartz beads so far.
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Lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli is an opaque semi-precious stone consisting mainly of a blue mineral, hauynite (of which lazurite is a variety), a brassy-yellow material, pyrites (‘fool’s gold’), and a white mineral, calcite, together with relatively small amounts of other minerals. Pieces vary from a rich deep blue, speckled with brassy-yellow spots, to a pale mottled blue and white (Moorey 1999: 85).
The deep blue color of the stone might have contributed in gave it cultic significance and protective powers and healing properties. In Assyrian texts for example, lapis is invoked as pure, the counter-substance to cure conditions such as impotence (Winter 1999: 50–51). Lapis lazuli was also used in foundation deposits (Ellis 1968; Moorey 1999: 25). Lapis is also attested as a “neck-stone”, worn by Naram-Sin on his stele as a bead that were often inscribed to a particular deity, and stated to provide protection (Winter 1999: 51).
With regards to the source, according to Sumerian texts of the third millennium BC, lapis lazuli was brought to Mesopotamia from regions such as within Iran (Moorey 1999: 85). The sources of lapis lazuli are debatable, but now, most scholars agree that the most famous main source of lapis are the mines on the upper reaches of the Kokcha river in Afghanistan (Moorey 1999: 85). The specimen from Urkesh comprises four beads, one shaped like a duck.
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Carnelian
Carnelian is a variation of chalcedony and its most distinct feature is its red color in both of its forms, translucent and opaque which is attested in Urkesh in two beads, one opaque (J5.43) and one translucent (J5.53). It can also have bands of various nuances of red, as well as spots and other impurities (Pieniążek 2017: 51). Known sources are Iran, Egypt, India, Caucasus and Anatolia (Moorey 1994: 97; Aston, Harrell and Shaw 2000: 26-27). This stone comes in different shades of red, verging sometimes on orange or brown. Carnelian stones were among the stones used as foundation deposit (Winter 1999: 50). A suggestion linking the carnelian with gender has been made, where lapis uqnu, was coded as “male” and carnelian stimtu as “female” (Winter 1999: 52).
source of lapis are the mines on the upper reaches of the Kokcha river in Afghanistan (Moorey 1999: 85). The specimen from Urkesh comprises four beads, one shaped like a duck.
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Coral
One of the oldest evidences of coral use as jewelry dates back to the Paleolithic period 25,000 years ago (Tescione, 1973; Skeates, 1993). Sources of red coral in the Near East would have been the Mediterranean or the red rea. It was believed that red coral was symbol of rebirth, and according to Greek mythology it had a magical function and status (Moradi 2016:125-131). Two red coral beads were found in Urkesh (J1q675.3, J1q1096.1).
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Clay
Clay is not very common in jewelry production, except for beads where 21 clay beads have been recovered in Urkesh, and it was probably used by the poor class of society to accessorize, as it is available, does not require an elaborate manufacturing process and it is cheap. Some terracotta beads were colored with a color glaze to give it some shine which is a technique used in Mesopotamia early in the second millennium (Moorey 1999: 167).
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Frit
Frit is a partially mixed material, consisting of un-melted substances held together by a cement agent. It may consist of materials which would make a glass but have been only partly melted (Beck 2006: 54). Egyptian Blue is the name given to a specific frit which has a granular or chalky texture and is of a powder-blue or royal blue color which is due to the coper component in it (Moorey 1999: 186–189). Frit was a popular material for bead making in Urkesh, where 25 beads were found in the site, among which two blue spacer beads that were popular all over the area.
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Faience
Faience emerged in the second millennium BC as cheaper imitations of the more colorful opaque hard stones. (Moorey 1999: 166-167). The method to produce it was known from the second half of the third millennium and it was popular in jewelry making, especially for beads (Ogden 1982: 136). it consists of crushed silica, calcium carbonate dissolved in solution of natron to form a paste which is shaped then glazed and fired to form a hard stone like consistency (Ogden 1982: 124-125). According to Beck, the faience is an is earthenware which has been glazed with a silica enamel. Originally the term was applied to a glazed earthenware made at Faenza, but it has become a term frequently used for almost any form of glazed earthenware and especially for beads. (Beck 2006: 55)
Frit and faience were shaped into beads by molds or by hand.
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Shell
Marine and river shell are considered one of the earliest exploited natural material for ornamentation. As a natural material, it is vastly available, free, and very appealing as some shells have beautiful shapes and colors. They were used as ornaments, but they were also believed to have some sort of magical or protective power hence serving as an amulet which is evident by its imitations in stone and other materials (Moorey 1999: 133), and by the fact that its use as ornaments continued even after the imitated versions of other materials appeared, and after the industrial leap that allowed the use of many other materials that were considered precious. It is also believed that shells were used as currency (Quiggen 1949; Bar-Yosef Mayer 2005). Turning a shell into ornament is very simple, as in most cases, the shell only needs to be strung, and in other cases, it only needs to be perforated in order to be strung.
The earliest evidence of shells in a prehistoric site in the Levant (and possibly in the world) are a few marine shells from the Middle Paleolithic burial grounds in Skhul Cave (Bar-Yosef Mayer 2005: 177). Another assemblage is that of five Glycymeris valves found in a burial context at Qafzeh Cave. During the Upper Paleolithic period, shells were used for the first time in a more systematic way (Bar-Yosef Mayer 2005: 177)
Despite the location of Urkesh close to a water source, the shell specimen from Urkesh is limited in number as only five perforated shells have been recovered from Urkesh.
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Bone
It is safe to assume that the use of bones as ornaments dates to very early periods just like shells, because bones were available and turning them into simple ornaments did not require more than a perforation which was easily made (see bone bead J7q63.2 as the only example from Urkesh). However, continuing to use bones in making beads and ornaments after the industrial evolution of jewelry making from various precious stones, must have been related to economic reasons, and technical ones, where bones are easy to carve and do not require a specialist.
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Metal was one of the most common material for jewelry making in antiquity, whether it was used on its own or incrusted with different types of stones. The nature of this material allowed it to be fashioned in many different shapes providing a wide array of styles. Its durability and shine (especially for gold and silver) added to its desirability. Some types of metal were believed to have magical powers, probably related to its shining features and radiance (Winter 1994, Benzel et al 2010: 44).
Mesopotamia is not rich in metals, therefore they had to be imported from neighboring areas creating a trading pattern which was probably subject to political conditions, and it reflected in some way the power and reach of some Mesopotamian sites, who possessed a wealth of the imported material.
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Gold
Gold mines begun to be exploited at least at the beginning of the third millennium BC (D’Alfonso &al 2018: 492), and gold items appeared in several parts of Syria like Mari, Ebla, Tell Banat, Umm el-Marra, Tell Munbaqa, and Tell Brak. This precious metal was used for its aesthetic appeal and luminosity which is one of its most attractive features. Turkey is considered as a source for gold (Maxwell-Hyslop 1977: 85) in South Cappadocia in the Taurus mountains (D’Alfonso &al 2018: 492). Another possible source for this metal is ancient Bulgaria (Moorey 1999: 218), but in the case of Urkesh, the neighbours to the north were probably a more convenient source.
Gold metallurgy and alloying techniques were already known in the third millennium, (Plenderleith 1934: 286). These sets of expertise were implemented only as a first step of preparation before using the other set of skills in working the metal into a desired shape by hammering technique, which was considered one of the most popular techniques of fabrication, or the casting technique.
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Bronze
Tin (used with copper to make Bronze), was imported from eastern Iran and Afghanistan, but it may also have been available in Anatolia and western Iran (Moorey 1999: 251). In the case of Urkesh, Anatolia seems the more suitable source for the import of these types.
As for copper, one of the most popular and economically convenient metals, it was sourced from as early as the beginning of the third millennium in Anatolia (Jesus 1980: 21ff) as well as Iran and the Arabian gulf (Moorey 1999: 247).
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