Faience (glazed quartz frit)
Fayenza (loza vidriada de cuarzo)
- Date
- c. 4200 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- El-Badari and Naqada, Upper Egypt, Egypt
- Credited to
- Badarian and Naqada cultures; also Mesopotamia
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Beads of ground quartz with alkali and copper that, when fired, form a bright blue glaze, the first synthetic vitreous material. It imitates lapis lazuli and turquoise at low cost.
It appears almost simultaneously in Egypt and northern Mesopotamia (Tepe Gawra); the origin is debated.
What it led to
- Glaze and copper-colourant chemistry leading on to glass
- Affordable prestige goods: the democratisation of ornament
- The Egyptian industry of amulets and glazed pottery
Built on
Made possible
- Glazed tile and glazed potteryc. 2650 BCE
- Glass makingc. 2500 BCE
- Ceramic glaze
- Egyptian blue