Material · ceramic
Faience
Egypt & Nile Valley, Near East & Mesopotamia
Faience is the glazed quartz-frit composition of Egypt and the Near East, self-glazing to a blue-green surface, used for ushabtis, amulets, beads, bowls and tiles from the Predynastic to Roman times. It is not true ceramic or glass. Late Period ushabtis in apple-green and blue faience are the classic form.
| Kind | ceramic |
|---|---|
| Regions | Egypt & Nile Valley, Near East & Mesopotamia |
Sources
Egyptian faience was made throughout Egypt from desert sand and natron, with workshops at Amarna, Memphis and Naukratis; Mesopotamian and Indus faience used similar technology. The technique spread to the Aegean and later to the Roman world.
Identification
Faience has a white, friable quartz body with a thin glassy glaze in blue, green, turquoise or occasionally other colours, often crazed and worn on high points; the glaze is integral, not applied. Broken surfaces show a sugary white core. It is light and slightly porous.
Substitutes and fakes
Modern faience and resin fakes of ushabtis and amulets are made in Egypt in vast numbers; fakes have soft, even glaze without crazing, a chalky or plastic body and painted-on stains. Weight and fluorescence help.
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "Faience" (Material). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/materials/faience. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-faience,
title = {Faience},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/materials/faience}},
year = {2026},
note = {Material article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.