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The treatise "Glass and faience in the territory of Poland in the 2nd–1st millennium BC: production technology, origin and incoming directions" examines finds of glass and faience objects in Poland from the 2nd to 1st millennium BC. The finds provide evidence of trade along long-distance trade routes in the region. Faience beads were already produced in Central Europe during the early Bronze Age. Glass objects from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Alps reached Poland from the Bronze Age II onwards. During the Hallstatt C period, glassy faience from Italy or the Alps was most widespread. Trade in glass-like products was dominated by the Alpine region. The study provides archaeometric evidence for the import of materials from Egypt, the Near East, and other parts of Europe. A total of 245 samples of glass-like materials were analyzed, including faience, glassy faience, and true glass. The analysis methods included the EPMA method and the LA-ICP-MS method. Different types of alkali flux were used to identify different technological groups. The dominant colors were blue and turquoise, while green, aquamarine, yellow, and white were less common. The article describes various finds of glass beads at different archaeological sites in Poland. The beads come from different time periods, including the Hallstatt C - La Tène B period (approx. 800/750 - 260/250 BC). The beads are made of true glass and have different colors and degrees of transparency. The finds demonstrate the use of glass and faience in the Polish region from the 2nd to 1st millennium BC. The present study examines glass and faience beads from archaeological sites in Poland from the 2nd to 1st millennium BC. Various types of glass and faience with different colors and degrees of transparency were found. Higher concentrations of alkali compounds were found in the faience beads, while mixed alkali sources were used in the glass beads. The exact origin of the alkali compounds used for faience production is difficult to determine, but it is believed that both mineral soda and plant ash were used. The study highlights the diversity of glass and faience production in Poland during this time period. The present analysis examines the composition of glass and faience materials from the 2nd to 1st millennium BC in Poland. It is found that various sources of flux were used, including soda-rich plant ash and mineral soda. Silicon dioxide was obtained either from quartz sand or ground quartz stones. Copper compounds were used as colorants, especially in the Bronze Age. Cobalt compounds were also used as colorants, mainly in faience, glazed faience, and true glass. The results show that copper compounds were mainly used in the Bronze Age, and cobalt compounds were mainly used in the HaC-LTC period. The present study examines glass and faience materials from the 2nd to 1st millennium BC in Poland. Data on the ingredients of various types of glass are presented, including Bronze Age, Hallstatt, and La Tène glass. The materials were colored with various compounds such as cobalt, tin, and lead to produce different colors such as blue, violet, turquoise, and green. It is found that different methods were used to opacify glass and faience, and iron compounds were used to create glass in various shades of green. [Extracted from the article]

Excavations in the area of tomb MMA 1152 at Sheikh Abd el-Gurna, conducted since2003, have uncovered a substantial set of faience objects coming from burials made there duringthe later Pharaonic Period, before the tomb became a hermitage for Coptic monks. Analysis of thematerial points to several episodes of reuse of the original Middle Kingdom structure in the ThirdIntermediate Period and the Late Period.

A collection of 619 whole and fragmentary ushebti figurines dating from the ThirdIntermediate Period was recovered between 2004 and 2007 by the Polish team excavating in theChapel of Hatshepsut, an integral part of the Queen Pharaoh’s mortuary temple in Deir el-Bahari.The figurines include objects of faience, clay and painted clay, all relatively small and roughlymodelled. They represent a category of objects that is seldom published separately. The paperpresents a typology of the ushebtis based primarily on the material from which they were produced,discussing their chronology and find contexts as well.