Glass bead trade in Northeast Africa

Strings of colorful glass beads were a popular commodity traded throughout ancient Nubia in the earlier half of the first millennium AD. Combining macroscopic examination with laboratory analyses, the author breaks new ground in Nubian studies, establishing diagnostic markers for a study of trading markets and broader economic trends in Meroitic and post-Meroitic Nubia. Archaeometric results, lucidly presented and discussed, identify the origins of the glass from which the beads under investigation were made. The demonstrated South Indian/Sri Lankan provenance of some of the ready-made beads from Nubian burial contexts and a reconstruction of their distribution patterns in Northeast Africa is the first undisputed proof of contacts between Nubia and the Red Sea coast. Reaching beyond that, it shows Nubia's involvement in the Asian maritime trade, whether directly or indirectly, during a period of intensive interchanges between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. By combining macroscopic and laboratory analyses of glass beads found at the Meroitic and late antique Nubian sites the study of bead types and glass groups used in their manufacture allows to confirm strong trade connections between Nubia and Mediterranean cultures. They bring evidence for circulation not only Egyptian but also Levantine glass in Northeast Africa as far as the region upstream the Sixth Cataract. Besides, the find of ready-made Sri Lankan/South Indian objects in late antique Nubian graves stimulates reflection on the extensive trade between the Nubia and the Red Sea coast. Eventually, the results provide the first evidence of the involvement of Nubia in the Asian maritime trade, whether directly or indirectly.