with dark purple and
apple-green; and high reliefs of wreaths, and sometimes figures, are
common.

Though glaze begins so early, the use of the glassy matter by itself
does not occur till the XVIIIth Dynasty; the earlier reputed examples
are of stone or frit. The first glass is black and white under Tethmosis
(Tahutmes) III. It was not fused at a high point, but kept in a pasty
state when working. The main use of it was for small vases; these were
formed upon a core of sandy paste, which was modelled on a copper rod,
the rod being the core for the neck. Round this core threads of glass
were wound of various colours; the whole could be reset in the furnace
to soften it for moulding the foot or neck, or attaching handles, or
dragging the surface into various patterns. The colours under later
kings were as varied as those of the glazes. Glass was also wheel-cut in
patterns and shapes under Akhenaton. In later times the main work was in
mosaics of extreme delicacy. Glass rods were piled together to form a
pattern in cross-section. The whole was then heated until it perfectly
adhered, and the mass was drawn out lengthways so as to render the
design far more minute, and to increase the total length for cutting up.
The rod was then sliced across, and the pieces used for inlaying.
Another use of coloured glass was for cutting in the shapes of
hieroglyphs for inlaying in wooden coffins to form inscriptions. Glass
amulets were also commonly placed upon Ptolemaic mummies. Blown glass
vessels are not known until late Greek and Roman times, when they were
of much the same manufacture as glass elsewhere. The supposed figures of
glass-blowers in early scenes are really those of smiths, blowing their
fires by means of reeds tipped with clay. The variegated glass beads
belonging to Italy were greatly used in Egypt in Roman times, and are
like those found elsewhere. A distinctively late Egyptian use of glass
was for weights and vase-stamps, to receive an impress stating the
amount of the weight or measure. The vase-stamps often state the name of
the contents (always seeds or fruits), probably not to show what was in
them, but to show for what kind of seed the vessel was a true measure.
These measure stamps bear names dating them from A.D. 680 to about 950.
The large weights of ounces and pounds are disks or cuboid blocks; they
are dated from 720 to 785 for the lesser, and to A.D. 915 for larger,
weights. The greater number are, however,