Verso una biografia dei reperti egizi in faience del Museo Archeologico di Padova: appunti sulle tracce di lavorazione

The paper presents the results of the survey conducted on a selection of Egyptian and Egyptianizing faience objects preserved at the Archaeological Museum of Padua. The considered materials include shabtis, beads, pendants, and amulets, but also scarabs and a vase fragment, which were investigated to determine their production technologies. The artifacts were examined by means of macroscopic and USB digital microscope observations. When specific markers were present, it was possible to offer new hints on the manufacturing techniques and to relate these data with the stylistic dating of the findings. In some definite cases, which will be exemplified, new hypotheses on raw materials, material identification, and state of conservation could be proposed. In the appendix, we also provide an updated catalog of all unpublished or partially published artifacts considered in the text.