A research group led by Associate Professor Kyoko Yamabana of the Faculty of Culture and Sociology of Tokai University has been using plaster on quartz, calcium carbonate, alkali and alkali for "Firens", which has long been a mystery of the manufacturing method while being used for pottery in ancient Egypt. It was found that the reproduction is possible by adding calcium hydroxide.
According to Tokai University, faience has been used for pottery in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia since about 4500 BC.The manufacturing process was complicated and difficult, so it was subsequently replaced by glass.
Although it was known by composition analysis that it contained quartz, calcium, and alkali, there was no record of the materials and manufacturing methods actually used, and it has been regarded as a mysterious substance.
Associate Professor Yamabana has been trying to reproduce faience for many years, but even if he mixed quartz, calcium carbonate, and alkali with water and kneaded it, he could not make three-dimensional shapes or fine decorations.Therefore, we paid attention to the plaster containing calcium hydroxide as the main component, which was used to bond the stones of the pyramid, and succeeded in reproducing the three-dimensional structure by adding a small amount of this to quartz and baking it.
In the future, the research group aims to produce replicas that are close to the size and texture of actual ancient Egyptian pottery, and that can be displayed side by side with the real thing in museums.
The research results were presented at an academic conference of the International Glass History Association held in Istanbul, Turkey in early September.
