The great civilizations of Sumer, Akkadia, and Ur (in present day Iraq) of the third millennium BCE, as well as the later cultures throughout the Eastern Mediterranean (Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, etc.), were rich bead-producing regions, for a long expanse of time.

These early civilizations, like that of Egypt, prospered from making exquisite and original ornaments, using both local and imported raw materials, and by devising new processes and techniques of production. The number of beads made from shell, bone or ivory, stones, metals, and the significant pastes and glasses are inestimable.

Trade from neighboring city-states, such as Harappa in the Indus Valley (discussed next), also influenced and contributed to the vast richness of goods available and exploited. At this early time, lapis lazuli was among the most valued colored stones, but had to be imported from over a thousand miles away, from (present day) Afghanistan. And thus were developed the significant trade routes of antiquity that tied together radically disparate people.

Apart from lapis, and carnelian and other agates, gold and silver were the prestigious materials for bead making. However, because imported materials were dear, and difficult to acquire, cunning craftsmen sought other avenues of expression, that resulted in the development of artificial materials that were suitable for bead making—namely, faience, “Egyptian blue” or kyanos, and, of course, glass.

It was at Akkadia that iron was first smelted, faience was produced—and these two technologies were combined to facilitate the development of glassmaking. Refer to areas here where these materials are discussed in detail.