The chemists
   Khem : To mould

Vases in stone, alabaster and rock crystal, and other stone vessels were found in underground chambers in the Sakkara complex. It is possible that they were made of reconstituted stone. The walls are decorated with mosaics in blue and green glazed faience. In fact this is a material similar to what we call faience but which has little to do with it. Our word, faience, originally meant glazed earthenware from the town of Faenza in Italy.
But the blue Egyptian faience contains no earth or clay at all. It was called dehen, a homonym for the word, brilliant. It was made of quartz * mixed with plants ground to a powder, and with natron *. Various copper oxides were used to colour it. It was fired in a double level kiln, one for the fire and the other for the material being fired. Rotating heat kilns had been in use in Egypt since pre-Dynastic times.
This artificial material, covered in vitrified silica, was used to make necklaces and statuettes. On occasion it was used as a substitute for precious stones such as turquoise and lapis lazuli. This blue stone specked with gold symbolised the sky dotted with stars. It was called khesed, in particular true khesed, to distinguish it from its imitation in blue faience.

Matter derived from plants, especially natron, was used in the composition of reconstituted stone.







* It was called tchehenet or djehenet.
* Natural hydrated sodium carbonate.