Preliminary observation on three Late Bronze Age gold items from Ras Shamra-Ugarit (Syria)

Abstract

Studies of technical mechanisms of ancient gold work from the Near Eastern Bronze Age still remain rare. The identification of marks and reconstruction of manufacturing techniques and processes must involve a multidisciplinary approach, where visual inspection, photomicrographs, experimentation, and elementary analyses are considered. Within the framework of my PhD research on the decoration of ancient gold in the Levant, I conducted a preliminary study of three items, decorated with filigreed and granulated designs, which were discovered at Ras Shamra-Ugarit (Syria) and were dated to the Late Bronze Age. In the present paper, I describe the results of my first observations of the technical characteristics of the filigree and granulation, as well as of the joining processes that were employed by the craftsmen of that famous Levantine kingdom at the end of the second millennium BC. Finally, I also discuss the issues that should be considered in future research.