Hello Zoe,
Most of these beads are decayed glass. The bright opaque blue beads in your fourth photo are faience.
I think any of these beads MIGHT be Egyptian. But any or all could easily be from "the Syrian School"—meaning Eastern Mediterranean/Western Asia.
Faience is always opaque, due to how it's made. If you hold your beads up to light, you'll see many are translucent—indicating they are glass. Also, many are wound glass—whereas faience would not be a wound material.
I hope this is helpful. Jamey
That’s super helpful info - thank you! So does the iridescent quality that seems to appear in crevices occur as part of the decay process - from exposure to something?
Thanks, Zoe
That’s super helpful info - thank you! So does the iridescent quality that seems to appear in crevices occur as part of the decay process - from exposure to something?
Thanks, Zoe