Thank you Otlichnik and Serendipity for the reference. I have here another one that is almost identical in shape to two of the beads on the strand at the
Met. Museum shown in your link. I am not sure exactly how to describe the shape of this one, so any corrections would be appreciated.
BCC BD6
Faceted Red/Orange Carnelian Bead
9th -11th Century CE?
Islamic or
Medieval?
Semi-transparent faceted red/orange carnelian bead with
slightly convex faces forming an approximate rhomboidal
or
rhombic hexahedron (parallelepiped?). Beautifully cut
and polished. Drilled from both ends with a rod drill(?)
to meet in an offset at approximately 2/3rds of the length,
internally. Surface find from the sand dunes near
Caesarea Maritima, 1972.
Lgth: 12.0mm. Wdth: 8.0mm. Thk: 4.5mm Wt: 0.66gm.
(click for larger pics)
I also have a couple of round carnelian beads that I will try to post, but I expect these will be difficult to date with any certainty, since the shape is so common. Thanks, again, Jimi