ivory
ivory(GK. elephas, Lat. ebur), a material derived from the tusk of the Asiatic or African elephant or the tooth of the hippopotamus. Capable of being carved in the round, or in relief, used as inlay, as a veneer, turned on a lathe, or even moulded, ivory was a multi-purpose commodity that was imported into the Mediterranean from North Africa and the Levant. The Old Persian for the Nile delta meant ‘The Tusks’. There were flourishing schools of ivory-working in bronze age Crete (see Minoan civilization), but many ‘Minoan’ statuettes in museums outside Greece are suspected forgeries. Rich finds of ivory inlays at Nimrud, Arslan Tash, and other near-eastern sites have echoes in ivory objects found at Ephesus, Samos, Delphi, and in Laconia. At all periods, furniture was decorated with ivory plaques. Ivory was used for the...
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