Glass beads have played an important role in every major civilization. This comprehensive and visually stimulating book focuses on the bead in its cultural context. Middle Eastern and Venetian glass beads are pure, perfectly preserved witnesses of international commercial exchanges and cultural contacts that the region has had, since ancient times, with the entire world as it was known over various periods. These objects were developed and evolved in an often highly elaborate manner, and in their sheer quantity there comes to light a process of formation that, however diverse, closely connects them to history. Such indications lead us to discover the cultural contexts of various countries, the areas of bead production and distribution, influences on their styles and uses and even their magical properties such as defence against the evil eye and in favour of fertility.