IN the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is a sky-blue moldmade, glass bead (1978.691)' inscribed with the names of the first two kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty (figs. 1 and 2). The bead is square, 1.3 cm on a side, and is pierced vertically. A groove, running around the side of the bead and passing over the pierced hole, may have facilitated its placement in a jewelry setting. The bead is inscribed with the prenomen of Ahmose, Nb-phty-r', on one side, and the prenomen of Amenhotep I, Dsr-k3-r', on the other. Both prenomens are surrounded by an incised square. Since the bead was molded as a square, the ancient carver had to rearrange the signs in the cartouches to fit the shape of the bead. Thus, in the prenomen of Ahmose, the two t's had to be placed on either side of the lion's head rather than below it. The positioning of the lion's head too far to the right led to the incising of a much smaller second t. On the other side of the bead, the dsr-arm and the kg-sign were widened to fill the available space. An elemental analysis by means of energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry2 showed the presence of calcium, a main element in glass production, copper as a colorant, antimony as an opacifier,3 strontium as an impurity coming in with calcium, and iron as an impurity. These findings are consistent with the analyses of known Eighteenth Dynasty parallels. In addition, the prenomen of Ahmose is written in the style used in his contemporary texts rather than in later writings of his name.4 The