The extensive use of glass inlays on ivories and as separate inlays together with ivories, presumably on the same furniture, is one of the features characteristic of Western Asiatic ivories dating from the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. Their introduction marked a clear departure from second millennium B.C. traditions of ivory carving and their disappearance after the eighth century B.C. coincided with the end of the Golden Age of Western Asiatic ivory carving.
In this discussion I intend to call attention to some phenomena connected with the use of glass inlays on and together with ivories from the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. rather than presenting a full review of the subject — a project beyond the scope of the present study. It will be shown that the distinction between non-inlaid and inlaid groups of ivories in Phoenician style has a bearing on their attribution to different workshops and possibly also on their chronology.