Libyan Desert Glass is a tektite (from the Greek tektos, meaning “melted”). It is the result of terrestrial sand having melted into glass following an enormously energetic asteroid impact 29 million years ago at what is today the border region of Libya and Egypt. The evidence of origin is twofold: to melt sand, temperatures exceeding 1600° C (2900° F) are required; very few volcanic lavas come close to that temperature, and no such lavas have been known in Northern Africa. In addition, meteorite particles have been identified within some Libyan Desert Glass samples. Similar glass forms are named after the locality in which they are found. The higher the silica content of such impact glass, the lighter the color, and so Libyan Desert Glass — derived from sand and containing 98% silica — is sunny yellow while moldavites from the Moldau River Region of the Czech Republic with 80% silica cover a range of green hues (see lot 72). Libyan Desert Glass was used to make tools during the Late Pleistocene epoch and is today used in a variety of jewelry applications. This is not a recent development. Libyan Desert Glass was highly valued by ancient Egyptians and used as jewelry in the Pharaonic Period; samples of Libyan Desert Glass were found in King Tut’s tomb. The specimen now offered should never be fashioned into anything as it is an exquisite natural sculpture in glass. Most of the surfaces are highly textured except for one conchoidal surface. The entire mass is naturally sandblasted. The glass is highly translucent with a range of earthen hues coursing through its form and in what is a great rarity a naturally formed hole extends more than 2.5 inches through the mass. Now offered is a fascinating specimen of Libyan Desert Glass, an artifact of a collision with Earth. Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue. 165 x 11