The art of engraving gemstones can be traced back to ancient Greece in the 8th century BC and earlier. Techniques passed down to the Egyptians and then to the Romans. There were major revivals of interest in engraved gems in Europe during the Byzantine era, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and again in the 18th and 19th centuries. These two fragments, the remains of a tazza, are Roman and probably date from the first hundred years of the Christian era. A tazza, literally translated as 'cup' in Italian, is a shallow dish, sometimes supported on a central stem, sometimes just with a low foot. From their dimensions we can deduce that these two fragments must have once formed part of a large tazza cut from a single piece of agate. This would have been a desirable, high-status possession. It could have been used for serving food from, or just as decoration. Some agate tazzi had elaborate carved scenes and decoration in the centre of the bowl, and one celebrated example to survive intact is the Tazza Farnese in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.