An Assyrian text on glass manufacture

Abstract

Studies of the many authentically dated specimens of ancient glass in museums and private collections have enabled investigators interested in the origin and progress of glass manufacture to reach some tentative conclusions on the succession of glass-forming processes. There is, however, a dearth of information on the chemical compositions of ancient glassware or the raw materials used by early glass workers. R. Campbell Thompson in " The Chemistry of the Ancient Assyrians" (published in a limited edition in 1925) offered a careful translation of certain seventh century B.C. Assyrian cuneiform tablets dealing with glass compositions and melting technic. This work is reviewed and used as the basis of an estimate of the chemical knowledge of the Assyrian glass workers.

Ancient and Contemporary Industries Based on Alkali and Alkali-Earth Salts and Hydroxides: The Historical and Technological Review

“…Alkali earths, especially calcium, usually counteract this effect to a certain extent and stabilize the glass. Ancient and historical glasses are alkali-lime-silicate glasses because alkali carbonates, such as plant ashes and natron, were the critical raw materials consciously used by glassmakers [31,43,48,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]. It is now widely accepted that during the Late Bronze Age, Soda and potash-rich plant ash enhanced by increased lime content was the primary flux additive used to make glass in the ancient Near East [48,50,64,65].…”