The Beginnings of Vitreous Materials in the Near East and Egypt

Abstract

In the Near East and Egypt, vitreous materials in the form of glazed stones and faience were first produced from about the 4th millennium B.C. Subsequently, the period around 1500 BC saw major developments in the range of vitreous materials with the production of glass vessels and glazed clay objects and an extension in the range of colorants used. This paper first describes how the examination of artifacts has been used to reconstruct the processes involved in the production of these different vitreous materials. This information is then used to try to understand how the new technologies were discovered and why they were adopted.

Sasanian glass from Veh Ardašīr: new evidences by ICP-MS analysis

“…Glass objects in the form of small beads and amulets are occasionally found since the late third millennium BC; however, a regular production of glass vessels does not seem to occur before the Late Bronze Age, around 1500 BC in Mesopotamia and in Egypt (Peltenburg, 1971;Tite et al, 2002). Early glass was found to be silica-sodalime in composition, with relatively high levels of potassium and magnesium; these elements were usually introduced through two main ingredients, namely sodic ash derived from desert plants, on the one hand, and crushed quartz pebbles or a relatively calciumfree sand, on the other (Vandiver, 1983;Brill, 1999, vol 1, pp.…”

Sediments exposed to high temperatures: reconstructing pyrotechnological processes in Late Bronze and Iron Age Strata at Tel Dor (Israel)

“…The early production of glass was based on silica as the network former, soda as the alkali flux, and lime and magnesium as stabilizers. Tite et al [32] have suggested for such mixtures a furnace temperature in the range of 1100e1200 C, which is well beyond the required range for pottery production. Thus temperature alone is unlikely to definitively differentiate between various pyrotechnological practices.…”

XRF analysis of glass beads from the Mycenaean palace of Nestor at Pylos, Peloponnesus, Greece: new insight into the LBA glass trade

“…3, the potash content of cobalt-blue glasses is significantly lower than that of the copper-blue or glasses of other colours. This behaviour has been observed in Egyptian glasses and led Tite et al (2002) to propose that plant ashes of different composition (i.e. lower in potash, higher in magnesium and lime) were used for the production of cobalt-blue glasses.…”

“…The association of copper to tin, when observed in glass XRF data, indicates the use of bronze or bronze scraps as colourants (Tite et al, 2002) but there are not any significant amounts of tin in the Pylos beads (the detection limit for Sn is 150 ppm, see Table 2). The source of the copper colourant of the Pylos glasses could have been either corroded copper metal or a copper mineral, such as malachite or azurite (Tite et al, 2002). The cobalt may be of European or Middle Eastern origin.…”

“…It is generally accepted that glass was first produced in Northern Syria in the last half of the 16th century BC and later introduced to Egypt during the reign of Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BC) (Tite et al, 2002). Excavation gives conclusive evidence for the existence of glass-making factories in Egypt (Amarna and Qantir, Nicholson, 1995;Keller, 1983;Rehren and Pusch, 2005;Smirniou and Rehren, 2011) while written records from Mesopotamia with detailed glass-making instructions confirm their presence there (Oppenheim et al, 1988).…”