Glass Making in the Greco-Roman World: Results of the ARCHGLASS project

Degryse, Patrick

doi:10.26530/oapen_513796

Cited by 58 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 124 publications

(284 reference statements)

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“…The Roman Sb and Roman Mn–Sb glasses from Jerash differ significantly from the Byzantine, Rom‐Mn, and Hellenistic glasses in terms of Rb, Ba, and LREE (La, Ce) in particular (Figure ). This supports the view that Rom‐Sb glass was not a product of Palestine and more likely originated from Egypt (Degryse, ; Schibille et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…In the 1st century CE, the production of antimony-decolorized glass was established and it appears to have been preferred for more expensive items such as tableware with cut decoration Figure 8). This supports the view that Rom-Sb glass was not a product of Palestine and more likely originated from Egypt (Degryse, 2014;Schibille et al, 2017).…”

Section: Origins Of Primary Glass Types In Jerashsupporting

confidence: 85%

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Geochemistry of Byzantine and Early Islamic glass from Jerash, Jordan: Typology, recycling, and provenance

et al. 2018

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Twenty‐two objects of glass from the Decapolis city of Gerasa, N. Jordan, with characteristic vessel forms ranging from Hellenistic to Early Islamic (2nd century BCE to 8th century CE) were analyzed for major and trace elements, and 16 samples for Sr‐isotopes. The majority were produced in the vicinity of Apollonia on the Palestine coast in the 6th–7th centuries CE, and strong inter‐element correlations for Fe, Ti, Mn, Mg, Nb reflect local variations in the accessory minerals in the Apollonia glassmaking sand. The ubiquity of recycling is reflected in elevated concentrations and high coefficients of variation of colorant‐related elements as well as a strong positive correlation between K and P. The high level of K contamination is attributed to the use of pomace (olive processing residue) as fuel, and a negative correlation with Cl, due to volatilization as the glass was reheated. This points to an efficient system for the collection of glass for recycling in Jerash during the latter part of the first millennium CE. Differences in elemental behavior at different sites in the Levant may reflect the context of the recycling system, for example, glass from secular contexts may contain less colorants derived from mosaics than glass associated with churches.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Origins Of Primary Glass Types In Jerashsupporting

confidence: 85%

Geochemistry of Byzantine and Early Islamic glass from Jerash, Jordan: Typology, recycling, and provenance

et al. 2018

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“…It is generally agreed that the majority of glass used in the 1st millennium CE was made from sand and alkali in a small number of primary workshops in Palestine or Egypt, then distributed as raw chunks to many secondary workshops for remelting and shaping (Nenna et al, 1997;Degryse 2014). A number of glass compositional groups have been identified in the Mediterranean and beyond in Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic periods, and these appear to correspond to different primary workshops (Freestone et al, 2000;Foy et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glass production at an Early Islamic workshop in Tel Aviv

Freestone

Jackson-Tal

Taxel

et al. 2015

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…2). The result is the slightly negative ε Nd(0) values observed for Nile delta and coastal sands as well as in Egyptian and Levantine glass 14,16,18,19 (Fig. 3b; SI Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 88%

‘Alexandrian’ glass confirmed by hafnium isotopes

Barfod

Freestone

Lesher

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Archaeological glass contains information about the movement of goods and ancient economies, yet our understanding of critical aspects of the ancient glass industry is fragmentary. During Roman times, distinct glass types produced in coastal regions of Egypt and the Levant used evaporitic soda (natron) mixed with Nile-derived sands. In the Levant, furnaces for producing colourless Roman glass by addition of manganese have been uncovered, whereas the source of the desirable antimonydecolourised Roman glass remains an enigma. In the Edict of Diocletian, this colourless glass is listed as "Alexandrian" referring to Egypt, but its origin has been ambiguous. Previous studies have found overlapping strontium and neodymium isotope ratios for Levantine and Egyptian glass. Here, we confirm these findings and show for the first time, based on glasses from the ancient city of Gerasa, that hafnium (Hf) isotopes are different in Egyptian and Levantine natron glasses, and that Sb Roman glass is Egyptian. Our work illustrates the value of Hf isotopes in provenancing archaeological glass. We attribute the striking difference in Hf isotopes of Egyptian versus Levantine glasses to sorting of zircons in Nile sediments during longshore drift and aeolian transport along the southeastern Mediterranean coast leaving behind a less juvenile fraction. The Roman glass industry underwent a massive expansion over the first century CE. At its peak it supplied not only tablewares for households across the Empire but also furnished major public buildings with many tonnes of glass for windows and mosaics 1,2. The raw glass was made by fusing Egyptian evaporitic soda (natron) and sand to produce large glass slabs in tank furnaces with capacities of 8-20 tonnes 3,4. These were broken up and distributed to glass workshops where the glass was remelted and shaped into objects for use 5,6. This division of production continued until at least the ninth century, when a change from a mineral soda flux over to plant ash occurred bringing about the end of the Roman glassmaking tradition 7,8. The technological achievements of the Roman glass industry were precocious and not surpassed until the rise of the European industries in the eighteenth century. In particular, the Romans produced large quantities of an expensive and highly valued glass, described by Pliny 9 as "colourless or transparent, as closely as possible resembling rock crystal" (Fig. 1), where the iron from the sand was oxidised from blue Fe 2+ to very pale Fe 3+ by the addition of antimony oxide, Sb 2 O 3 10,11. In the Price Edict of Diocletian, this colourless glass is listed as "Alexandrian" thereby referring to Egypt 12. Despite this, the production site for this so-called Sb Roman glass is unknown but several authors have suggested, on the basis of circumstantial evidence, that it was in Egypt 13,14 (see Supplementary Information for details). Strong evidence that the primary glassmaking factories melting sand and natron to glass were predominantly located along the coast of the eastern Me...

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Glass Making in the Greco-Roman World: Results of the ARCHGLASS project

Cited by 58 publications

References 124 publications

Geochemistry of Byzantine and Early Islamic glass from Jerash, Jordan: Typology, recycling, and provenance

Geochemistry of Byzantine and Early Islamic glass from Jerash, Jordan: Typology, recycling, and provenance

Glass production at an Early Islamic workshop in Tel Aviv

‘Alexandrian’ glass confirmed by hafnium isotopes

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