Ancient Legacy And Future Applications Of Glass
Today, glass is a mundane material mostly used in construction but in history it was among the treasures of kings and their royal dynasties. The history of glass-making dates back to at least 3,600 years ago in Mesopotamia (Iraq), however, some archaeologists claim that the Mesopotamians were copying glass objects from Egypt, while others say the first glass-makers lived in coastal north Syria. In ancient days, glass was made from crushed sand quartz and a range of differing chemistries were developed to bring in color, and in the earliest times people were restricted to making glass beads, figurines and crude bottles since they could not blow spherical forms.
A Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) blue-glass bowl; the Chinese had been making glass beads based on imports from West Asia since the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BC) (Public Domain)
In China, glass crafts emerged during the Warring States period (475–221 BC), and in both the ancient east and west glass was a luxury item that was used for jewelry and expensive tableware. This transparent, malleable and rigid substance was deemed deeply sacred as it was an amalgam of rock, water and air. Glass beads crafted in ancient Mesopotamia have been discovered in Egypt dating back to about 2500 BC and glass vessels first appeared around 1450 BC during the reign of Tuthmosis III (1490–1436 BC), the sixth of the 18th Dynasty pharaohs of Egypt.
