Ancient Rome’s Finest Glass Made in Egypt

[guy]

 

Here are some interesting links to the study suggesting that the colorless glass known in ancient Rome as Alexandrian glass really was made in Egypt after all (and not the nearby Levant region):

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The Roman glass industry was prolific, producing wares for drinking and dining, window panes and coloured glass ‘stones’ for wall mosaics. One of its outstanding achievements was the production of large quantities of a colourless and clear glass, which was particularly favoured for high-quality cut drinking vessels. The fourth-century Price Edict of the emperor Diocletian refers to colourless glass as ‘Alexandrian’, indicating an origin in Egypt. However, large amounts of Roman glass are known to have been made in Palestine, where archaeologists have uncovered furnaces for colourless glass production. Such furnaces have not been uncovered in Egypt, and hitherto, it has been very challenging to scientifically tell the difference between glass made in the two regions.

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A team of archaeologists from Aarhus University in Denmark and University College London has now traced the glass to its apparent source. They detailed their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.

Examining hafnium, neodymium, and strontium isotopes in hundreds of samples of Alexandrian glass, the researches were able to link the materials' distinct hafnium isotopes to sands and ancient glass production sites along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt.

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For those who wanted to see the color of their wine but were unable to afford Alexandrian vessels, clear manganese glass (then known as Judaean glass) cost about a third less. Though archaeologists have identified numerous factories in the Levant known to have produced this lower-grade glass, no definitive evidence had previously linked Alexandrian glass to Egypt.

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Per the paper, the analysis determined that ratios of hafnium isotopes can be used to differentiate Alexandrian glass from Levantine glass decolorized with manganese. The researchers also report that Alexandrian glass exhibits hafnium isotope ratios comparable to that of glass known to come from Egypt, seemingly settling the longstanding mystery.

 

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Examining hafnium, neodymium, and strontium isotopes in hundreds of samples of Alexandrian glass, the researches were able to link the materials' distinct hafnium isotopes to sands and ancient glass production sites along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. 

"We attribute the striking difference in hafnium isotopes of Egyptian versus Levantine glasses to sorting of zircons in Nile sediment," they wrote. 

 

So, the studies seem to support the ancient report that "Alexandrian" glass truly came from Egypt and not from the Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and parts of Turkey).

 

 

https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2020/07/10/hafnium-isotopes-clinch-origin-of-high-quality-roman-glass/

https://www.realclearscience.com/quick_and_clear_science/2020/07/13/where_did_romes_famous_alexandrian_glass_come_from.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/romes-finest-glass-was-made-egypt-180975482/

 

guy also known as gaius

(Thank you Al Kowsky from cointalk.com for bringing this study to my attention.)

Edited October 26, 2021 by guy