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The history of glass making before the
Industrial
revolution can be separated in two
stages: in the
first, which began in the 3rd millennium
BC and
ended in the period from 100 to 50 BC,
craftsmen discovered how to transform
raw
materials into glass and how to make
vessels and
other objects either with moulds or by
forming a
molten glass around a removable core.
Both
techniques were labour-intensive and
were
seldom made in big quantities. In the
second
stage, beginning in the 1st century AD
in the
Syro-Palestinian region, glass workers
found that
molten glass could be formed by
inflation and
manipulation with tools. Glass blowing
enabled
them to make quickly a wide range of
shapes,
thus widening its market. However, after
the 2nd
century AD, glass is generally found in
a more
confined area. The change appears to
have taken
place under the Flavian Emperors (69-96
AD), an
era that in many ways represents a
watershed in
the history of glass making. It is from
this time
onwards that glassblowing in the East
and the
West developed along independent lines,
the only
exception being fine tableware decorated
with
special techniques, which was probably
due to
the still unifying factor of the Roman
Imperial
administration.
Yet, the most prolific period in the
history of
glass in the Eastern Mediterranean was
during
the late Roman Empire, when Egypt,
Palestine,
Syria, Cyprus, Asia Minor and the north
Pontic
region all had flourishing glass
industries. With
the increased demand for glass,
regionalism
became the dominant factor in the
production of
glass vessels. Marked regional
differences
existed not only between the glass made
in Syria,
Jordan and Palestine, but even between
different
parts of Palestine (inland vs coast;
Galilee and
Phoenicia vs Judea). The glass
industries of these
regions experienced a prolonged period
of
growth, and the late Roman and early
Byzantine
period were by far the most important
not only in
terms of absolute output but also in
terms of
typologies used. Only during this
period, glass
was finally used by different strata of
societies,
sometimes even replacing pottery for
certain
functions.
The Palestinian glass industry
flourished from the
4th to the early 5th century, following
the rule of
the Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305),
when
the region enjoyed a time of relative
peace in
spite of economic instability. When
Constantine
the Great finally emerged as sole ruler
in 324,
Palestine benefited from the fact that
he targeted
Jerusalem and the Holy Land as main
recipients
for his reconstruction program. Exempted
from
personal taxation by an Imperial edict
in 337, a
large number of skilled craftsmen
profited
greatly from the economic boom.
- (OF.119)
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