Glass and Glass Production in the Near East during the Iron Age: Evidence from objects, texts and chemical analysis

‘Glass and Glass Production in the Near East during the Iron Age: Evidence from objects, texts and chemical analysis’ examines the history of glass in Iron Age Mesopotamia and neighbouring regions (1000–539 BCE). This is the first monograph to cover this region and period comprehensively and in detail and thus fills a significant gap in glass research. It focusses on identification of the different types of glass objects and their respective manufacturing techniques from the the Iron Age period. Both glass as material and individual glass objects are investigated to answer questions such as as how raw glass (primary production) and glass objects (secondary production) were manufactured, how both these industries were organised, and how widespread glass objects were in Mesopotamian society in the Iron Age period. Such a comprehensive picture of glass and its production in the Iron Age can only be achieved by setting archaeological data in relation to cuneiform texts, archaeometric analyses and experimental-archaeological investigations. With regard to the different disciplines incorporated into this study, an attempt was made to view them together and to establish connections between these areas.

Table of Contents

1. Foreword and Acknowledgements

2. Glass and Glassy Materials: Definitions and Material Properties

3. Archaeological Contexts: Sites with Iron Age Glass Finds

4. The Glass Objects: Manufacturing Techniques, Typology, and Function

5. Discussion of the Archaeological Data

6. The Nineveh Glass Recipes

7. Archaeometrical Evidence

8. Conclusion

Index of Technical Terms

Bibliography

Catalogue

Plates

Appendix 1

Appendix 2: Chemical raw data of different sites discussed