Ancient Egyptian Glassmaking Recreated
A team led by a Cardiff University archaeologist has reconstructed a
3,000-year-old glass furnace, showing that Ancient Egyptian glassmaking
methods were much more advanced than previously thought.
Dr Paul Nicholson, of the University's School of History and
Archaeology, is leader of an Egypt Exploration Society team working on
the earliest fully excavated glassmaking site in the world. The site,
at Amarna, on the banks of the Nile, dates back to the reign of
Akhanaten (1352 - 1336 B.C.), just a few years before the rule of
Tutankhamun.
It was previously thought that the Ancient Egyptians may have imported
their glass from the Near East at around this time. However, the
excavation team believes the evidence from Amarna shows they were
making it themselves, possibly in a single stage operation. Dr
Nicholson and his colleague Dr Caroline Jackson of Sheffield University
demonstrated this was possible, using local sand to produce a glass
ingot from their own experimental reconstruction of a furnace near the
site.
The team have also discovered that the glassworks was part of an
industrial complex which involved a number of other high temperature
manufacturing processes. The site also contained a potter's workshop
and facilities for making blue pigment and faience - a material used in
amulets and architectural inlays. The site was near one of the main
temples at Amarna and may have been used to produce materials in state
buildings.
Dr Nicholson, who has been working at Amarna since 1983, said: "It has
been argued that the Egyptians imported their glass and worked it into
the artefacts that have been discovered from this time. I believe there
is now enough evidence to show that skilled craftsmen could make their
own glass and were probably involved in a range of other manufacturing
industries as well."
Source: GlassOnWeb
