A Brief History of Glass

Church Stained Glass Windows Glass has been around for many years and it is said that Phoenicians made the first glass; however, natural glass has been used since stone ages. It is said that merchants first came to make glass by using lumps of niturm from a ship to prop their pots on, which cooking on the sandy beach. When the hot nitrum fused and mixed with the sand it formed glass. The Phoenicians used this glass for pottery and it is said to date back to 3000BC. Some archaeological evidence claims that the first glass was made around 2500 BC in Mesopotamia, where they found glass beads and such.

Natural glass is a green to bluish green color, this is caused by iron impurities in the sand. The colour of glass can be changed by metallic mixtures and mineral compounds, making it possible for you to choose between a wide range of coloured glass. One of the first examples of this comes from Egypt in 1500BC where they found a selection of glass beads.

The Egyptians made small jars and bottles as well using the core-formed method. They also formed the first colored glass rods that they would decorate with beads. The Egyptians also worked with cast glass and all these methods spread to Greece by the 5th century BCE. You can find that in the first century BC Mediterranean glass blowing was introduced, which includes both free blowing and mould blowing forms.

The new techniques and developments spread throughout Egypt to the Roman Empire. Trading of glass objects, as well as how to make the glass products, were all traded and spread to places like China, Scandinavia, and other places. The newness of glass and all the things you could do with it where pasted along and many took advantage to the techniques, such as Alexandria in Egypt where the Portland Vase was created.

How Glass Is Made In the 7th and 8th Centuries, glass objects where found on the island of Torcello. It was an important breakthrough in Northern Europe, when soda glass was made from a more readily available material called potash. This was gathered from wood ashes. It differed from other glass made and is still common.

In the 11th Century, German glass manufacturers made new ways of making sheet glass. They would blow spheres and swinging these to form cylinders, while still hot, then they would flatten the sheets. It was perfected in the 13th Century.

Glass making has come a long way in today's world. You can make anything you like out of glass if you just take the time to do so. Many decorate their homes with their glass creations.