The first purposely manufactured glass material appears in the 4th millennium BC, in both Mesopotamia and Egypt, when heated crushed quartz was used to make glazes for ceramic vessels. The glazes are thought to have been accidental discoveries, possibly a byproduct of copper smelting or when crushed quartz was accidentally left in a ceramic kiln. Which civilization invented the process is unknown, but the trading network between the two assured that the method was transmitted quickly.
The technological leap in glass making called faience is essentially a modeling compound made of crushed quartz or silica sand, mixed with natron and salt, and fired. Although the original source of invention is currently unknown, faience was used to make jewelry throughout Egypt and Mesopotamia by the mid-4th millennium BC. Faience objects themselves, such as the cute little Middle Kingdom Egyptian [ca 2022-1650 BC] hippo illustrated in the photo, are not glazed, but rather completely man-made hand-molded objects which upon firing take on a shiny crust.
Evidence for the 4th millennium BC production of glazes and faience has also been found in Mesopotamia at sites such as Hamoukar and Tell Brak.
Sources and Further Information
Read more about faience, the substance and its construction methods. More information is also available about Hamoukar and Tell Brak.
Tite, M. S., P. Manti, and A. J. Shortland 2007 A technological study of ancient faience from Egypt. Journal of Archaeological Science 34:1568-1583.
Additional information was gathered from the Bibliography of Glass Making, assembled for this project.
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