Abstract
Where and when glass production began is uncertain. It is thought by some that the first glass was probably developed in the Mitannian or Hurrian region of Mesopotamia, possibly as an extension of the production of glazes (~5000 BCE). Around this same time, a new material called faience was developed, which was produced by utilizing a variety of techniques to create a glaze layer over a silica core. It may have been invented in either Sumeria or Egypt, but its full development was accomplished in Egypt, and it is therefore commonly referred to as Egyptian faience. Although this material was used to craft beads during the third and fourth millennia BCE, it involved sintering (fusion below the melting point), rather than the complete melting of the silica mixture. As such, faience can be thought of as an intermediate material between a glaze and glass. Glass as an independent material is not thought to predate 3000 BCE, with the first glass objects including beads, plaques, inlays and eventually small vessels. Glass objects dated back to 2500 BCE have been found in Syria, and by 2450 BCE, glass beads were plentiful in Mesopotamia. Glass came later in Egypt, with its manufacture appearing as a major industry around 1500 BCE. The oldest glass of undisputed date found in Egypt dates from ~2200 BCE.
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- 1.
Pliny the Elder or Gaius Plinius Secundus (23–79 CE) was a Roman officer and encyclopedist. He was born in late 23 or early 24 at Novum Comum (modern Como), a small city in the region known as Transpadane Gaul (or Gallia Transpadana). Introduced to the city of Rome at an early age, he studied there before going on to become a military tribune at age 21. As an army officer, he held three posts, at least two of which were served in Germany. Best known as a writer and encyclopedist, he wrote his first treatise in 50–51, followed by a two-volume biography of the senator Pomponius Secundus and the twenty-volume History of Rome's German Wars. Following this, his writing shows a change in direction, thought to be associated with his final return to civilian life. He is most well-known for his encyclopedia, Naturalis Historia, published in 77 CE. This massive work resulted from years of collecting records, both from his reading and from personal observations, or anything and everything that seemed to him worth knowing. He died in late August of 79 during the evacuation around the erupting volcano Vesuvius. The exact cause of his death is unknown, but it has been said that he was asthmatic and overcome by sulfurous fumes. It is reported that he was still recording the personally observed marvels of nature to the last hours of his life [14].
- 2.
Alkaline carbonate, typically soda (sodium carbonate or Na2CO3). The word ‘nitre', which most recently refers to sodium nitrate, has only acquired that meaning within recent centuries. Originally it meant carbonated alkali, something that effervesced with vinegar or other acid, and when dissolved in water was a cleansing agent. The ancient Egyptians obtained native soda called ‘nitrike' from lakes such as those in Nitria. The Greek word became ‘nitron' and in turn became the Latin ‘nitrum' and the European ‘nitre'. Thus, the Greek ‘nitron' used by Hippocrates in the fifth century BCE, the Latin ‘nitrum' of Pliny in the first century CE, and their English equivalent ‘nitre', all apply to the soda obtained from either evaporitic lakes or plant ash [16].
- 3.
Antonio Neri (d. 1614) is the author of the Italian manuscript L'Arte Vetraria (The Art of Glass). Initially published in 1612, it is considered to be the world's most famous book on glassmaking. Little is actually known about Neri, but he has been generally referred to as a Florentine monk and the tone of this writing is consistent with this profession. He was but one of several monks who, over a period of several centuries, were important contributors to the knowledge of glass [25].
- 4.
While it is unclear, it appears that sodium nitrate (NaNO3) was used in the second attempt. It may be that Munro is interpreting Pliny's use of ‘nitre' in its modern sense here.
- 5.
The modern term ‘copper' derives from the Old English ‘coper' with its respective origin in the Latin ‘cuprum'. Cuprum in turn is a Roman contraction of ‘aes cyprium', meaning "metal of Cyprus".
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Rasmussen, S.C. (2012). Origins of Glass: Myth and Known History. In: How Glass Changed the World. SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science(), vol 3. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28183-9_2
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