Glass has been used in the Mediterranean for millennia, but few people understand the important role this material played in ancient social practices and daily life. Beginning in the Bronze Age, small, colorful glass vessels held costly perfumed oils, and colored glass stood in for precious stones in jewelry and furniture. During the late first century B.C., glass-blowing technology spread across the Roman world. Glass vessels and objects came into regular, everyday use across the social spectrum, used for everything from drinking cups to game pieces. In the late Roman period, Christian churches were fitted with costly glass windows and dozens of glass oil lamps. We will explore the technological developments and cultural uses of glass from the 6th c. BC to the 6^th c. AD with three case studies from across the Mediterranean: Apollonia (Albania), Pompeii (Italy), and Carthage (Tunisia).

Short bibliography and/or website on lecture topic:

Corning Museum of Glass. 2011. “The Origins of Glassmaking.” https://www.cmog.org/article/origins-glassmaking

Corning Museum of Glass. 2011. “Glass of the Romans.” https://cmog.org/article/glass-romans

Marianne Stern. 1999. “Roman Glass-blowing in a Cultural Context.” American Journal of Archaeology 103, 441-484.

Karol Wight. 2011. Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.