TECHNOLOGY OF EGYPTIAN CORE GLASS VESSELS

Our knowledge of glass production in ancient Egypt has been well augmented not only by the publication of recently excavated materials and glass workshops, but also by more recent materials analysis, and experiments of modern glass-makers attempting to reconstruct the production process of thin-walled core-formed glass vessels. The small but well preserved glass collection of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. was used to examine and study the technology and production of ancient Egyptian core-formed glass vessels. Previous study suggests that most of these vessels were produced in the 18th Dynasty in the 15th and 14th centuries BCE, while others date from the Hellenistic period and later. In an ongoing project we conducted computed radiography, x-ray fluorescence analysis and scanning electron microscopy on a selected group of vessels to understand further aspects of the ancient production process. This paper will provide an overview of our recent research.