Glass has a long and rich place in history. In almost every major culture, glass has played an important role in the creative expression of its artists. Archaeological findings indicate that glass was first made in the Middle East, sometime in the 3000's B.C. The earliest man-made glass objects, mainly non-transparent glass beads, are thought to date back to around 3500 BC, with finds in Egypt and Eastern Mesopotamia. In the third millennium, in central Mesopotamia, the basic raw materials of glass were being used principally to produce glazes on pots and vases. Phoenician merchants and sailors spread this new art along the coasts of the Mediterranean.

After 1500 BC, Egyptian craftsmen are known to have begun developing a method for producing glass pots by dipping a core mold of compacted sand into molten glass and then turning the mold so that molten glass adhered to it. While still soft, the glass-covered mold could then be rolled on a slab of stone in order to smooth or decorate it. The earliest examples of Egyptian glassware are three vases bearing the name of the Pharaoh Thoutmosis III (1504-1450 BC), who brought glassmakers to Egypt as prisoners following a successful military campaign in Asia.

A major breakthrough in glassmaking was the discovery of glassblowing sometime between 27 BC and AD 14, attributed to Syrian craftsmen from the Sidon-Babylon area. In the last century BC, the ancient Romans then began blowing glass inside molds, greatly increasing the variety of shapes possible for hollow glass items.

Over the following 500 years, glass production centered on Alessandria, from where it is thought to have spread to Italy. Glass manufacturing flourished in the Roman empire and spread from Italy to all countries under Roman jurisdiction. By the time of the Crusades, glass manufacture had been revived in Venice as a result of good contacts with Byzantium. Equipment was transferred to the Venetian island of Murano, where Soda Lime glass, better known as cristallo, was developed.

Venetian glass-blowers created some of the most delicate and graceful glass the world has ever seen. Despite their efforts to keep the technology secret, it soon spread around Europe. After 1890, glass uses and manufacturing developments increased so rapidly as to be almost revolutionary. The science and engineering of glass as a material was much better understood, and in the late 1950's Sir Alastair Pilkington introduced a new revolutionary production method (float glass production), by which 90% of flat glass is still manufactured today.

For a more detailed history of glass we invite you to visit: http://www.glassonline.com/infoserv/history.html