People have been using a variation of glass as early as ancient times. People would harvest obsidian, a black, shiny stone, and use it for decoration or to carve tools, like arrowheads, out of the reflective substance. Obsidian was incredibly sharp, but not very sturdy, however.
The first real glass was made in Eastern Mesopotamia and Egypt in about 3,500 B.C.E. Glass vessels, (vases & pots) began to be produced and for the next 300 years, the glass industry rose and then declined. In Mesopotamia, the market was revived, and in about 700 B.C.E. and countries along the Mediterranean coast such as Egypt and Syria became centers for glass manufacturing.
In the beginning, it was an extremely difficult and time-consuming process to produce glass. Glass melting furnaces were small and the heat they produced was hardly enough to melt glass. Later, craftsmen would invent the blowpipe. This made the production of glass increase exponentially. In the year 1000 C.E., Alexandria was the most important hub for glass manufacturing.
Centuries later, stained glass windows were invented and would reach their peak in the 13th and 14th centuries, with the beautifully colored cathedral windows. Examples of stained glass can still be found today, often as simple as going to a church or chapel and locating one of the many windows that depict images of Jesus, God, or other biblical events.
Fun Facts:
- The first glass factory in the United States was built in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608.
- Glass can be formed by lightning, but lightning has to strike a beach or somewhere similarly sandy for it to work.
- Glass is not a solid, liquid, or gas. When cooled, glass forms an "amorphous solid" where molecules can still move around it.
Example of beautiful stained glass windows.
Not all stained glass is this intricate or complicated, but this is a prime example of a beautiful design.
Sources: http://www.historyofglass.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please be respectful. Think to yourself, "Would I say this to a child?"