Research On The Glassmaking Of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia,the center of diffusion glass products and glassmaking technique,preserved both archaeological and documentary resources.In the aspect of archaeological data,Mesopotamia appeared a large number of fragments which came from core-formed glass vessels.And in the aspect of documents,a few dozen broken pieces was found in the Library of Assurbanipal in Nineveh,containing prescriptions for the making of colored glasses.In this paper,I contrasted the glass texts and archaeological objects,and investigated the glassmaking technic status reflecting from the glass texts,and the property of glass texts.Chapter One:Introduction.Introduced the overseas and domestic research status,and summarized the archaeological date relating to the glass remains in Mesopotamia.Given a regionalizations staging study of archaeological sites,and summed up the characteristics in glassmaking technique and glass decoration of every period.Chapter Two:The glass texts,which is the main part of the paper.Translated three groups of glass texts:tablets from Nineveh,the middle Babyloniant tablets,and the tablets excavated from Babylon.Chapter Three:Commentary,Analysed the glassmaking technic reflecting from the glass texts.While discussed the property of the eglass texts.Conclution:glassmaking during the early period could be divided into two stages.At the first stage,Mesopotamia craftsmen aquired adequate knowledge of the property and coloring capacity of each kind of "primary" and faience-related glass.The products frequently made into beads,cylinder seals or small containers.This stage started from 4th-5th millennium B.C.,continuous till 1st millennium B.C.At the late stage,around 1500 B.C.,Mesopotamia occured a revolution in the field of glassmaking,represented by alkali-silicate glasses and potmetal glass.Most likely the craftman combining two types of glasses into imitations of precious stone.The method of combining the new glass with a variety of primary and faience-related glass is the basis of this glassmaking tradition as it survived in the glass texts.Moreover,these texts cannot be taken simply as technical instructions but literary creations within a complex literary tradition.