How Glass Was Discovered?

It was for thousands of years that glass was thought of as something to look at. It carried decorative value for making precious objects. Its real utility blossomed when it was thought of as something to look through. It is not known, where or when the secret of glass making was first learnt. It is very well known that it has been in use since very early days. The main ingredients for making glass are sand, soda ash, potash or lime, melted together at a high temperature. Since these materials are fouled in abundance in many parts of the world, the secret of making glass could have been discovered in many countries.

The ancient Phoenicians, according to one story, deserve the credit for this discovery. A crew of a ship landed at the mouth of a river in Syria. When they were ready to cook their dinner, they could not find any stones on which to support their kettle. They used lumps of niter, a sodium compound from the ship’s cargo. The niter got melted with the heat of fire which mixed with the surrounding sand and flowed out as a stream of liquid glass! The story may or not be true, but Syria was one of the original homes of glass making. And ancient Phoenician traders sold glass ware all through the Mediterranean countries.

Glass making was known in Egypt as well, at an early time. Glass beads and charms have been found in tombs which date back to 7000 B.C. but these glass objects may have come from Syria. About 1500 B.C., it is known, that the Egyptians were making their own glass. The Egyptians mixed crushed quartz pebbles with the sand to change the colour of glass. They learnt, that with the addition of cobalt, copper or manganese to the mixture, the glass produced was rich blue, green or purple colour.

The Egyptians, after 1200 B.C., learnt to press glass into moulds. The blowpipe for blowing glass did not come into use until shortly before the beginning of Christian Era. It was an invention made by Phoenicians. The Romans too were great glass makers. The used glass in thin panes, for wall coating. Glass was already in use for windows panes by the time of Christian Era.