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Innovation or continuity? Early first millennium BCE glass in the Near East: the cobalt blue glasses from Assyrian Nimrud

Authors:
Wendy Reade at The University of Sydney
Wendy Reade
Ian Freestone at University College London
Ian Freestone
St John Simpson at British Museum
St John Simpson
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From: Annales du 16e Congres de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre (2005) 23-27.
... Glass makers knew several sources of cobalt. How and where these sources were exploited for the preparation of blue glass were points of debate among scholars for several decades (Sayre and Smith 1973;Henderson, 1985;Rehren, 2001;Tite and Shortland, 2003;Reade et al. 2005;Gratuze and Picon, 2005;Nikita and Henderson, 2006;Abe et al., 2012;Smirniou and Rehren 2013;Oikonomou et al. 2018;Hodgkinson et al., 2019;Costa et al., 2021 and references therein). This extensive debate gives robust basis for the interpretation of compositional data for blue glass. ...
... The beads analysed in this work are attributed to a time-span in which the production of Co glasses in Egypt temporarily ceased (Kaczmarczyk and Hedges, 1983). Starting from the 9th century BCE, in fact, Co blue glass was produced in Nimrud (Iraq) where craftsmen apparently used evaporitic soda-rich deposits as the source of flux and Co-bearing alum as a colorant, both imported from Egypt (Reade et al., 2005). ...
Ring-eye blue beads in Iron Age central Italy -Preliminary discussion of technology and possible trade connections
Article
  • Dec 2022
  • JASR
The Iron Age was a remarkable period in glass technology development and its spread across the Mediterranean. Communities that populated what is nowadays Central Italy underwent profound changes during this period forming more complex societies, developing proto-urban and urban centres, and incorporating into a wide trade network of the Mediterranean Sea and beyond. Glass objects in that small region are frequently found in burial sites dated to the first half of the first millennium BCE, with small blue beads with simple ring eyes being among the most abundant types. Fifty-six objects of this type (both whole beads and fragments) were studied with a non-invasive approach by means of Optical Microscopy, Fibre Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy, and portable X-ray Fluorescence spectroscopy. The analyses were conducted at the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia and at the Museo delle Civiltà (both in Rome, Italy). Five samples from the main set were also analysed with a Scanning Electron Microscope coupled to an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer. The data gave preliminary information on the raw materials used to prepare the glass, the manufacturing techniques, and offered some hints to (tentatively) locate the region of provenance. In particular, the analyses established that the beads are soda-lime-silica glass and the source of cobalt, used as the blue colorant, could be an ore from Egypt. Within this general frame, a smaller group showed a different compositional pattern. These preliminary results contribute new knowledge for tracing exchange routes within the Mediterranean during the Iron Age.
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... The most ancient confirmed date for LMG glass is a core-formed vessel from the tomb of Nesikhons, in Egypt dated to the 10 th century BC (Schlick-Nolte and Werthmann, 2003). LMG Cocoloured glasses come from 8 th À9 th century BC Nimrud and prove the early use of natron in the Near East, even if plant ash glass is also present at the site (Reade et al., 2005). Early natron glasses from Nimrud and Egypt show such a small amount of lime that their stability and durability are seriously compromised. ...
... If the sand used does not have the proper quantity of shells and/or lime is not voluntarily added, the resulting glass may be easily degraded with time. As suggested by some authors (Sayre and Smith, 1961;Reade et al., 2005; this may be the reason for the lack in the archaeological record of a large amount of glass in the early two centuries of the first millennium BC, both in Egypt and the Near East. The spread of LMG is rapid and LMG glass is known in Europe as early as the 9 th century BC (see Section 5). ...
Glass and other vitreous materials through history
Chapter
Full-text available
  • Aug 2019
The chapters contributed to the volume recognize the important and diverse contributions of mineralogy to the valorization, characterization, interpretation and conservation of cultural heritage. The book focuses on examples of materials and methodological issues rather than technical/analytical details. We have attempted to deal with the cultural heritage materials in chronological order of their technological developments, to relate them to past human activities, and to highlight unresolved problems in need of investigation.
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... The most ancient confirmed date for LMG glass is a core-formed vessel from the tomb of Nesikhons, in Egypt dated to the 10 th century BC (Schlick-Nolte and Werthmann, 2003). LMG Cocoloured glasses come from 8 th À9 th century BC Nimrud and prove the early use of natron in the Near East, even if plant ash glass is also present at the site (Reade et al., 2005). Early natron glasses from Nimrud and Egypt show such a small amount of lime that their stability and durability are seriously compromised. ...
... If the sand used does not have the proper quantity of shells and/or lime is not voluntarily added, the resulting glass may be easily degraded with time. As suggested by some authors (Sayre and Smith, 1961;Reade et al., 2005; this may be the reason for the lack in the archaeological record of a large amount of glass in the early two centuries of the first millennium BC, both in Egypt and the Near East. The spread of LMG is rapid and LMG glass is known in Europe as early as the 9 th century BC (see Section 5). ...
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... However, the sediment-related elements somewhat resemble Mesopotamian raw materials, which can be taken as a suggestion of their origin. This type of cobalt blue glass appears to occur widely in the tenth-eight centuries BC and has been reported from Iraq (Reade et al. 2005) to France (Gratuze 2009). ...
The spectrometric analysis of Iron Age glass beads from Novo Mesto, Slovenia | Spektrometrične analize železnodobnih steklenih jagod iz Novega mesta, Slovenija
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2022
This paper presents the results of spectrometric analysis of Iron Age glass from Novo Mesto, Lower Carniola, Slovenia. Several different glass types were detected in the assemblage. The results indicate that raw glass was imported to Novo Mesto from eastern Mediterranean centres and corroborate the existence of long-distance trade during the first millennium BCE.
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... Smalt is a blue glass pigment that owes its colour to the use of cobalt as a colouring agent. Cobalt-coloured glasses are known from ancient times, with evidence found of their manufacture and use dating back to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt (Reade, Freestone, and Simpson 2003;Delamare 2013). However, there are no examples of cobalt glass used as a pigment from the ancient world and there is no existing information about blue glass production in the early treatises on art and technology from the Middle Ages (Freestone 1992;Frezzato 2011). ...
Treating Smalt: A Preliminary SEM-EDX Study of the Effects of Aqueous-based Alkaline Conservation Treatments on Smalt in Wall Paintings
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2021
Smalt is a blue cobalt-coloured glass pigment used in European wall paintings from the early Renaissance period that became a popular choice for artists due to its unique tone, availability, and versatility. The pigment has long been considered as stable in an alkaline environment since it was applied with lime-based techniques and generally retained its colour over time. This perceived stability has meant that aqueous-based alkaline treatments, often involving high pH values, substantial quantities of liquid, and long contact times, have been used in conservation treatments. However, studies of the kinetics of glass deterioration in the past few years have demonstrated that glass is highly reactive in contact with water and substances with both high and low pH values. Research into smalt deterioration in canvas paintings has shown that smalt is susceptible to elemental leaching and physical changes in contact with water and low pH values; however, there is little specific information about the conservation implications of these findings on the treatment of smalt in wall paintings. This experimental study explores several aspects of how aqueous-based alkaline conservation treatments affect smalt grains in lime-based wall paintings: the influence of painting technique, exposure of the pictorial layer to water before treatment, and pH values and contact times during treatment. Replicas representing three different painting techniques were created, exposed to liquid water or water vapour, and treated with three substances commonly used in conservation according to accepted practices in terms of preparation and application. Chemical and physical changes in the pigment were then analysed using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Results confirmed that aqueous-based alkaline substances provoke chemical changes as well as physical deterioration in smalt applied in lime-based techniques evidenced by leaching, corrosion, and cracking in the pigment grains. Crucial factors found to influence the impact of treatments on smalt included the previous exposure to humidity of the pictorial layer, the pH value of the treatment, and extended contact times.
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... Some of the earliest examples of this new technology are the tenth century BCE core-formed glass vessels found in the Egyptian burial of Nesikhons (Schlick-Nolte and Werthmann, 2003). Other glass types typical of this period are the black and cobalt blue natron glasses found at Pella in the Levant, Nimrud in Mesopotamia and various sites in Southwestern Europe (Reade et al., 2006(Reade et al., , 2009Gratuze and Picon, 2005;Gratuze, 2009;Arletti et al., 2011;Conte et al., 2016Conte et al., , 2018. These different 'low magnesium-potassium' or 'natron' glasses were the forerunners of the later large-scale Hellenistic and Roman natron glass. ...
A unique recipe for glass beads at Iron Age Sardis
Article
  • Jun 2019
In large parts of the Mediterranean recipes for the earliest man-made glass changed from melting mixtures of crushed quartz pebbles and halophytic plant ashes in the Late Bronze Age to the use of quartz sands and mineral soda during the Early Iron Age. Not much is known about this transition and the experimental materials which would inevitably have been connected to such technological change. In this paper we present a unique snapshot of developments in glass technology in Anatolia during the Middle Iron Age, when glass is still a relatively rare commodity. The present work focusses on black glass beads decorated with yellow trails from eighth to seventh century BCE Sardis, glass beads that are very rare for this period, and on this site. A full elemental analysis of the beads was made, and Sr, Pb and B isotope ratios were determined. This study reveals the use of a combination of a previously unknown source of silica and of mineral soda, giving rise to elevated (granite-like) Sr isotope signatures, as well as high alumina and B concentrations. The yellow trails of glass on the beads consist of lead-tin yellow type II, lead stannate, showing the earliest occurrence of this type of opacifier/colourant so far, predating any other findings by at least four centuries. The production of these glass beads may be local to Sardis and experimental in nature. It is therefore suggested that Sardis may have played its role in the technological development of the glass craft during the Iron Age.
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... Al, Mn, Fe, Zn, Ni, Cu, As, S, Pb, Sb. Some contemporary blue glasses from various European and Middle Eastern sites shows a correlation between Co and Al 2 O 3 and MgO related to the use of cobaltiferous alums as source of colour, which was common during Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (Shortland and Tite, 2000, 145;Gratuze and Picon, 2005;Reade et al., 2005;Arletti et al., 2010, 711;Gallo et al., 2012, 205;Panighello et al., 2012Panighello et al., , 2952. The comparable Al 2 O 3 and MgO concentrations of the cobalt and the cobalt-free glasses from the Nin-Bèrè 3 bead lead to the exclusion of such hypothesis. ...
A Phoenician glass eye bead from 7th–5th c. cal BCE Nin-Bèrè 3, Mali: Compositional characterisation by LA–ICP–MS
Article
  • Apr 2019
  • JASR
The so-called Phoenician or Punic eye beads are a well-known type of glass artefacts circulating all over the Mediterranean Basin and Europe for most of the 1st millennium BCE. Glass beads were mostly produced in secondary workshops from imported raw glass or recycled artefacts but the specific sites of manufacture remain difficult to locate. Nevertheless, numerous chemical studies of glass from the area of interest proved that natron-based soda-lime-silica glass was the most widespread from 10th–9th century BCE to 8th–9th century CE. A glass eye bead typologically consistent with the Phoenician ones was unearthed during the archaeological excavation of the Nin-Bèrè 3 settlement site in Mali in a context dating between the 7th and the 5th centuries cal BCE. The chemical analysis by means of Laser Ablation – Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) has been carried out in order to confirm the characteristic composition of Mediterranean Iron Age glass. Results show the bead to be soda-lime silica glass fluxed with mineral soda, and coloured and opacified with cobalt, copper, and antimony. The minor and trace elements are also consistent with said composition. This exceptional find this far south expands greatly the area of distribution of these artefacts and it suggests a very early indirect contact between sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. At the current state of research, this is the most ancient glass bead found south of the Sahara desert. FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD UNTIL APRIL 28th ----> https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1YhYO,rVDBNqY3
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