Lapis lazuli from the kiln : glass and glassmaking in the late Bronze Age / Andrew Shortland.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [215]-222)

Introduction to Egypt and the Near East in the late Bronze Age -- The first glass -- The first regularly produced glass -- The golden age of glass -- The glass industry and its workshops -- Trade and display -- The decline in glassmaking -- Analytical techniques -- Analyses.

"This book examines the history of the first glass, from its early sporadic occurrence, through the height of its production in the late second millennium BC, to its disappearance at the end of that millennium. It draws on an exceptionally wide range of sources including ancient texts detailing recipes and trade in glass, iconographic depictions in tombs and temples, archaeological excavation of the most important sites [including Amarna and Qantir], and the description of the glass objects themselves. The area covered includes the heart of glassmaking and use in Egypt and the Near East, and to a lesser extent those areas were [sic] glass might have been traded, for example the Levant and the Mycenaean Aegean. It also considers the life of the glassmaker, his or her place in society and relationship to other industries"--P. [4] of cover.