Production, perception, and use of glass in the second millennium B.C: An Anatolian perspective

Abstract

Glass was among the luxury goods of the growing elite class in the second millennium B.C. though the surviving material corpus of the period is scarce especially in Anatolia. Even though glass (as well as the other vitreous materials) is limited in the archaeological record, it carries a significant capacity to elucidate ancient technologies and their role in the economic and social setting of the ancient settlements. Glass not only presents new ideas on trade, the shift of technologies, creativity, and innovation, but also encapsulates practical and symbolic meaning through its colour.

While Egypt (as one of the superpowers of the second millennium BC) and Mesopotamia have been enjoying with this new material, what was the relation of the Hittites with glass? How was glass perceived? How was it used or not used?

Drawing on archaeological and written evidence from centre and periphery of the Hittites, this talk will focus on the glass of the second millennium B.C. from two aspects: 1) the production techniques and plausible trade connections among the regions (Anatolia, the Levant, and Egypt) in order to discuss new plausibility for trade and exchange of ideas and technologies, 2) perception of the glass in Hittites through textual and archaeological data.