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Glass: stages in the making of raw glass

  1. grinding of the material as fine as possible, and mixing
  2. heating (750-850 degree Celsius) of the material (called fritting), constant stirring (for 5 hours and longer) of the material
    (to reduce air in the mixture)
    Petrie believed the fritting was done on pans (UC 36457 is the fragment of such a pan, found at Amarna - click on the picture)

  3. melting in vessels (UC 25042 - fragment of raw glass from Amarna - click on the picture)

  4. cooling and grinding
  5. glass worked over an open fire

There is still much discussion over whether the raw glass was imported from the Near East or produced in Egypt.

Nicholson/Henderson 2000: 197


 

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