One of the colourless pieces of Roman glass from Jerash (Jordan) which was analysed as part of the study.
For a long time, it was not possible to establish the precise origin of high-grade transparent glass from imperial Rome (3rd century CE) - glass which was used for example for vessels and as window glass. Historical sources strongly suggested that the glass originated in Egypt - on the basis of the term “Alexandrian” found in these sources - but this could not so far be confirmed. By contrast, there was much to indicate that the centre of glass production in late antiquity was Palestine, where a large number of furnaces have been excavated. The mystery surrounding the clear Roman glass has, however, now been solved: “Alexandrian” does indeed refer to production near the Nile in Egypt. This is the result of a study using a new geochemical isotope analysis.
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