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{{Mediawiki:kindleoasis}}__NOTOC__[[File:Uluburun3.jpg|thumbnail|275px|Blue glass bar of the Uluburun Shipwreck]]Glass has evolved throughout its history from an object of rare fascination, to having important decorative qualities, and to becoming critical to both art and daily use. Glass likely has its origin as a byproduct in the production of pottery or metals, as under high temperatures ceramic clays or metal production byproducts, including silica, may vitrify forming a glassy-layer.<ref>For information about the earliest history of glass production, see: Macfarlane, Alan, and Gerry Martin. 2002. ''<i>Glass: A World History''</i>. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.</ref> Perhaps the earliest glass anywhere comes from the ancient Near East or Egypt, by roughly 3500 BC, when temperatures in kilns started reaching higher temperatures as kiln technologies improved.

Vitrified glazes also become popular in the Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BC), with tiles, ceramics, and wall decorations now made using this material.<ref>For a history of glass during the Late Bronze Age, see: Henderson 2013: 182.</ref> Perhaps more significantly for the history of glass is that true glass objects begin to develop and expand more rapidly in the Late Bronze Age , indicating that it no longer was simply an accidental byproduct of manufacturing. Very likely the technology needed for their production, including in the firing process and the utilization of alkaline products to create glass, were now well known. This includes sodium carbonate derived from plants that is used in glass production. In the Late Bronze Age, glass is now utilized to make cups and becomes a type of luxury object traded for by elites and perhaps household consumers, which increasingly had greater appetites for wealthy objects. The Uluburun Shipwreck, which had many rare finds, also contained the world’s earliest intact glass ingots, which were used to make glass objects.<ref>For information on the Uluburun Shipwreck and the discovery of complete glass ingots, see: Gordon, Stewart. 2015. ''<i>A History of the World in Sixteen Shipwrecks''</i>. Lebanon, NH: ForeEdge, pg. 39. </ref>

In the Neo-Assyrian period, roughly from the 9th to 7th centuries BC, colorless glass seems to have been invented, as the first instruction manual, written on a cuneiform tablet, was found in ancient Nineveh in modern day Iraq in the well-known Ashurbanipal library.<ref>For information on this text that describes the manufacturing technique, see: Moorey, P. R. S. 1999. <i>Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence. </i> Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns.</ref> In the last half of the first millennium BC, during the Hellenistic period, glass technology improves even more with molds now being used to create larger pieces. <ref>For more information on Hellenistic glass production, see: Henderson 2013: 216.</ref> However, the most relevant invention was the development of glassblowing, which used a blow pipe on molten glass (Figure 3).<ref>For information on the history of glass blowing and its technical developments, see: Carter, C. Barry, and M. Grant Norton. 2013. ''<i>Ceramic Materials: Science and Engineering''</i>. Second edition. New York: Springer.</ref> This technique made it much easier to create glass, making it now possible to spread its utilization and making it a much cheaper commodity.

The technique was likely invented somewhere in the Near East by the 1 century BC, perhaps along the Syrian coast. Regardless, it is clear this invention now allows glass to spread rapidly throughout the Mediterranean world, as it made the production time much easier by simply inflating glass and shaping it. The Romans and Sassanian empires, along with India, began to utilize glass substantially in their daily use, including in buildings, mirrors, glass vessels, and as decoration.<ref>For information about glass spread in the Old Word during the late 1st millennium BC and early 1st millennium AD, see: Macfarlane, Alan, and Gerry Martin. 2003. ''<i>The Glass Bathyscaphe''</i>. Paperback ed. London: Profile Books.</ref> Not until the late 17th century in Britain, we begin to see another major invention that further changed how glass was mad. This innovation was the use of coal for burning, making it cheaper to fuel production, and adding lead oxide in order to create crystal glass.<ref>For information about the invention of a lead-based crystal glass, see: Edwards, Geoffrey, and Garry Sommerfeld. 1998. Art of Glass: Glass in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne : South Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria : Macmillan, pg. 101.</ref> This was an important development as it allowed now the industrialization of glassmaking, while making glass durable and clear, establishing the basis for today’s glass production industry.