A Group of Glass Vessels From Aydın Museum

Abstract

Glass has functioned as an important raw material since the day it was discovered. Glass, which was a commodity used mostly by the wealthy class to show off at the beginning, has become appealing to all segments of the society with the development of different manufacture techniques and the acceleration of manufacture. Glass containers, especially in different container forms such as bowls, glasses and bottles, have become an important part of social life and have been used extensively. There are also many glass vessels in the inventory of Aydın Museum. Despite the fact that the vessels discussed in this study were brought to the museum through purchase, donation or confiscation, they were mostly found intact, suggesting that the vessels are grave finds. A general evaluation of the vessels in question has not been made before and has not been brought to the literature. Evaluation of vessels is very important in terms of determining both the period in which they were used and in which geographies similar samples spread. In addition, it also allows us to obtain data in a general framework about the manufacture place or manufacture tradition of the vessels in the museum inventory. In this direction, it was understood that the glass vessels in the Aydın Museum inventory were produced in similar forms in accordance with the typology discussed in previous studies on the region. In addition, as in other regions of Anatolia, it can be thought that it interacted with the Eastern Mediterranean cultures or that the Eastern Mediterranean culture spread over a wide geography. Therefore, even if no definite information can be given about the manufacture site of the vessels, the findings regarding glass furnaces or glass manufacture previously unearthed in the region suggest that the vessels may have been produced within the region and possibly in cities such as Tralleis, Alabanda, Nysa, Magnesia, etc.