Penn Museum Lecture/John Kuehne "Innovation and Forms of Ancient Glass"

Tracing the origins of glass-making to the Near East and Egypt, this lecture examines the technological processes and mythological mysteries behind one of mankind’s most enduring innovations. From Herodotus’s explanation of its invention, to the rise of Egyptian faience, to the spread of material trade across the Mediterranean, the causalities leading to changes in technology will be visited. Why was most Egyptian faience blue? How did glass-blowing come about and how did it almost spell disaster for the glass-making industry? Has glass technology really progressed in the past 2000-years? This lecture offers the ability to study one particular material across different cultures and time, connecting modern window glass to Phoenician sailors, drinking glasses of today to Roman symposiums, and the world we live in to a diverse, yet connected, cultural past.