In ancient times, Sidon was one of the oldest and richest Phoenician cities and was renewed for its metal and glass working techniques, even before the Roman conquest in 64 BC. The invention of glassblowing, which revolutionised completely the production of glass in the ancient world, finds its birthplace in the eastern borders of the Roman Empire, modern day Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. Many ancient historians believed Sidon to be the birthplace of glassblowing technique. The glass vessels produced in the region display high refinement and were extremely valued by the contemporaries. Glass was often the preferred material for storing expensive oils, perfumes and medicines in antiquity because it was not porous. Glass vessels are found frequently at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries, and the liquids that filled them would have been gathered from all corners of the expansive Roman Empire.
To learn more about Roman glass, visit our relevant post: How It Was Made: Roman Glass.
