Hebron glass - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Hebron glass refers to glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

produced in Hebron

Hebron

Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...

as part of a flourishing art

Palestinian art

Palestinian art is a term used to refer to paintings, posters, installation art and other visual media produced by Palestinian artists.While the term has also been used to refer to ancient art produced in the geographical region of Palestine, in its modern usage it generally refers to work of...

industry established in the city during Roman rule in Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

. For centuries, Hebron has been associated with glass production in the same way as Nablus

Nablus

Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...

has been associated with the production of soap

Nabulsi soap

Nabulsi soap is a type of castile soap produced only in Nablus in the West Bank, Palestine. An olive oil-based soap, it is made up of three primary ingredients: virgin olive oil, water, and a sodium compound...

. Hebron's Old City still contains a quarter named the "Glass-Blower Quarter" and Hebron glass continues to serve as a tourist attraction for the city.

Traditionally, the glass was melted using local raw materials, including sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

from neighbouring villages, sodium carbonate

Sodium carbonate

Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...

(from the Dead Sea

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

), and coloring additives such as iron oxide

Iron oxide

Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.Iron oxides and oxide-hydroxides are widespread in nature, play an important role in many geological and biological processes, and are widely utilized by humans, e.g.,...

and copper oxide

Copper(II) oxide

Copper oxide or cupric oxide is the higher oxide of copper. As a mineral, it is known as tenorite.-Chemistry:It is a black solid with an ionic structure which melts above 1200 °C with some loss of oxygen...

. Nowadays, recycled glass

Glass recycling

Glass recycling is the process of turning waste glass into usable products. Glass waste should be separated by chemical composition, and then, depending on the end use and local processing capabilities, might also have to be separated into different colors. Many recyclers collect different colors...

is often used instead. Glass production in Hebron is a family trade, the secrets of which have been preserved and passed down by a few Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

families who operate the glass factories located just outside the city. The products made include glass jewellery

Jewellery

Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...

, such as beads

Glass beadmaking

The technology for glass beadmaking is among the oldest human arts, dating back 3,000 years . Glass beads have been dated back to at least Roman times...

, bracelets, and rings, as well as stained glass

Stained glass

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...

windows, and glass lamps. However, due to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, glass production has suffered a decline and could face the challenge of survival.

History

The glass industry in Hebron ("al-Khalil") was established during Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

rule in Palestine (63 BCE-330 CE). As the ancient Phoenicia

Phoenicia

Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...

n glass industry shrank from the exposed cities along the eastern Mediterranean coastline, the industry migrated inland, to Hebron in particular. Glass artifacts from Hebron dating to the 1st and 2nd centuries have been found, and are on exhibit as part of the Drake Collection. Stained glass windows which are made of Hebron glass, dating to the 12th century, are found in the structure built over the Cave of Machpelah, which served as a church during the Crusader

Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

era in Palestine. Another example of stained glass windows produced in Hebron are those at the Dome of the Rock

Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The structure has been refurbished many times since its initial completion in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik...

in Old Jerusalem.

While acknowledging that glass production in Palestine dates back to Roman period, Nazmi Ju'beh, director of RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural Conservation, contends that the practices of today's glass industry in Hebron most likely began in the 13th century CE. He notes that one theory claims that the techniques used today were imported from Venice

Venetian glass

Venetian glass is a type of glass object made in Venice, Italy, primarily on the island of Murano. It is world-renowned for being colourful, elaborate, and skillfully made....

, while other researchers claim that the Crusaders carried this tradition from Hebron with them to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, and that its origins may be Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

n. Historical references from the 14th century indicate that Hebron glass factories flourished at this time with no less than fourteen factories, all located in the Old City. The industry ended up occupying a distinct quarter in the Old City which today still carries the name of the "Glass-Blower Quarter" or Harat al-Zajajeen.

With such a large number of factories, Hebron glass was exported to Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Syria, and the Transjordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

. Camel caravans

Camel train

A camel train is a series of camels carrying goods or passengers in a group as part of a regular or semi-regular service between two points. Although they rarely travelled faster than the walking speed of a man, camels' ability to handle harsh conditions made camel trains a vital part of...

carried Hebron glass in specially designed wooden boxes that were guarded by both official armies and private guards. Glass merchants in Hebron managed to develop mercantile networks with al-Karak

Al Karak

Karak is a city in Jordan that is known for the famous crusader castle Kerak. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria...

(Crac) in southern Jordan

Jordan

and Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

in Egypt, which further helped to market the products. Since at least the 16th century, communities of Hebron expatriate

Expatriate

An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...

s became established in these two cities, and a whole social network emerged around the glass industry, which became a major employer, contributing greatly to the wealth of factory owners. Traditionally, the items produced were functional: cups, bottles, bowls, jugs, dishes, olive oil lamps, and later, various forms of petrol lamps. Jewellery and accessories, mainly for Bedouins, were also produced and sold in the Naqab

Negev

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...

, the Arabian Desert

Arabian Desert

The Arabian Desert is a vast desert wilderness stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area of...

, and the Sinai.

Hebron was well known for glass production throughout the Arab world

Arab world

The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...

, and Western

Western culture

Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...

travellers to Palestine in the 19th century described its glass industry. For example, Ulrich Jasper Seetzen

Ulrich Jasper Seetzen

Ulrich Jasper Seetzen was a German explorer of Arabia and Palestine from Jever, German Frisia.His father sent him to the university of Göttingen, where he graduated in medicine...

noted during his travels in Palestine in 1808-09 that 150 persons were employed in the glass industry in Hebron, while later, in A New and Complete History of the Holy Bible as Contained in the Old and New Testaments (1844), Robert Sears writes, "The population of Hebron is considerable: the inhabitants manufacture glass lamps, which are exported to Egypt. Provisions are abundant, and there is a considerable number of shops."

Later in the century, the production declined due to competition from imported European glass-ware. However, the products of Hebron continued to be sold, particularly among the poorer populace, not least of all by travelling Jewish traders from the city. Even at the World Fair of 1873 in Vienna

Weltausstellung 1873 Wien

]The Weltausstellung 1873 Wien was the large World exposition was held in 1873 in the Austria–Hungarian capital of Vienna. Its motto was Kultur und Erziehung ....

, Hebron was represented with glass ornaments. A report from the French consul in 1886 suggests that glass-making remained an important source of income for Hebron: Four factories were making 60,000 franc

Franc

The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...

s yearly.

Today

The tradition of glassblowing continues today in three factories just north of the city, a short distance between the town of Halhul

Halhul

Halhul is a Palestinian city located in the southern West Bank, north of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 22,108 mostly Muslim inhabitants in 2007.- History :...

and Hebron. Two of the factories are owned by the Natsheh family. They produce primarily souvenirs, most of which are also used as household items. A large hall close to each of the factories displays wine glass

Wine glass

A wine glass is a type of glass stemware that is used to drink and taste wine. It is generally composed of three parts: the bowl, stem, and foot...

es, dishes, bowls, flower pots, and other products. Although most objects are not decorated, some have artistically applied glass strings. Metallic decoration is a recent innovation of the industry.

Hebron glass serves as a tourist attraction for both Palestinians and international visitors. Today, however, due to the current export problems, the decrease in the number of tourists, and the restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the aftermath of the Second Intifada, glass production has been considerably reduced. According to Nazmi al-Ju'bah, the director of RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural Conservation, if the present situation continues, the Hebron glass-blowing industry's main challenge could be survival.

Production

Hebron glass was traditionally produced using sand from the village of Bani Na'im

Bani Na'im

Bani Na'im is a Palestinian town in the southern West Bank located east of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate. The town had a population of 20,084 inhabitants in 2007...

, east of Hebron, and sodium carbonate

Sodium carbonate

taken from the Dead Sea

Dead Sea

. Traditionally, the intense colours of Hebron glass included dark and light blue, turquoise, dark red (Bordeaux), and light and dark green. These colours were produced by adding metal oxides, such as those from iron

Iron oxide

and copper

Copper(II) oxide

. Copper oxide is still used today to colour Hebron glass. Instead of sand, the raw material used to make Hebron glass today is primarily recycled glass, which is gathered from local houses, brought to the factory to be smashed, and re-melted.
The precise production process is a trade secret, which is maintained by the few Palestinian families who run the factories which continue to produce Hebron glass today. Glassmaking at Hebron is an art that is based on apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...

. The apprentices are trained under a master from childhood and essentially grow up in the factory. Masters generally believe that adults are unsuited to learning the craft of glass production, and one master has said, "You can learn to play the 'oud at any age, but unless you begin [glasswork] as a child, you will never become a master."

According to the Holy Land Handicraft Cooperative Society, the blowing

Glassblowing

Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble, or parison, with the aid of a blowpipe, or blow tube...

technique employed is the same as was used by the ancient Phoenicians, though archaeologists and historians of glass agree that glassblowing was not common until the last few centuries BCE. The craftsman holds a long, thin iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

pipe (80–100 cm) in one hand, and dips it into the molten glass inside the furnace, which is heated to 700° celsius. After withdrawing the pipe with some semi-liquid glass attached, he blows through the pipe, continuing the shaping process using a metal instrument called a kammasha. The pipe is then reentered into the furnace, reblown to further shape the object, and the kammasha is used for final shaping once again. Finally, the glass is set aside into a small chamber next to the furnace where it is cooled.

Jewellery

Glass beads for jewellery have traditionally been made in Hebron. Blue beads and glass beads with 'eyes' (owayneh) were made and used as amulets since they were considered particularly effective against the evil-eye

Evil eye

The evil eye is a look that is believed by many cultures to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike...

. In the Museum of Mankind

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

collections, there exist several glass necklaces that were made in Hebron during the Mandate period or earlier. Besides necklaces made of blue and green beads, and 'eyes' beads, there are examples of beads of small hands, representing the hand of Fatimah

Fatimah

Fatimah was a daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from his first wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. She is regarded by Muslims as an exemplar for men and women. She remained at her father's side through the difficulties suffered by him at the hands of the Quraysh of Mecca...

, the daughter of the prophet Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

. Most of a woman's jewellery was given to her at marriage; in the early 1920s, in Bayt Dajan

Bayt Dajan

Bayt Dajan was a Palestinian Arab village situated approximately southeast of Jaffa. It is thought to have been the site of the biblical town of Beth Dagon, mentioned in the Book of Joshua and in ancient Assyrian and Egyptian texts....

, a glass bracelet (ghwayshat) made in Hebron would be considered a necessary part of the jewellery of a bride's trousseau

Dowry

A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...

Hebron trade beads

In 1799, English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

traveller William George Browne

William George Browne

William George Browne was an English traveller.Browne was born at Great Tower Hill, London. At seventeen he was sent to Oriel College, Oxford. Having had a moderate inheritance left him by his father, on quitting the university he applied himself entirely to literary pursuits...

mentioned the production of "Coarse glass beads...called Hersh and Munjir" in Palestine; The "Munjir" (Mongur) were large beads, while the Hersh (Harish) were smaller. These Hebron glass beads were used for trade, and export primarily to Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

from the early to mid-19th century. Spread throughout West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

, in Kano

Kano

Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...

, Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, they were grounded on the edges to make round beads fit together on a strand more suitably. There, they picked up the name "Kano Beads", although they were not originally produced in Kano. By the 1930s, their value had decreased; in 1937, A. J. Arkell

A. J. Arkell

Anthony John Arkell , known as A. J. Arkell, was a British archaeologist and colonial administrator noted for his work in the Sudan and Egypt.-Biography:...

recorded the beads being sold "for a song" by Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

ese women to Hausa

Hausa people

The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...

traders in Dafur.

External links

Glassblowing in Hebron by Toine Van Teeffelen, 04.06.2006, Palestine-Family.net
Hebron Glass, gallery, Palestine Today
Naomi Shihab Nye and Hebron Glass: A poem on Hebron glass

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Today

Production

Jewellery

Hebron trade beads

See also

External links