Glass art in Iran before Islam

Foundry (glass blowing – glass making) has a very long history in Iran and this industry was used in the early stages of making objects and simple tools. A glass necklace was found in the north-western Iran belonging to 2250 BC that has blue beads and confirms the history of this industry in Iran. In the recent archeological excavations, green glass pieces belonging to the civilization of Lorestan, Susa and Hasanlu have also been discovered.
From the experiments of the glass in the archeology operations, it can be found that the Persians and Egyptians in the era before Islam had little skill in the preparation of colored glass and there is no evidence of their skill in making stained glass.
The most ancient glass in Iran belongs to two thousand years before the birth of Christ and some samples of these glasses related to 1000 to 2000 years BC, including censer, bangles, bowls and tight.
In the excavation of the ziggurat which is the largest temple in the city of Ilam near to Susa city in Khouzestan and belongs to 1300 years BC, thousands of colorful glass rod have been discovered.
Tight and dishes and beads and other discovered objects belonging to the Achaemenid period show that the color of the Achaemenid period’s glass was pale green which is considered as colorless glasses. The reason was that the colored materials (metal oxide) have not been added to the glass paste and the reason for its green color was impurities such as iron and iron oxide in it.
In the conducted experiments it was found that the number of air bulbs in the glass of this period was very low and it is amazing and this can have two reasons: First, a significant indication of the quality of glass movement at that period and second, it shows the presence of "antimony" in the glass paste which shows the quality of glass movement.
Elements such as iron, aluminum, manganese, titanium, etc. were seen in the ancient times glass of Iran which is similar to Egyptian glass and shows the relationship between these two civilizations together.
In the Achaemenid and Sassanid era, glass makers had managed to create exquisite art works that some of them are in the Museum of Glass in Tehran.
According to the available evidences, Achaemenid era was associated with the glass industry flourishing. For example, "Aristophanes", the famous Greek writer who lived in the fifth century BC has mentioned crystal cups in one of his plays about the Achaemenids and the discovered glass pieces in Persepolis also confirms his claims.
Sassanid artists had reached a great skill in cutting glass in that period and the best example of these artists’ works were small cups with concave circles that have been cut.
Glaze which is a kind of glass and it is covered on a basis of the ceramic have flourished in the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanid period. Although there are differences in the glaze of Achaemenid and Sassanid period. For example, bricks of Apadana palace in Susa and Persepolis, belonging to the Achaemenid period were glazed in white, green, and yellow color in where, the bricks were decorated with pale and colorless glaze. But, in the Parthian era, glaze had one color and also covered the light green and green-blue and turquoise color glazes and craftsmen artists of that period made thick glazes.
In the Sassanid era, glaze color was just green and blue and dishes in this period was very simple with one color.
However, glass making art in Iran before Islam had a relative prosperity by affecting from the Egyptian and Greek and Roman art and provided the fields for growth and development of the arts in the Islamic periods.