Pennsylvania College of Optometry - Iris Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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ll-lE art of glass manufacture reached an advanced stage in Egypt centuries ago. The earliest pieces of Egyptian blown glass on record are dated from l6OO l3.C. Curious enough, the earliest piece was an eye of blue glass imitating turquoise . Nothing left by the Egyptians indicates that they made glass for optical purposes, but the skill with which they wrought glass objects is important. lt showed later artisans how the ma- terial could be applied to the construction of different objects. Consider also that the first eyeglasses were looked upon more as articles of curiosity and adornment than as instruments for visual improvement. ' The Egyptians attained rare achievements as glass cutters and edgers. lt is said that volcanic glass was first used. Ala- baster' vases were hollowed out with uncanny precision from solid blocks of glass. Hieroglyphics were skillfully cut or edged on glass vases- sometimes even on glass beads. The Egyptian glass was never cast but was worked as a pasty mass. The importance of Egyptian glass making to optics is that that ancient era developed a very fine type of clear crystal glass, as good as we now have, long before Phoenician traders carried the art into Western Europe, and made possible the making of lenses many gEl leI'aflOl'lS l3l'EI'. iCourtesy of Optical Journal and Review of Optomctryi

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, .a -1 I ,- yr I ' GLASS FIRST MADE IN ANCIENT EGYPT ADMINISTRATION

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Qfficers and Faculty THE 1935. IRIS