Glass Pavilion

Virtual tour 360°

The Glass Pavilion takes visitors on a unique journey through time, traveling back thousands of years to the earliest days of glassmaking in this region. Donated from the rich private collection of Dr. Walter Moses, who founded the Eretz Israel Museum in 1958, this rare and beautiful assemblage of glass has been enhanced over the years by exciting new acquisitions and significant donations.

Visitors to the Glass Pavilion are drawn not only by the enchanting ancient glass artifacts, but also by the presentation of the history, range and intricate art of glassmaking. Among the unique exhibits are fragile relics of glass vessels dating from biblical times, as well as some of the earliest blown glass discovered from the Roman period. Contributing greatly to the study of the origins  of glassmaking, and especially the important invention of glass blowing, the Pavilion highlights the crucial role played by this region in the discovery of glass and its production.



Pre-Blown Glass, Late Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period

(15th -1st centuries BCE)

The most ancient method of manufacturing glass vessels is core-forming. Using this technique, glass artisans created vessels, as seen in this section, with a characteristic colorful opaque appearance, emulating such semi-precious stones as turquoise, lapis lazuli and alabaster. During the Hellenistic period (3rd - 1st centuries BCE), casting or mold-forming became an established technique, particularly in the production of large and small bowls.

Blown Glass I, Roman and Byzantine periods

(1st- 7th centuries CE)

The world of glass was transformed with the introduction of glass-blowing, a revolutionary technological development. With the greater ease of production came lowered costs that led to a jump in their popularity. View an array of exquisite perfume bottles, created by blowing glass into a mold, adorned with decorations in relief.

Two rare and significant vessels are notable in this section: "Ennion`s Blue Jug," bearing the signature of its maker, and which represents one of his finest creations; and a rare drinking horn with two openings, known by its Greek name, rhyton (meaning, pouring vessel). 

Blown Glass II, Islamic period (7th-15th centuries CE)

Glass vessels made in Eastern Mediterranean countries after the Arab conquest in the 7th century are displayed in this section. A highlight among the cosmetic containers with applied trail decorations, which typified the beginning of the Islamic period, is an anthropomorphic cultic rhyton. One of the most magnificent creations of Islamic art, a 14th-century CE Mameluke mosque lamp painted with enamel colors and gold is the centerpiece of this section.

The Glass Furnace from Khirbet Samariyah

The remnants of a glass furnace from the 13th century CE, discovered alongside the Crusader fortress at Somelaria, north of Acre, is an extraordinary archaeological find. Glass residue still coats the floor of its melting chamber. Chunks of raw glass brought to the site in ceramic bowls and other important finds unearthed in the dig fill the nearby showcases.

On loan from Israel Antiquity Authorities

Gold-glass panel from the "Birds' Mosaic Mansion", Caesarea
Late 6th- early 7th century CE

The gold-glass panel is unparalleled in the world in terms of its nature, quality and state of preservation. It was unearthed in 2005 in a large building complex on the outskirts of Caesarea, known as the "Birds' Mosaic Mansion", after its magnificent mosaic floor, built during the last decades of Byzantine rule and destroyed during the Early Islamic conquest of Palestine (636-640/1 CE). The panel constitutes a masterpiece of Byzantine art in general, and of ancient glass art in particular, and is a singular and unique archeological finding. Since it was discovered it has become the focal point of the professional discourse among scholars throughout the world, and since the completion of the complex preservation and reconstruction process, has been exhibited in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Archeological Museum of Cologne.

The panel was found face down on the mosaic floor of the mansion's NW room under a layer of dark gray ash. It is assumed that it covered the surface of a wooden sigma table, burnt when the building was destroyed. Sigma tables of various materials, so named for their resemblance to the Greek letter sigma "C", became popular in the Byzantine period (often represented in paintings and mosaics depicting dining scenes - especially the Last Supper). Marble sigma tabletops were found in numerous Byzantine buildings in Caesarea, including the "Birds' Mosaic Mansion". The religious motifs decorating the glass panel, suggest that it might have served as a prayer altar or wall decoration of a prayer niche.

The panel consists of gold-glass and mosaic-glass tiles, combining various glass-decorative techniques. The square, rectangular and triangular gold-glass tiles were made by placing a patterned gold foil between two layers of glass, the thick bottom layer being cast and the thin top layer blown. At a later stage the glass was cut into different shapes and fitted together to form a geometric pattern in the opus sectile technique. The square gold-glass tiles were decorated with a stamped design of stylized flowers (rosettes) and crosses – this indicating the faith of the mansion's residents. The panel's raised border consists alternately of larger, thicker tiles of gold-glass and colorful opaque mosaic-glass.

A workshop for the manufacture of opus sectile wall decoration of colored stones excavated in Caesarea raises the possibility that this glass opus sectile panel was also produced locally, although one would have expected that such a unique object would have been produced in some major imperial workshop.

 (1)

Eastern Mediterranean, 1st century CE

(2)

Mamluk mosque lamp, gold-painted and enameled

Egypt, 14th century CE

Gift by Baroness Germaine de Rothschild and Baron Guy de Rothschild

Ennion's Blue Jug is an almost intact piece that has survived over two millennia, bearing the signature of 1st century CE master glassmaker from Sidon, whose creations were coveted throughout the Roman world. Considered to be one of the most refined examples of Roman mold-blown glass, Ennion's Blue Jug is a masterpiece of the Pavilion's collection – exceptional for its perfect proportions, intricacy of decor, outstanding precision in execution and attention to detail