Floating on the natural kurkar hill at the heart of the museum, enveloped in glazed tiles alluding to its contents, the Glass Pavilion is home to one of the world’s finest collections of ancient glass. Established by the Museum’s founder, Dr. Walter Moses, the collection has grown over the years through gifts, bequests, and acquisitions of items of exceptional artistic and historical significance.
Despite the accessibility of its basic ingredients — silica, soda or potash, and lime — glassmaking was once considered a form of alchemy, transforming ordinary sand into a translucent and luminous substance. Perfume and cosmetic containers, jewelry, inlays, and other ornaments made from this enigmatic, gem-like material, forged in the heat of the furnace, became highly coveted luxury items. Prior to the advent of glassblowing, glassmaking relied on labor-intensive processes such as core-forming, mold- and lost-wax casting to produce exquisite artifacts. The secrets of glassmaking were closely guarded for centuries until the invention of glassblowing about two millennia ago – a technological breakthrough that enabled the rapid manufacture at an unprecedented scale of a vast range of shapes and sizes, accessible to all, thus rendering glass one of the most essential raw materials ever used by humans.
The pavilion’s permanent display spans 3,000 years of glassmaking, from its origins in the ancient Near East to the decline of Islamic glass production around 1400 CE. Whether simple and humble or opulent and elaborate, sacred or utilitarian, these inanimate artifacts provide glimpses into the lives of those who created them and those who used them, highlighting both their material and spiritual needs, while illustrating the ingenuity and high level of artistry achieved by practitioners of this spectacular craft throughout the ages.
Planned by architects W.J. Wittkower and E.W. Baumann, the Glass Pavilion was erected in 1959 by the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, with a contribution by Louis M. Rabinowitz, New York, via the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
The Exhibit
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).
The display showcases an exceptional 1,400-year-old glass panel believed to be part of a ceremonial table that was discovered at the so-called Birds Mosaic Mansion in Caesarea Maritima (on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority). The intricate craftsmanship displayed in the use of small gold-glass and mosaic glass tiles, adorned with eight-petalled rosettes and crosses, not only attests to the artistic skills of the panel’s creators, but also provides valuable insights into the faith and cultural context of the mansion’s residents. The fact that it is the sole example of its kind, elevates its importance as an extraordinary archaeological discovery. One of Israel’s national treasures, the Caesarea glass panel is considered not only a masterpiece of Byzantine glass, but also a masterpiece of Byzantine art as a whole.
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.
Glass Furnace from a Crusader Glass Workshop
The permanent display concludes with a remarkable find that sheds light on the medieval glassmaking industry in the Levant, a furnace from a 13th century CE glass workshop unearthed near the Crusader fortress at Somelaria/Sumeiriya (Giv’at Yasaf), five kilometers north of Acre. Still discernible is the furnace’s tank for remelting broken glass vessels and raw glass chunks that were brought to the site in clay bowls. Alongside these intriguing artifacts, which offer an insight into the manufacturing processes, are fragments of glass bottles and beakers characteristic of the workshop’s output.