Glass Beaker

This beaker, made of glass, has sharp edges which would prevent its being used for drinking; it may have had a cover and been used to hold unguents. The glass was originally clear; the purple iridescence is caused by interaction with minerals in the soil after burial. Sand on Cyprus was not suitable for glass making, so local production depended on raw glass imported as ingots from Egypt, Syria, or perhaps even further away. This piece is "free-blown," from liquid glass at a high temperature, a technique which began in the 1st century BCE. This form of beaker is distinctive to Cyprus.