Glass found in Raqqa, Damascus museum.

10th century.

Glass making began in Mesopotamia “Sumer” in 2500BC and moved quickly to Egypt. Later, the craft was further developed by the Roman Empire.
After the development of glass making, the art of glass blowing became a significant technique in the production of fine glass objects.
In the Eastern Mediterranean region, particularly in Syria and Egypt as early as the first century, glassmakers were inflating molten glass gathered on the end of a tube.
This procedure allowed the production of glass objects for the first time in history.
The Romans whose presence was strong in the region adopted the technique of glass blowing in the beginning of the first millennium. However, with the end of the Roman Empire, the art of glassmaking declined.
In the early Islamic times, glass manufacturing in the Middle-East developed into an important industry. Thus, in the 7th century AD some of the finest masterpieces of this ancient art were produced in the region.
Produced in the 12th to the 14th centuries, gilt and enameled glasses attest the glory of Islamic art.
In about the 13th century, the Venetians adopted the techniques of the East and developed the art of glassmaking, challenging the East’s supremacy in the craft. In the Middle East in about the 15th century, Tamerlane plundered Damascus and took its skillful glassmakers to Samarkand.
After this, the production of fine glass declined in the region.
Nonetheless, today in Damascus, artisans still produce fine blown glass objects.