Abstract

The excavation in Doliche yielded rich finds of ancient glass. The city was situated on a main line of communication, coming from the east, crossing the Euphrates in Zeugma and running further west. We can assume that knowledge of glass making and glass working– with the early beginnings in Mesopotamia and the later developments in Palestine – reached the region of Doliche quite early.

So far, most of the glass finds have been retrieved from the city`s main sanctuary on Dülük Baba Tepesi, a mountain overlooking the ancient city. The origin of the sanctuary can be dated to the Iron Age, and in Late Antiquity a monastery was founded at the site. There are only very few finds from pre-Hellenistic times but the number increases considerably in the Roman period, when glass blowing was invented and glass became a common material especially for unguent and drinking vessels. The quality and the working of the glass from Doliche are of high standard. Remarkable are fragments of several dichroic cage cups. In late antiquity the quality of the glass and processing techniques stayed “Roman”, whereas the vessel types and functions changed. It seems that the monastery equipment was produced on site or nearby. A clear gap can be seen towards the Islamic glass which has a clearly different composition as is indicated by the weathering. Moreover, the vessel types differ from the earlier glasses.