A seminar titled “The History and Production Technology of Glass” was held at the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), delivered by Dr. Elif Hanar, an archaeologist from Artuklu University in Mardin, Turkey. The seminar, intended for the institute’s scientific staff, was opened with introductory remarks by Safar Ashurov, Head of the “Bronze Age Archaeology” Department, Associate Professor, and Ph.D. He noted that last year, a scientific team from Azerbaijan conducted archaeological exploration work in the Iğdır province of Turkey with the official permission of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. During the joint activities of Turkish and Azerbaijani archaeologists, the research of Dr. Elif Hanar on the origins of glass production and the history of glass manufacturing technology sparked significant interest. In Azerbaijan, research in this field was previously conducted by the late Professor Aləm Nuriyev. However, there is currently a pressing need for archaeometric research on this topic in Azerbaijan. For this reason, Dr. Elif Hanar was invited to Azerbaijan as part of mutual cooperation. During her visit, the Turkish scientist became acquainted with glass artifacts discovered by Azerbaijani archaeologists, spanning a broad historical period from ancient times to the Middle Ages. Additionally, Dr. Elif Hanar gladly agreed to conduct a seminar for Azerbaijani archaeologists on the history of glass production, as emphasized by Safar Ashurov.

Dr. Elif Hanar then presented her lecture on the history of glass production. Accompanied by a visual electronic presentation, the Turkish scientist explained that archaeological research has traced the earliest glass technology to Mesopotamia in the early 3rd millennium BCE, during the Early Bronze Age, where it was used in bead production. Later, glass production technology spread to the Near East, becoming more complex with various technical methods and additives. Despite this complexity and the production of diverse products, the fundamental technology of glass production, as reflected in Sumerian-Akkadian cuneiform tablets, remained unchanged for 2000 years and was transmitted across different regions and peoples until the Roman Empire. The earliest archaeological evidence of glass being used for vessel production is a glass cup fragment decorated with zigzag patterns, found in the Tell al-Rimah site (modern-day Nineveh region of Iraq) and dating back to the 15th–10th centuries BCE. Around the same period, glass production in ancient Egypt and the broader Near East took on the form of a craft industry.

Dr. Elif Hanar further discussed the styles and technologies of glass vessel production from the ancient Near East to the end of the Roman Empire, as well as the dynamics of their evolution. The presentation of glass artifacts exhibited in the Diyarbakır Museum demonstrated how this production field evolved over time. The lecture, which was met with great interest, concluded with Dr. Elif Hanar answering questions from the participants and discussing future directions for scientific research on the history of glass production in Azerbaijan.