By Karla Klein Albertson

Plate, pitcher, bowl and beaker made in the Eastern Mediterranean, Syria or Palestine between 250 and 400 CE. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Vessels like these (plate, beaker with solid base, bottle with handles, cosmetic tubes) were made in the Jalame workshop during the second half of the Fourth Century. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Jar, Roman Empire; possibly Syria or Palestine, 300-425 CE, blown glass, applied and trailed decoration. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Cone beaker or conical lamp, Eastern Mediterranean, 300-399 CE, blown, wheel cut and applied decoration. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Waste from glassblowing found at Jalame, Israel, made between 350 and 400. Lent by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Blowing debris and production waste, Jalame, Israel, 350-400 CE. Lent by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Blowing debris and production waste, Jalame, Israel, 350-400 CE. Lent by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Three bottle fragments, gold coin, ring and pin, excavated at Jalamet el Asafna, the site of an ancient glass factory near the city of Haifa, Israel. Photo courtesy Rakow Research Library, the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Overhead view of the excavated area of Jalamet el Asafna, the site of an ancient glass factory near the city of Haifa, Israel. Photo courtesy Rakow Research Library, the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Reconstruction of blowing glass at Jalame, Israel, from the comic book Discovering Ancient Glass: The Workshop at Jalame. Photo illustrated by John G. Swogger.

Glassblowing demonstration using a reproduction of an ancient wood-fired glass furnace built by the Corning Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

Glassblowing demonstration using a reproduction of an ancient wood-fired glass furnace built by the Corning Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

A glassblower trails a thread of hot glass around their base form, replicating an ancient “zig-zag” pattern. A wooden board is wrapped around the glassmaker’s leg, replacing the contemporary gaffer’s bench. Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.

George Kachros mending pottery, December 1964. Photo courtesy of Museum of Art and Archeology, University of Missouri.

Photo tower being erected, Jalame, 1965. Image Courtesy of Museum of Art and Archeology, University of Missouri.