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Hebron glass


Hebron Glass (Arabic: زجاج الخليل‎‎, zajaj al-Khalili ) refers to glass produced in Hebron as part of a flourishing art industry established in the city during Roman rule in Palestine. Hebron's Old City still contains a quarter named the "Glass-Blower Quarter" and Hebron glass continues to serve as a tourist attraction for the city.

Traditionally, the glass was melted using local raw materials, including sand from neighbouring villages, sodium carbonate (from the Dead Sea), and coloring additives such as iron oxide and copper oxide. Nowadays, recycled glass is often used instead. Glass production in Hebron is a family trade, the secrets of which have been preserved and passed down by a few Palestinian families who operate the glass factories located just outside the city. The products made include glass jewellery, such as beads, bracelets, and rings, as well as stained glass windows, and glass lamps. However, due to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, glass production has suffered a decline.

The glass industry in Hebron was established during Roman rule in Palestine (63 BCE-330 CE). As the ancient Phoenician glass industry shrank from the exposed cities along the eastern Mediterranean coastline, the industry migrated inland, to Hebron in particular. Glass artifacts from Hebron dating to the 1st and 2nd centuries have been found, and are on exhibit as part of the Drake Collection. Stained glass windows made of Hebron glass dating to the 12th century are found in the structure built over the Cave of Machpelah, which served as a church during the Crusader era in Palestine. Another example of stained glass windows produced in Hebron are those adorning the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem.


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