FAST Lecture | Glass in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Periods

Name: FAST Lecture | Glass in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Periods
Start: 2025-10-02T17:30:00-04:00
End: 2025-10-02T19:00:00-04:00
Location: 434 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, Michigan 48109

Schedule

Thu Oct 02 2025 at 05:30 pm to 07:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

434 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, Michigan 48109 | Ann Arbor, MI

This FAST Lecture, supported by the Kozma Fund, will feature a presentation from Anastassios C. Antonaras—a specialist in the history of glass, jewelry, and textiles and an archaeologist, curator, and director of communication and visitor reception at the Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki, Greece.
How did glass move from being a rare luxury in pharaonic Egypt to an everyday material in the Roman and Byzantine world? The turning point was the invention of glassblowing on the Syro-Palestinian coast in the 1st century BC, which made production faster, cheaper, and more versatile. Massive workshops in the eastern Mediterranean supplied raw glass across the empire, where local artisans transformed it into drinking cups, perfume flasks, jewelry, mosaics, and window panes. In the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods, glass not only served daily needs but also acquired new roles in Christian life: churches gleamed with glittering mosaics, windows filled sacred spaces with light, and glass lamps illuminated worship. This talk follows glass on its journey—from the furnaces of the Levant to households, churches, and monumental architecture—showing how one innovation reshaped both everyday experience and spiritual expression.
FAST (Field Archaeology Series on Thursday) Lectures are free and open to the public. This event will take place in Room 125 of the Kelsey Museum’s Newberry Hall. Light refreshments and food will be provided at 5:30 PM, with the lecture starting at 6:00 PM.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding accessing this event, please visit our accessibility page at https://myumi.ch/zwPkd or contact the education office by calling (734) 647-4167. We ask for advance notice as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.