Production of Bet Eli'ezer type glass appears to have been limited to a short time span, less than 50 years, after which natron glass production in Palestine ceased. At about this time there was an influx of glass of an Egyptian composition. Results indicate a relatively abrupt compositional change in the late 7th - early 8th centuries, covering the reforming reigns of al-Malik and al-Walid, which marks the end of “Byzantine” glass production and the establishment of the furnaces at Bet Eli'ezer. These glasses are assigned to previously established primary production groups, allowing the elucidation of the chronology of key changes in glass production in the region. A series of 133 well-contextualised glass vessels from selected excavations in modern day Israel have been analysed for major, minor and trace elements using LA-ICP-MS. This paper examines the impact of the Byzantine-Islamic transition on the natron glass industry of Palestine from the 7th to 12th century. While the Muslim conquest in the 7th century saw major political and economic adjustment, immediate changes to material culture appear to have been minimal.
Palestine and Egypt supplied the Mediterranean and Europe with virtually all of its glass for most of the first millennium CE.
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