Following the death of Alexander the Great, his empire was divided between his three generals, each of whom set up their own kingdoms. One of them, Ptolemy, took Egypt as his share and made Alexandria his capital. Ruling as Ptolemy I Soter, he established the last dynasty to rule Egypt with the title of Pharaoh. For the next two and a half centuries, the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Greeks controlled Egypt, mingling Hellenic traditions with the mighty legacy of the Pharaohs.


Basic glass-working involved working around a clay core and the use of moulds, and was developed about 3000 BC. Glass was thus difficult and expensive to produce, and was exclusively an elite product. It was only with the invention of glass-blowing in the region of modern-day Syria – around the first century BC – that glass production became anything approximating to an industry. The decoration, production and uses of glass all proliferated as it spread, leading to further stylistic and technical diversity. It was particularly taken up by Roman craftsmen, who spread it across their empire with resultant changes and modifications. Regionalisation of glass manufacture became the norm, as Palestinian, Cypriot, Pontic and Egyptian glass-makers thrived in the early years of the first millennium AD.