Glassblowing is one of the oldest handcrafts known to Egyptians for  thousands of years. It requires patience, artistic ability and skill.

Over time and due to advancing industry, this handcraft has dwindled and today very few people practice it. Yet there are still museums, mosques, and churches that display the crafts being upheld by a few craftsmen still producing creative works just like their ancestors did thousands of years ago.

Glassblowing is one of the oldest handcrafts known to Egyptians for  thousands of years. It requires patience, artistic ability and skill.

Over time and due to advancing industry, this handcraft has dwindled and today very few people practice it. Yet there are still museums, mosques, and churches that display the crafts being upheld by a few craftsmen still producing creative works just like their ancestors did thousands of years ago.

Behind the Sultan Qaitbay Mosque close to the Mamluk cemeteries lies the workshop of Khaled Ahmed Ali. “I have been a glassblower for 40 years,” says Ali. “I inherited it from my father and grandfather. It has been the family’s profession for hundreds of years. I passed it to my sons Ahmed and Mohamed too and they will hopefully pass it to their sons to keep the family’s tradition.”

 Ali was chosen to implement historical designs in three European countries as part of a cooperation project between the Library of Alexandria and the European Union, the most recent of which was implemented last year. These works were exhibited at the historical Sanari Palace in Sayeda Zeinab District.

“A glassblower should be strong and patient, as the work goes from morning till evening in front of a 1,400°-Centigrade furnace. One should be passionate about the work and be creative.

Our profession is a cross between hard work and art. We buy broken glass and the empty glass soft drinks bottles and perfumes from glass collectors. We, then, put them in water to clean them and remove paper posters and then sort them out. Glass is broken into small pieces and put into the natural gas-powered furnace. Then comes the stage of forming the needed pieces using the same tools used by our ancestors hundreds of years ago: jacks, a block, a blowpipe and a punty rod. The punty rod is used to hold the melted glass, while the jacks and block are used to shape the piece. There is also the shear.

Our profession is environmentally friendly since we recycle glass and use natural gas. We add certain formulas composed of oxides to glass to color it. For example, to get dark blue color, we add cobalt oxide, to get blue and green colors, we add copper oxide and to get a hazel color, we add iron oxide.

Foreigners living in our country know my place and they are regular customers. My artifacts are exhibited at Khan el-Khalili for tourists. I hope that tourism is revived very soon. This profession is in danger as there are only eight of us and once we are gone the ancient art will die.”