This elegant vase of translucent glass with an attached ring of opaque white glass on the rim comes from a grave and is a rare type of drinking vessel. Glass vessels of the Roman period have been found in significant quantities at various Cypriot sites (Kition, Salamis, Tamassos, etc.), indicating the existence of local workshops. Diverse evidence points to relations with the famed Phoenician glassmaking workshops of Sidon. Glass was used in Mesopotamia from the 3rd millennium BC for the manufacture of beads, seals, inlays and other small objects. In the Bronze Age glass vessels were rather uncommon and were made in the core- forming technique, mainly in Western Asia and Egypt. Production intensified in the 9th c. BC, with the appearance of new techniques, and subsequently spread throughout the Mediterranean thanks to Phoenician trade activities. The earliest glass vases in Cyprus date to the 14th and 13th c. BC, although it is not certain whether they are Cypriot products or imports. Until the Hellenistic period, glass objects were relatively rare and precious. However, from the late 1st c. BC the invention of the glassblowing technique facilitated mass production. Glass vessels ceased to be luxury goods and became utilitarian domestic objects, available in a variety of types for storing olive oil, perfumes and cosmetics (amphoriskoi, perfume vials, phials), which were distributed all over the Mediterranean.