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Ancient glass dug up in Israel on private
display at Guardian Industries.
BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News
B
ringing glass of any kind to Guardian Industries Corp., one
of the largest glass manufacturers in the world, sounds at first
like "carrying coals to Newcastle." But when its 60 pieces of
glass found in archeological sites in Israel, going back more
than 2,000 years, these aren't exactly "coals."
Guardian's corporate headquarters in Auburn Hills is featuring the
pieces in a private exhibit, 'Ancient Glass From the Holy Land." The
collection of glass vessels and other objects from Israel dates from the
Roman and Byzantine periods, when glass production flourished
throughout the ancient world.
The items, which represent the work of glass artisans over many cen-
turies, is on long-term loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority. It is
the first time the organization has made such a loan to a corporation.
The display was unveiled at an Oct. 14 reception hosted by William
Davidson, Guardian's president and CEO, and Dr. Ronny Reich, an
archeologist with the authority. As director of excavations for the 400-
member group, Reich was directly involved with the digs that uncov-
ered the items on display. He has spent 30 years working on excavations
of ancient sites in Jerusalem.
"I derived more pleasure from this project than any other in Israel
that I've been involved with," said Davidson, a noted philanthropist
with several business interests in Israel. "Of course, we're particularly
pleased to have this ancient glass exhibit at our world headquarters
because of our focus on glass products of many kinds."
Guardian and the Davidson family funded the major portion of the
project, which took about three years to complete, including recent
excavations and preparing the items in the display. Several of the
ancient glass bottles come from burial caves discovered on Ophel Road
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Ancient glass from Israel is on display at Guardian Industries head carters.
As thanks for William Davidson's support over the
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years, the Israel Antiquities Authority has loaned his
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local business precious glass artifacts for display.
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10/29
1999
Detroit Jewish News