In this study, the obsidian (Ob) that is a natural glass were doped with and Cerium oxide (CeO2) and Erbium Oxide (Er2O3) in different amount (0.5%, 1%, 3%, and 5%). Obsidian was grinded and glass powder was doped with CeO2 and Er2O3 via mechanical alloying. The doped glass samples were prepared with melting-quenching method. Radiation shielding properties of obsidian doped with CeO2 and Er2O3 were determined at 22.16–59.54 keV photon energies by using an HPGe detector with a resolution of 182 eV at 5.9 keV. It was observed that the radiation absorption tended to increase with the increasing doping amount to obsidian samples. The mass attenuation coefficients both of CeO2 and Er2O3 doped obsidian glass decrease with increasing photon energy. The Er2O3 doped obsidian glasses are better the radiation shielding material than CeO2 doped obsidian glasses. •Doped obsidian glasses are better radiation shielding materials than ordinary obsidian glass.•µm and Zeff values increase whereas MFP, HVL and TVL parameters decrease with the increasing doping concentration.•The doping with Er2O3 of the obsidian glass increases the effectiveness of the radiation shielding.