The older artificial eye of the world
The older artificial eye of the world, found in autumn of 2006 in a desert region of Iran, has about 5000 years of antiquity, although still the enigmas are many that are to keep awake of that mysterious piece, that has revolutionized the instrumentation of the old optics. American investigator Jay Enoch, university professor of Optometry of the University of Berkeley, the United States, explained that this finding was absolutely unexpected, since until then the artificial eyes older than they knew themselves were between 400 and 450 years, that is to say, almost 4500 years old less than the one of Iran.
A group of Iranian and Italian archaeologists found this singular piece in one of more than 40 000 tombs that conform the deposit of Burned City, an preIndo-European town that for more than a millenium was an important agricultural center and of commercial interchange. The eye, a hemisphere of about 25 millimeters of diameter, was inlaid in the left orbit of the skull of a woman among 25 and 30 years, of upper social class, that was buried in necrópolis of Shahr-i Sokhte.
The woman, who was buried along with a mirror, had African characteristics and measured near two meters, an atypical height between the Iranian women of the time, who did not use to measure more of an average meter and. The artificial eye was done of bitumen, a material resinous, similar to the tar, mixed with greasy animal, and had two small orifices, one in each end, that allowed, with a cord, to maintain the eye to the way of a patch in the head.
For Enoch, one of the most fascinating aspects of the finding is the attempt of probability of the piece, since this had engraving a rainbow and small parallel lines that imitated the hair veins of the eye, which they were stuffed of fine gold fibers, whereas the rest appeared painted of target, imitating, as far as possible, the characteristics of the human eye. One also knows that the woman, possibly a priestess, years ago she took the artificial eye, since the cords sustained that it in the river basin had slightly worn away the bones of their head.
Beyond these data, little it is known the origin of this old optical structure and the mysterious woman took who it, reason why are still many questions without responding. Enoch adventure to be formulated some hypotheses on the matter from the documentation published on this finding and maintains that the woman wore the false eye underneath the eyelid, which had to be very annoying, it added that the young person could have suffered a well-known disease like Phitisis bulbi, that atrophies the ocular globe until reducing it “to the size of a pea”.
As far as the origin of the woman, this investigating bet to that Egypt came from, since the mirror found in its tomb had a small handle inferior, in the style of which were constructed for thousands of years in Near East.
Source: Barcelona, June 30/2008 (EFE)
It leaves an answer