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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Burnt City’s Artificial Eyeball Presented in Rome
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31 May 2007 |
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LONDON,
(CAIS) -- As the first lecturer in exhibition of Beauties of Iran, Five
Millennia of History which inaugurated on 21st of May in Rome’s
Oriental Arts Museum, Dr. Mansour Sajadi, head of archaeological excavations in
Burnt City (Shahr-e Sukhteh) gave a speech on the latest achievements of the discovered
artificial eyeball in Burnt City during which he explained about the details
of this unique discovery which according to archaeologists is one of the magic
of the ancient world.
“The
initial studies on Burnt City’s artificial eye have come to an end which has
brought into light some important information about this artificial eye. This
eye which was found in grave number 6705 of Burnt City’s cemetery is a
hemisphere object which was placed inside the left eye socket of a 28-32 years
old woman. The initial anthropological studies on the skull of the woman
revealed that evidence of an abscess was formed under the eyebrow and inside the
left eye socket of this woman,” Sajadi told Persian service of CHN.
According
to head of excavation team in Burnt City, considering the specific gravity of
this object, it seems that the main material of this artificial eyeball is
consisted of natural tar mixed with animal fat.
Referring
to magnificent method practiced for making this artificial eye, Sajadi said:
“Even the most delicate eye capillaries were drawn on this eyeball using
golden wires with a thickness measuring less than half a millimetre. The pupil
of the eye has been devised on the centre of the eyeball and there are also some
parallel lines around the pupil forming a diamond shape.”
He
further explained: “Very small spots of white colour can be seen on the white
of the eye. It is a high possibility that the whole sclera was covered by this
white colour and then little by little it was faded away over the time.”
Two
holes were also created on the sides of this eyeball to hold it in the eye
socket and according to head of the excavation team in burnt City, is seems that
the leather bag which has been found inside a straw basket in the grave must
have been a kind of eye glass holder which was used for holding the artificial
eyeball in some cases for example sleeping times.
Regarding
the other characteristics of this mysterious skeleton, Sajadi said:
“Considering that the majority of females lived in Burnt City during ancient
times were short, being 180 centimetres in height, this woman is known the
tallest woman which has ever been identified in Burnt City.”
Pointing
out that the discovered grave belongs to the residential areas of Burnt City
dating back to 2900-2800 BCE, Sajadi believes that most probably this artificial
eye must have been the most ancient one discovered so far.
In
response to the questions regarding the origin of the discovered skeleton and
whether it might have belonged to somebody who migrated to the Burnt City from
other places, Sajadi strongly rejected all these misconceptions. “For sure the
discovered skeleton belongs to one of the inhabitants of Burnt city. Since its
physical characteristics show a difference with the local people of the Burnt
City, we can consider the possibility that she was migrated from one of the
southern Iranian-provinces to this region. However, considering the usage of tar in the
artificial eyeball and the mastery of jewellers what we can say for
sure is that the eye was made in this city.”
The
exhibition of “Beauties of Iran, Five Millennia of History” has been
organized by the joint cooperation of Iran’s Embassy in Rome and the Italian
Ministry of Culture will run to 13 of June in Rome’s Oriental Arts Museum.
On the sideline of the exhibition, a series of lectures was delivered about the position of women in the course of history with the title of women, from myth to reality. A number of Iranians’ women traditional dresses and jewels during ancient times have been put on public display in this exhibition.
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Extracted From/Source*: Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN)
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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