Today I wanted to show you a little gem I found on Tumblr. I've copied the thread here for your viewing pleasure as proof that, even in ancient times, medical genius and general badassery were both very much alive:
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knottybear:archiemcphee:
"Here’s an awesome little piece of history:
Archaeologists in the Burnt City have discovered what appears to be an ancient prosthetic eye. What makes this discovery exceptionally awesome is the striking description of how the owner and her false eye would have appeared while she was still alive and blinking:
[The eye] has a hemispherical form and a diameter of just over 2.5 cm (1 inch). It consists of very light material, probably bitumen paste. The surface of the artificial eye is covered with a thin layer of gold, engraved with a central circle (representing the iris) and gold lines patterned like sun rays. The female remains found with the artificial eye was 1.82 m tall (6 feet), much taller than ordinary women of her time. On both sides of the eye are drilled tiny holes, through which a golden thread could hold the eyeball in place. Since microscopic research has shown that the eye socket showed clear imprints of the golden thread, the eyeball must have been worn during her lifetime. The woman’s skeleton has been dated to between 2900 and 2800 BCE.So she was an extraordinarily tall woman walking around wearing an engraved golden eye patterned with rays like a tiny sun. What an awesome sight that must have been.
[via TYWKIWDBI]
fangirequeen:Wow.
SOMEONE DRAW HER PLEASEbeecharts:
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!
kitsunecoffee:
CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW AN ANCIENT CRAFTSMAN WAS PRESENTED WITH PEOPLE LOOKING FOR HELP TO NORMALIZE THEIR DISABILITY. AND THEN SAID ‘NAH FUCK THIS WE’RE GOING TO MAKE YOU LOOK BADASS."
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The internet asks, and it shall deliver.
I have to admit that the comment thread amused me no end, but this really is a fascinating discovery (made way back in 2006). Just like the discovery of the Antikythera mechanism, the ancient world always has the capacity to surprise us with it's creativity and ingenuity.
The 'Burnt City' of Shahr-e Suketh was one of the world's largest cities at the dawn of the urban era (our bronze age) and was thought to be home to a civilised people who were both farmers and craftspeople. Is is also thought by some, after analysing grave evidence, that mothers here held social and financial prominence. In the graves of some female inhabitants were found 5,000 year old insignias that were thought to belong to only distinguished members of the city, and these may have been used as seals for important documents or as visual reminders of their high status.The city itself is thought to have been unique and distinct to many other surrounding cultures of the time and is thought to be proof of civilisation east of prehistoric Persia that was independent of Mesopotamia. It is also thought, due to a mix of burial positions, that the city held multiple cultures.
Studies were still underway in 2010 by Iran's Archeology Research Center and Newcastle University, and the site still proves to be a rich treasure trove of artefacts awaiting discovery.
Sources
Originally found on Tumblr via geyserofawesome and kitsune coffee
Shahr-e Suketh 'The Burnt City'
Original blog article at TYWIWDBI
Drawing by Nick Beecher
Iran Review - The Burnt City
