尼姆鲁德透镜

尼姆鲁德透镜
尼姆鲁德透镜
	在大英博物馆展出的尼姆鲁德透镜
材质	石英
尺寸	直径: 38 mm（1.5英寸）; 厚度: 23 mm（0.9英寸）
年代	公元前750年-公元前710年
时期或古文明	新亚述帝国
发掘于	1850
发掘地点	尼姆鲁德西北宫AB号房间
现存于	大英博物馆, 伦敦
编号	90959

尼姆鲁德透镜，也被称为莱亚德透镜，是一块公元前8世纪的石英镜片，1850年，由奥斯汀·亨利·莱亚德在位于伊拉克的尼姆鲁德亚述宫殿遗址中发现。^[3] ^[4]它可能被用作放大镜或聚集阳光来生火用的镜片，也有可能只是一块装饰性镶嵌物。 ^[3]

描述

尼姆鲁德透镜略呈椭圆形，可能在切割宝石用的轮盘上经过粗磨处理。^[1]它的焦点长约11厘米，焦距约为12厘米，^[1] ^[2] ^[3]这相当于一个3倍的放大镜。透镜的表面有十二个在研磨过程中打开的空腔，其中可能含有石脑油或原始晶体中的液体。虽然该焦点制作非常粗糙，但该镜片还是可以聚焦阳关。由于镜片由天然石英制成，因此镜片的材质不会随着时间的推移而劣化。^[1]

尼姆鲁德透镜现陈列于大英博物馆。

用途

该透镜的用途尚不清楚，一些学者认为它被用作光学镜片，另一些则认为它仅仅用作装饰。

古代亚述出土了众多精美的雕刻，而亚述工匠在雕刻过程中可能需要放大镜这种工具。^[5]透镜的发现者指出，他在亚述遗址中出土的文物上发现了非常小的铭文，他认为这些铭文是在放大镜的帮助下才能够雕刻完成的，而尼姆鲁德透镜就是其中的一种。^[1]

罗马大学的意大利科学家乔瓦尼·佩蒂纳托提出，古代亚述人将这个透镜望远镜的一部分，这解释了为何他们有着丰富的天文学知识（参见巴比伦天文学）。^[5]亚述考古学专家并不认同此观点，他们怀疑透镜的光学质量远没有达到天文观测的标准。亚述人将土星视为被蛇环包围的神，佩蒂纳托认为这是他们对通过望远镜看到的土星环的解释。^[6]其他专家则表示，蛇经常出现在亚述神话中，并指出在许多现存的亚述天文学著作中都没有提到望远镜的存在。^[5]

莱亚德在他的著作中写道，在发现透镜时，它被埋在其他玻璃片下面，这些玻璃片看起来像是一个由木头或象牙制作的物体表面的釉质，但发现时已经分解了。^[3]大英博物馆馆长的笔记提出，尼姆鲁德透镜可以“作为一件镶嵌物，也许用于家具装饰”，并且没有证据表明亚述人使用的透镜具有光学特性，例如用于放大、望远镜或点火。^[3]

类似的物品在完成于公元前2000年左右的《伊什塔尔和伊兹杜巴尔史诗》第四栏《伊兹杜巴尔加冕》中提到过，在第10节，上面写到：

“然后国王站起来，拿起了镜片，并在祈祷前将其放在阳光下。祭坛堆满了等待的燃料。很快，圆形的火点出现，被点燃的燃料仿佛镀了金。祭坛上照耀着温和的阳光，而人们在歌唱！”

参考文献

^ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Layard, Austen Henry. Discoveries in the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon: with travels in Armenia. G.P. Putnam and Co. 1853: 197–8,674. lens.
^ ^2.0 ^2.1 D. Brewster. On an account of a rock-crystal lens and decomposed glass found in Niniveh. Die Fortschritte der Physik (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft). 1852 （German）.
^ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 The Nimrud lens / the Layard lens. Collection database. The British Museum. [Oct 21, 2012]. （原始内容存档于2012-10-19）.
^ Villiers, Geoffrey de; Pike, E. Roy. The Limits of Resolution. CRC Press. 2016-10-16. ISBN 9781315350806 （英语）.
^ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 Whitehouse, David. World's oldest telescope?. BBC News. July 1, 1999 [May 10, 2008]. （原始内容存档于2009-02-01）. If one Italian scientist is correct then the telescope was not invented sometime in the 16th century by Dutch spectacle makers, but by ancient Assyrian astronomers nearly three thousand years earlier. According to Professor Giovanni Pettinato of the University of Rome, a rock crystal lens, currently on show in the British museum, could rewrite the history of science. He believes that it could explain why the ancient Assyrians knew so much about astronomy.
^ World's oldest telescope?. EXN Science Wire. June 29, 1999 [2008-05-10]. （原始内容存档于September 29, 2007）. Pettinato believes the lens was used by Assyrian astronomers as a telescope more than three thousand years ago. They saw more in the night sky than was possible with the naked eye alone. For example, the Assyrians saw the planet Saturn as a god surrounded by a ring of serpents. Pettinato says that would be a logical assumption to make if they saw Saturn's rings through a primitive telescope.

参考书目

A. H. Layard, Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (London, 1853), p. 197–98.

外部链接

British Museum entry （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
Oldest Optical Device? The Nimrud Lens （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）

[layard-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Layard, Austen Henry. Discoveries in the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon: with travels in Armenia. G.P. Putnam and Co. 1853: 197–8,674. lens.

[Brewster-2] 2.0 ^2.1 D. Brewster. On an account of a rock-crystal lens and decomposed glass found in Niniveh. Die Fortschritte der Physik (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft). 1852 （German）.

[bm-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 The Nimrud lens / the Layard lens. Collection database. The British Museum. [Oct 21, 2012]. （原始内容存档于2012-10-19）.

[4] Villiers, Geoffrey de; Pike, E. Roy. The Limits of Resolution. CRC Press. 2016-10-16. ISBN 9781315350806 （英语）.

[BBC_News-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 Whitehouse, David. World's oldest telescope?. BBC News. July 1, 1999 [May 10, 2008]. （原始内容存档于2009-02-01）. If one Italian scientist is correct then the telescope was not invented sometime in the 16th century by Dutch spectacle makers, but by ancient Assyrian astronomers nearly three thousand years earlier. According to Professor Giovanni Pettinato of the University of Rome, a rock crystal lens, currently on show in the British museum, could rewrite the history of science. He believes that it could explain why the ancient Assyrians knew so much about astronomy.

[6] World's oldest telescope?. EXN Science Wire. June 29, 1999 [2008-05-10]. （原始内容存档于September 29, 2007）. Pettinato believes the lens was used by Assyrian astronomers as a telescope more than three thousand years ago. They saw more in the night sky than was possible with the naked eye alone. For example, the Assyrians saw the planet Saturn as a god surrounded by a ring of serpents. Pettinato says that would be a logical assumption to make if they saw Saturn's rings through a primitive telescope.

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