Early Glass and Crystal Lenses

Ground or shaped glass, water-filled glass, and rock crystal used for magnification, burning lenses, optics experiments, and visual aids.

Core metadata

ID: glass_lenses_early
Era: Classical
First known date: -750 (decade)
Region: Neo-Assyrian Nimrud (modern Iraq)
Review status: source_checked
Maturity: N/A

Prerequisites

Dependents

Fields

None.

Node sources

Inlay / Nimrud lens (British Museum, 2026, museum) • Supports: node
Locator: British Museum object W_90959 identifies the ground quartz or rock-crystal object as the Nimrud lens and notes it could have served as a crude magnifying glass with a focal length of about 12 cm.

Prerequisite edge evidence

Edge/source evidence summary:

Prerequisite edges: 2
Average edge confidence: 68%
Prerequisite sources: 2
expert_inference: 2

Prerequisite	Type	Confidence	Evidence level	Note	Sources
Glassmaking (glassmaking)	enabling	68%	expert_inference	Glassmaking provides a capability that enables this technology without being the only possible path.	Glass of the Ancient Mediterranean (McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 2013, museum) • Supports: edge
Geometry (geometry)	enabling	68%	expert_inference	Geometry provides a capability that enables this technology without being the only possible path.	Geometry (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026, textbook) • Supports: edge

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