5,000-year-old artificial eyeball found

5,000-year-old golden artificial eye that once stared out mesmerisingly from the face of a female soothsayer or priestess in ancient Persia has been unearthed by Iranian and Italian archaeologists. The eyeball — the earliest artificial eye found — would have transfixed those who saw it, convincing them that the woman — thought to have been strikingly tall — had occult powers and could see into the future, archaeologists said. It was found by Mansour Sajjadi, leader of the Iranian team, which has been excavating an ancient necropolis at Shahr-i-Sokhta in the Sistan desert on the Iranian-Afghan border for nine years. Italian archaeologists said yesterday that the prophetess had also been buried with an ornate bronze hand mirror, which she presumably used to check her “startling appearance”. “She must have been a very striking and exotic figure,” Professor Costantini told Corriere della Sera.He said the team had initially thought the eyeball might have been placed in the woman’s eye at burial. But microscopic examination had found an imprint left on her eye socket by prolonged contact with the golden eye. The socket also bore the marks of the thread, further proving that she had worn the eyeball in life. Professor Sajjadi said the skeleton had been dated to between 2900 and 2800BC, when Shahr-i-Sokhta was a bustling, wealthy city and trading post at the crossroads of East and West. He said the woman might have arrived with a caravan from Arabia. Shahr-i-Sokhta means “Burnt City”, a local name referring to the fact that it burnt down and was rebuilt three times during Persia’s turbulent history before being finally destroyed in 2000 BC — about the time that Stonehenge was erected. The archaeologists said it was not clear what caused the woman’s death. Professor Costantini said the articial eye was clearly not intended to mimic a real eye but had “a special purpose . . . It must have glittered spectacularly, conferring on the woman a mysterious and supernatural gaze”. This would have been effective for someone who claimed to see into the future, such as a soothsayer or oracle. Analaysis suggested that the woman may have suffered from an abscess on her eyelid because of long-term contact with the golden eyeball. The archaeologists earlier unearthed what is believed to be the oldest backgammon set in the world, with 60 pieces made of turquoise and agate and a rectangular ebony board, probably imported from India.