notes propose that the lens could have been used "as a piece of inlay, perhaps for furniture" and that there is no evidence that the Assyrians used lenses for their optical qualities, e.g. for magnification, telescopy or for starting fire. A similar object was mentioned in The Epic of Ishtar and Izdubar, Column IV, Coronation of Izdubar, written about 2,000 BC. 10th stanza. It reads:The King then rises, takes the sacred glass, And holds it in the sun before the mass Of waiting fuel on the altar piled. The centring rays—the fuel glowing gild With a round spot of fire and quickly. spring Above the altar curling, while they sing! See also Visby lenses References Bibliography A. H. Layard, Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (London, 1853), p. 197–98. External links British Museum entry Oldest Optical Device? The Nimrud Lens 8th century BC Archaeological artifacts Middle Eastern objects in the British Museum Lenses Neo-Assyrian Empire Nineveh Governorate Individual hardstone carvings Nimrud