8000 year history of mirrors

The mirror is a familiar item for all of us. Not only is an essential household item in every family, mirrors also appear in many places with many different uses. Even imagine that one day we will go out of the house without looking in the mirror, it is really a very unpleasant thing.

We will go back in time to 8000 years ago, when the shape of the mirror began to form and review important milestones in the creation and use of it in history. Now let's start with the timeline of the first mirror .

The first mirror

The very primitive form of the mirror is probably the calm lake surface, the shiny stone face or the water in the containers. Interestingly, from about 722 BC onwards there appeared ancient Chinese characters that meant mirrors. It is jian or jing, meaning "a large tank full of water" . Since then, it has been natural that people have given the first mirrors. This is also an important form that makes people have ideas based on and create mirrors later.

Some suggested that it was the Chinese who invented the mirror. However, according to some reliable evidence, the above judgment is not completely accurate.

Items with the first mirror form were found in tombs in Asia Minor. In a settlement area dating from 6200 to 6000 BC, the Neolithic era in the Çatal Hüyük region, archaeologist Mellaart found the first mirrors. The current excavation area belongs to the cemetery of Konya, southern Turkey.

These mirrors are made by obsidian polishing (volcanic glass, ice casing) and have a circular or conical reflective surface. Although the reflection surface is slightly convex but still polished intentionally. The diameter of each mirror is about 9 cm and it is remarkable that it can reflect the image quite well.

Archaeologists have affirmed: "These objects have been used as mirrors with full functionality of a reflective surface. It is something that cannot be argued . " Moreover, archaeologists found a mirror carefully attached to the wall of a grave. At the same time, based on the grave content in the grave, this is a tomb of women.

The first mirror was ground from volcanic glass

Asia Minor is an area with many corundum minerals and volcanic glass . Corundum (also known as grinding powder) is a natural material grinding and polishing machine with a hardness of 9 in the Mohs hardness scale, it can easily be used to polish other mineral forms.

The bodies made from volcanic glass were then taken from Asia Minor to other places used as spears, name heads, knives, axes, axes and jewelry. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable to deduce that the volcanic mirrors are also from this Asia Minor region. Archaeologists also said that the mirrors have a rough surface, one is polished with grinding powder and leather.

In a recent report by Colin Renfrew, professor of archeology at Cambridge University, confirmed that about 6000 BC, Çatalhöyük was one of the regions with a population of up to 10,000 people. This is the center of agricultural development and language. If Professor Colin's prediction is correct, Çatalhöyük and, more broadly, Anatolia are the first to create the mirror of mankind.

Next mirrors

The mirrors from the next date are found in Egypt. Archaeologist William M, Flinders Petrie (1853 - 1942) argued that the stone slabs were used as mirrors in the pre-Egyptian era. Lilyquist archaeologists' records also indicate that water evaporates very quickly on these stones. Lilyquist also stated that in addition, ceramic bowls designed to be filled with water were clearly used as mirrors and were discovered in the Badari region with a seal of about 4500 BC. Items found at Badari also have traces of wood around which are predicted to be used as mirrors for mirrors.

The image carved on the wall at the tombs is related to mirrors

Archaeologists have also found relics of polished bronze mirrors dating from about 4000 to 3000 years BC in the Tigris-Euphrates valley (now the Iraq region). Starting from this point, archaeologists also found the appearance of mirrors in sculptures, in papyrus documents, . in the ancient areas of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Levant.

A mirror artifact found in Egypt

Unlike the flat surface mirrors found initially, the next mirrors have a convex or concave surface. Convex mirrors should see large images in a small area of ​​the mirror. The concave surface is used to enlarge the images to look at.

This stage mirrors people who are paired with mysterious abilities and are often used in sacrifices and sacrifices.

Mirrors in East and Central Asia, including China

Archaeologists think that mirrors in China are developed independently and have a different form than the ones in the West. They claim that the forerunners in China originated in Siberia in the regions of Andronovo, Karasuk, north of the Caucasus Mountains near the black sea.

In China, two mirrors were discovered in Xi'an, Qinghai dates back to 2000 years BC in the Qi culture. Following that, mirrors were also found at the tomb of Phu Hao, one of 60 followers of the Hien Hien king of the Thuong Dynasty, dating from 1300-1028 BC. Later, the mirror was limitedly used in China under the Eastern Zhou period (around 1045-771 BC).

Ancient artifacts found in the Phu Hao tomb

The mirrors at that time had a diameter of 6 to 12cm, were not decorated and were pierced with a raised hole in the middle to hang the mirror up. The mirror of this period is usually made of copper or alloy of copper, so it has a thin size and quite high hardness. Evidence of subsequent mirrors is also found on the relics of the Silk Road, in ancient tombs and mentioned in ancient texts.

In this period, the mirror is also assigned to mystical abilities by people who see the past and the future, give astrological words and even see through the inside of a person. These characteristics are similar to human views of mirrors in Egypt and other ancient areas of the same contemporary.

Central and South America

Mirrors were also found in South America by archaeologists dating back to 1925 BC onwards. In Mexico, people found mirrors made and used by Olmec, Mayan, and Teotihuacan people of the Mayan culture.

In Southern Colombia and Northern Ecuador, the techniques of refining and polishing gemstones were developed under the culture of La Tolita (year 600-300 BC). In Peru, people also found mirrors made of crystal with a copper frame around them. In many other places in South America, archaeologists have also found mirror-shaped morphological relics built and used.

The mirror of the Olmec people found in South America

In 1125 to 130 BC in the Americas, Olmec people knew how to use metal to create mirrors. Commonly used materials are iron pyrite, obsidian, anthracite. The antiquities found are still on display at a museum in Mexico City in the United States.

In this period, mirrors were polished, some had a flat surface, but most mirrors were fabricated concave with focal lengths of 5 to 80 cm. According to the analysis, these mirrors are composed of: magnetite, hematite, iron pyrite. According to records found, mirrors are used to create fire, medicine, astrological divination and astronomy.

Romans with the first glass mirror and banned in the Middle Ages

Figure of mirrors of the Romans

Around the 1st century, the first glass mirrors were invented by the Romans . This is due to the invention of the glass blowing method at the beginning of the 1st century by the people who made Syrian glass. From the very first time they were created, many special qualities were given to the mirror without any object. Greek philosophers have advised young men to look in the mirror to keep their souls clean, away from temptations in life that can lead them to the wrong path.

In the Middle Ages, mirrors had completely disappeared because religions had suggested that people could use mirrors to search for demons and see the afterlife. Now, we must use polished metal pieces or a water surface to replace the mirror. The development history of the mirror has taken a step back due to the superstitious notions of humans of this era.

The return of the mirror from the 13th century

It was not until the 13th century that glass mirrors returned to the human world. At this time, it was found to put tin on glass. With the technology available, in the process of blowing glass, the glass maker will pour molten tin into a glass basin, after the tin cools, the worker will separate the tin plate and attach it to one side of the plate. fine. At this time, there was no way to complete the coating on glass.

Figure of a mirror maker in Venice

Three centuries later, in the 15th century in Venice, glass masters invented a new technique to create a flat mirror using mercury to coat the back of the mirror. They found a way to coated glass onto a flat surface of a mirror with a special procedure. In addition, the workers devised a method of mixing gold and copper into tin to form a special mixture to coat the mirror to allow for a more beautiful mirror image. Because of such a "special" use of the mixture, the cost to create an example at that time is comparable to building a large naval ship.

By 1675, George Ravenscroft, a glassmaker, invented a new generation of mirrors by adding lead oxide to a mirror-coated mercury mix that allowed for cheap production. Mirror development stops at mercury use during this period.

A palace decorated with magnificent mirrors

After that, the mirror began to be received and entered people's lives. However, by the 16th century, mirrors were still considered by some to be related to witchcraft and mysterious rituals. 200 years later in the 16th century, some Spanish and French spies used mirrors to encode and decode messages using the mirror-coding system invented by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century. mirrors become an important part of the invention of periscope. The type of glass used in espionage activities in the war to send confidential information without using human information.

Now, mirrors have become popular with the production of luxury frames for decoration throughout the palaces in Europe. This time the mirroring technique was still held by Venice glassmakers and provided primarily for aristocracy at extremely expensive prices. However, the secret of using mirror mercury was eventually discovered and spread by industrial spies to London and Paris in the 17th century. Finally, mirror factories in France industrialized the process. make mirrors with cheap prices that are suitable for everyone. Even so, mercury toxicity is still a big problem.

Modern mirror

Modern mirrors today

Modern mirrors are now made of silver or sprayed with a silver or aluminum layer on the back of a glass plate. This fabrication method was invented by Justus Von Leibig in 1835. However, modern mirrors are now made by heating aluminum in a vacuum and covering the surface of glass panels with lower temperatures. . From now on, glass began to go into every aspect of human life and gradually became an indispensable item for every family.

Conclusion

The mirror has experienced a long and colorful journey over 8000 years in human history. From the giant mirror given by mother nature, to polished stones, bronze mirrors in ancient tombs, followed by Roman glass, the mirror-coated method of art Italian artist and the successful industrialization of the French, finally the Von Leibig Justus with today's silver-coated method. Finally we have a complete mirror.

In terms of the meaning of the mirror also underwent many ups and downs, from being considered a mystical item with enough supernatural forces, once banned because of being able to summon demons, sometimes encouraged to look inner insight of yourself, then applied in military or luxury decorations in palaces. Finally, when human society is more civilized, mirrors gradually become an application applied not only in human life but also in many scientific studies.