Alexander invents a mirror Telescope described in Ayneye Iskandari

[MaziarMohajer]

Alexander invents a mirror
Telescope described in Ayneye Iskandari

​

Abstract: Amir Khosrow Dehlavi's book Ayneye Iskandari (1300 AD) contains a short story about the invention of a mirror by Alexander. He makes a round mirror from polished iron. It has the features of an optical device capable of producing enlarged images of ships and pirates. It is also rotatable and shows the images of universe. Therefore, the text can be about a telescope. It is possible that the book Ayneye Iskandari was actually written in the 18th century based on the timeline of development of reflecting telescopes.

Keywords: Alexander Mirror, Ayneye Iskandari, Camera, Telescope, Lighthouse


It is interesting to read Alexander's life story from different sources. This time, I'll write about a passage from a relatively unknown book that narrates the story of invention of a mirror by Alexander. I'll argue that this story is actually about the development and use of telescopes in Europe during the 17th and 18th century.

Ayneye Iskandari, which translates as "Alexander's mirror, or Alexandrian mirror" is a biography of Alexander in an oriental style. It is written by Amir Khosrow Dehlavi (1253-1325 AD), a Persian-writing poet from India. His books, as far as I know, have not been translated into English, but I have found a good summary and have included the interesting sections here. I have added line-by-line translations for most important parts in between {}.

Iskandar wishes for a memorial of himself, and philosophers like Aristotle create the astrolabe.Under Iskandar, the development of skills is praised, and invention is always a topic of conversation. Artificers arrive from the farthest China. Iskandar summons them to his palace to learn what they know. The Chinese claim that they can create wall paintings that move and look exactly like their subjects; {The Chinese claim their paintings, not created by using the brush, can move and are exactly similar to the subject. Once the subject turns around, it will also turn around. When you get closer, the image moves towards you. It is impossible to expect a lifeless image to have these characteristics.} They claim that no such paintings or painters can be found in Rum (Rome).

" Iskandar calls the painters for a competition: Chinese and Roman painters will each decorate an ayvan (portico, room) in the palace. Each group sets about its work in secret. Iskandar goes to the Romans first and sees a magnificent image of a beautiful woman, which he admires tremendously.[ii] He then goes to the Chinese ayvan and notices that the entire wall is polished iron, reflecting the observers and their motions. {All the walls are covered with bright polished iron, and in that light, images of faces are reflected on the walls. If one looks forward or backward, he can see himself anywhere. One person associated with the king has his image everywhere, and if someone moves quickly, his image moves quickly as well.} Iskandar is astonished.

Iskandar plans to put the mirror into new use. One day, some merchants who had been robbed appeared in court. They tell of a band of pirates based on the island of Qubrus (Cyprus). {A group of Farangs are located on the Cyprus Island who invade and rob ships in the Mediterranean Sea.} They attacked merchant ships traveling from Sham (Syria and Lebanon) to Armenia with goods from the Maghrib. The merchants are appealing to Iskandar for justice. Iskandar has long considered an instrument with which to scan the land and sea, and he spends some nights with the philosophers discussing the issue. Iron from China is ordered, and a monumental mirror is created. {They made a circular mirror, ten by ten, and put magic inside it to see far away clearly and brightly. The mirror becomes bright like the sun. On that bright surface that rotates like a pair of compasses, many pictures of the world emerge. They place it on a tower in the Mediterranean Sea River. This is similar to an astrolabe that can view the light from the skies.} A tall tower is built on Rum's shore, with the mirror atop. The mirror reflects events that occur sixty farsangs (leagues) away. } A mirror image of the figure is displayed when someone is moving on the island of Cyprus. {A hundred of Iskandar's ships are prepared for the appearance of the pirate ships in the mirror, and the pirates are apprehended. The mirror-tower survives Iskandar's reign, but it is demolished in later evil times. "

Alexander's Mirror is a popular topic in the Persian literature. I will skip over the other sources because the one mentioned above provides a more detailed description. Nezami (1141-1209) has a brief chapter on it, stating that they used various materials such as gold and silver to create the first mirror, but the experiments failed. Finally, polished iron could reflect objects accurately. Different shapes are discussed too, including elongated or wide, square, and hexagonal, none of which had a perfect reflection. Finally, the text says, a circular (spherical or paraboloidal) iron mirror could provide an ideal reflection.[iii]

Figure 1: Experiments with different materials and shapes to create a mirror with the ideal reflection: a spherical iron mirror. Both paintings are related to the same scene; according to Nizami (right: painted in 1595, left: painted in 1490 AD).​

Prior to discussing the mirror, the piracy event is discussed. In general, the Persian literature offers no solid geographical or political data. The piracy event, described here, is an exception. The commercial ships, which had traveled from the Maghreb, got assaulted approximately between Sham (the Levant) and Armenia (small Armenia on the southeast coast of Anatolia). The pirates were Frangs, based in Cyprus. In Persian literature, Farngs refers to Christian westerners, particularly the French, following the events of the third Crusade. According to history books, the Franks ruled over Cyprus, for three centuries (1192-1489). Pirates were active in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean during the 15th and 16th centuries. Historical records of their piracy are available.[iv]

Figure 2: Alexander (Iskandar) invents a mirror that, when mounted on a tower, shows everything within a radius of 60 farsangs and thus enables Alexander's men to attack raiding pirates. (Ayneye Iskandari painting, dated to 1609 AD)

Figure 3: Alexander the Great ordered the construction of a tall tower surmounted by a revolving mirror in order to battle the pirates menacing the Mediterranean Sea. Note the usage of guns and cannons. (Ayneye Iskandari, painting dated to 1598 AD) [v]​

What kind of mirror did Alexander invent? The mirror is curved, not planar, as the texts say that only circular, meaning spherical, mirrors can reflect the images perfectly. Other Persian authors say that the mirror resembles a cup. So, this is a concave mirror. Several sources emphasize that the material used is iron.

When the text discusses the usage of the mirror, it becomes unclear, confusing, and complex. In initial phrases, the text seems to refer to the camera obscura as an aid to painting in competition between painters or as a means of displaying live performances. In a comparable way, it could be the description of a magical lantern.
However, the main focus of the text is unrelated to camera obscura. I think that the text is more about telescopes.

Here's a brief overview of the different types of telescopes, as well as the official history and timeline of their invention and development. There are two types of telescopes. A refracting telescope uses lenses to enlarge distant objects, while a reflecting telescope uses reflection from mirrors to magnify. Initially, scientists used lenses, followed by mirrors.

While the camera obscura is an antique device, telescopes were developed during the seventeenth century. Most historians make the Netherlands the country of the telescope’s origin and 1608 the year of its birth. Many writers give this merit to Hans Lippershey. At the time, the Netherlands was fighting for the independence. In fact, initially, telescopes were developed as valuable addition to military strategy. A committee tested the first telescope, a monocular, from a tower to find it was "likely to be of utility to the State." Several years later, Galileo constructed his own telescope. Interestingly, he wrote, “Many noblemen and senators climbed to the highest church towers in Venice to observe distant sails and shipping, using my spyglass that made objects appear large and near. After several decades, due to the optical problems of lenses, curved mirrors were used to build reflecting telescopes.

Evidence suggests that Leonard Digges (1515 - 1559) invented a simple instrument with lenses and a concave mirror, relatively similar to a modern reflecting telescope. However, in the 16th century, it would have been very hard to construct lenses with the required optical precision, and, importantly for our discussion, even more difficult to construct a satisfactory mirror. For the first time, Leonard Digges described how he saw distant objects magnified.[vi]

Isaac Newton built the first reflecting telescope in 1668. Other scientists built different mirror-based telescopes over the next centuries. In this type of telescope, the mirrors are made of speculum metal. (Figures 6 and 7) It is an alloy of copper and tin that has a highly reflective surface when polished. Interestingly, speculum metal mirrors were called "steel mirrors" even though they contained no steel. Speculum metal was used between the mid-17th and mid-19th centuries, before the invention of glass silvering.

Large reflective telescopes were constructed in the 18th century and later. I don't intend to write a comprehensive history of telescopes. However, two large-scale reflecting telescopes are notable. In 1761, Nicolas Noël created the Eight-Foot Telescope in Paris. (Figure 4) Between 1785 and 1789, Herschel's 40-foot telescope was built in England. It was equipped with two 120-cm concave metal mirrors, a 12-meter tube, and a rotatable mount. (Figures 5 and 6)

Figure 4: Eight-Foot Telescope created by Nicolas Noel. It had a rotatable mount. 1761

Figure 5: Great Forty-Foot telescope. A large-scale device with 12-meter tube, on a rotatable mount.1789

Figure 6:The Forty-Foot telescope 's first mirror made of speculum metal. 1789

Figure 7: Six-foot speculum metal mirror for the Leviathan of Parsonstown telescope. Around 1850 [vii]​

Back to Ayneye Iskandari, let us examine the story. It should be noted that this book was written in 1300 AD based on official history. The poet discusses futuristic topics such as experimenting with different shapes and materials to find an ideal reflector, concave mirrors on a tower that can magnify images, military applications of a new optical device, and a rotating instrument depicting image of the universe. These are oddly similar to future optical technology.

To begin with, the text describes some sort of curved and round mirrors on the walls of a room, reflecting images. Likewise, the reflecting telescope is an optical device that uses curved mirrors inside a tube. Both the mirrors and the tube can be quite large like a room or a chamber. (Figures 5 and 6)

The poet underlines iron as the preferred material for making mirrors. It is polished and has a very reflective surface. As previously mentioned, early reflective telescopes used metal mirrors. Mirrors made of speculum metal were known as "steel mirrors." Testing various materials in Persian sources is about developing a proper metal alloy, not selecting iron among others. Similarly, speculum metal production has been difficult, with lots of experimentation. A scientist tested 150 different alloys for speculum metal. The production process is described as laborious and lengthy. Nizami talks about the same process of extensive testing. (Figure 1) and selecting “steel mirror”

The writer states that the Alexandrian mirror is utilized for military purposes by magnifying the view of the enemy ships and pirate activities on Cyprus Island. (Figures 2 and 3) As already mentioned, in 17th century Europe, telescopes were initially used for military purposes as well, mainly to observe and scan ships.

The poet claims that the mirror is placed on a tall tower. As it was said, the first telescopes in Europe were tested by men over the top of a towers on the shores. The tall minaret in the text can be an observation tower located in an unspecified location on the Mediterranean coast. [viii]

Then it loosely states that the shining surface rotates like a pair of compasses and displays images of the world.[ix] If the Alexandrian mirror is considered a telescope on a rotatable mount, this challenging and well-known verse can be understood (Figure 4). The theme of a mythological cup used to see the entire world is popular in Persian literature. [x]

In the final phrases, once again, the text becomes confusing as it says the mirror has some sort of magic inside that makes it shine like the sun. [xi]It appears that here the poet has mixed up the telescope and the lighthouse. The magic inside the mirror can be oil that burns and gives light. This is why some academics believe the Alexandrian mirror is the lighthouse of Alexandria.[xii] However, others reject the idea because a lighthouse does not enlarge the image of ships. The Alexandrian lighthouse is the subject of many historical writings. Rather than the mirror, the primary focus, however, is on the tower and its collapse. Nizami and Amir Khosrow provide a unique overview of shape, material, and the reflective properties of the mirror.

Putting aside distractions and confusion, the rotating chamber with round polished iron walls capable of magnifying objects is a large-scale reflective telescope. The tower is an observatory or an observation tower.

Some say that these are all the fantasies of poets. In fact, some Iranian scholars hold the same viewpoint. They believe: "It was impossible to use the shining mirror on top of the tower of Alexandria." They continue, "It is practically impossible to use the mirror above a tower to watch ships from a long distance. As a result, the specifications attributed to this mirror appear to be fake. Also, it appears that the story of a mirror on top of a tower was created by dreamers, which gave rise to legends and beautiful poems.” There is even the opinion of a number of physicists. Their mistake is considering the presence of only one concave mirror and not the combination of several reflectors inside a chamber. [xiii]

Descriptions of the Alexandrian mirror are similar to real optical devices of the 17th and 18th centuries (which did not exist in the 13th century). I mentioned that according to official history, even in the 16th century it was not possible to make a suitable lens or mirror for a telescope. Even if we do not accept that Amir Khosrow mentions the construction of a telescope in his book, we must accept that he clearly says that the Alexandrian mirror has the ability to magnify the images of ships and people. Remember that the subject of optical magnification of objects was first discussed in the 16th century.

Amir Khosrow lived, in my opinion, within the late 17th and early 18th centuries, far from the center of technological developments of that time. He had a vague knowledge of telescopes, cameras, and lighthouses. Yet he integrated these vague imaginations into his stories and poems, also giving them a mystical touch. An example of such partial information is the claim that iron was used to create metal mirrors based only on the name "steel mirrors." Another theory is that Amir Khosrow received edited data from multiple sources to write his book. Therefore, he talks about the development of optical devices and their use in a confusing manner. While he has detailed information about the piracy events in Cyprus in the 15th and 16th centuries, he does not have data on location of the tower. Therefore, he vaguely places it on a river in the Mediterranean Sea.[xiv] Since mysterious and mythological cups and mirrors hold an important place in eastern sophism, additional studies are required, especially considering the possible presence of chronological errors.

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i made some modifications.

[ii] Isn’t she the Virgin Mary?

[iii] For ease of discussion, I have added Nizami's story to Amir's, as it has some more details about the mirror.

[iv] Based on the piracy event, Alexander the Great is a Mamluk or Ottoman sultan.

[v] Firearms and especially battleships appear futuristic, even for the alleged date.

[vi] As Henry C. King claims in his book.

[vii] Compare it to Figure 1, the highly reflective surface is the burning mirror.

[viii] The large tube also resembles a tower. Alternatively, the tower and the mirror could be some sort of aerial telescope from second half of the 17th century.

[ix] Interestingly, the word گیتی means the universe or the cosmos, not the earth.

[x] For example, in Hafez’s poems.

[xi] Some people could say that the Alexandrian Mirror is an ancient energy device or antenna but I have no information about these kinds of topics.

[xii] There are similarities between this magical mirror and the Archimedes' heat ray.

[xiii] Some Greek academics insist that the Pharos of Alexandria was a real structure equipped with advanced optical equipment. It's interesting how they agree with me that this tower has specifications or descriptions of a lighthouse, telescope, as well as camera obscura, similar to the Alexandrian mirror in the Persian texts. The reader can judge whether my or their theory is correct. The link of full text is provided.

[xiv] The European version of history of telescope is also unclear. Another possibility is that, according to the piracy event, such technology was developed somewhere in modern-day Turkey or Syria, east of the Mediterranean Sea. It was during the Great Mongolian Empire in the 15th century based on the new chronology. By the way, I could find no evidence in Persian sources that supports Fomenko's theory that the Alexandrian lighthouse is actually Ivan the Great bell tower in Moscow.

Sources

Different pages of Wikipedia.

​

Amir Khusrau - Wikipedia
Ayina-i Iskandari (Amir Khusrau) - Wikipedia
Farang - Wikipedia
Kingdom of Cyprus - Wikipedia
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia - Wikipedia
Curved mirror - Wikipedia
Speculum metal - Wikipedia
Reflecting telescope - Wikipedia
40-foot telescope - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Noël
List of largest optical telescopes historically - Wikipedia

کتاب خمسه امیر خسرو دهلوی صفحات 489 تا496

آیینه ساختن اسکندر در شرفنامه نظامی Here

Piracy in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean during the Later Lusignan and Venetian Periods (15th-16th Centuries) Here
The history of the telescope by Henry C. King Chapters 2 to 7 Here

Ancient Greek Optical Instruments and the Pharos of Alexandria Here

How did the lighthouse at Pharos work? Here

Perspectives on Persian Painting Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah Page: 20

Images of Persian books : Here Here Here Here

Persian papers : Here Here Here

​

 

[Janusstark]

"By the way, I could find no evidence in Persian sources that supports Fomenko's theory that the Alexandrian lighthouse is actually Ivan the Great bell tower in Moscow.". Of course you did not. The manipulators would have been really sloppy. As you said, the european origin of telescope is quite shady.

First of all, in ancient times, the word « cosmos » (it was not even « cosmos », but rather « kosmos » ) did not have the current meaning of "universe" or "interstellar space". Pythagoras used it to refer to the stars in the geocentric system, but once again the cosmological model was not the one adopted in recent centuries (the heliocentric system). Let's dig deeper.
The first use of the term , in the sense of "universe" dates from 1847 (Humboldt, Cosmos, [all. Kosmos 1845-1862] Essai d'une Description physique du monde, French translation, Paris, 1847-59 ds Lar. 19e). This is a first point. The first occurrence of the word with the meaning of intersidereal (interside-real) space dates back to 1959 (A. Ducrocq, La victoire sur l'espace, p. 18 in Guilb. Astronaut., p. 23).
The term comes, via the Greco-latin "Kosmos", from the ancient Greek "κ ο ́ σ μ ο ς" which strictly means "order, good order, orderly arrangement", not "universe" or "outer space". Let's go further. But here is more :

"The verb kosmein meant generally "to dispose, prepare," but especially "to order and arrange (troops for battle), to set (an army) in array;" also "to establish (a government or regime);" "to deck, adorn, equip, dress" (especially of women). Thus kosmos had an important secondary sense of "ornaments of a woman's dress, decoration" (cosmos | Etymology of cosmos by etymonline

The reference to a mirror is self-evident, but I'd like to suggest a little more about what Pythagoras meant by 'the starry firmament' (again, a poorly known concept).

Let's come back a moment to "cosmos" and Pythagoras' ideas about it :
" The most widespread error is that Pythagoras was the first to declare that the Earth is round. It’s probably the fault of a certain Sir Thomas Little Heath (1861–1940). The youngest son of a farmer, he owed his knighthood to being permanent secretary at HM Treasury during the First World War, and his fellowships of the Royal Society and British Academy to his studies of ancient mathematics. Even today, his translations of Euclid and other Greek mathematicians are the standard versions in English. Unfortunately, Heath made a few mistakes. […] One notable mis-step was to credit the discovery that the Earth is a sphere to Pythagoras (c. 570–c. 500 BC). Heath’s Aristarchus of Samos: The Copernicus of Antiquity (1913 and still in print) begins with a brief history of astronomy up until Aristarchus’ time in the 3rd century BC. In the section on Pythagoras, we learn that the ancient sage “attributed spherical shape to the Earth for the simple reason that ‘the sphere is the most beautiful of the solid figures’”[…] But when we dive into the sources, we can find precious little evidence for it. In fact, today’s experts on Pythagoras conclude that we can’t know anything much about what the man himself might have believed." (Who First Realised the Earth was Round?)

At the time of Pythagoras, the general model was geocentrism and a flat earth. And there is nothing to suggest that Pythagoras ever questioned it. The Earth (Gē/Gaïa) was at the centre of the circulation of hemispheres (making up the firmament) carrying the stars (yet, what really are "stars" ? )

We can see just how different the antique idea of the cosmos was from our own. I would like to raise the question of the veracity of the biographies of the ancient philosophers (cf. Fomenko), given that we have absolutely no actual documents directly from their time and place that could prove to us that they really said what is attributed to them! They are part of a narrative that may well have been invented! Fomenko's theses are therefore just as valid, if not more so, than the others. They even have the merit of pointing to the pot of gold, because of their impeccable logic.

Now let's take a dip into the mirror of a tale.

It's up to you to explore the following association chain: Kosmos, cosmetics, adornements, Gē/Gaia,Gēographia (description of Gaïa), face, mirror, Selene, torch, fire, plasma, moon. The basic principle on which Alexander based his work is the mirror, not the telescope (or rather, telluscope ?) or a "pharos" (
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwnw6IykSec&t=54s
) or some kind of weapon. The MIRROR that reveals the truth, as sybilline as a "children's" story.

A child would see in the most beautiful ornament of all - the moon - a rabbit, a face... or the reflection of the beautiful Gaia...

Comme un vol de gerfauts hors du charnier natal
Fatigués de porter leurs misères hautaines,
De Palos de Moguer, routiers et capitaines
Partaient, ivres d’un rêve héroïque et brutal.

Ils allaient conquérir le fabuleux métal
Que Cipango mûrit dans ses mines lointaines,
Et les vents alizés inclinaient leurs antennes
Aux bords mystérieux du monde Occidental.

Chaque soir, espérant des lendemains épiques,
L'azur phosphorescent de la mer des Tropiques
Enchantait leur sommeil d'un mirage doré ;

Ou, penchés à l'avant des blanches caravelles,
Ils regardaient monter en un ciel ignoré
Du fond de l'Océan des étoiles nouvelles.

Jose Maria de Heredia

In English :

As falcons from their native eyrie soar,
So, tired of woes long borne with haughty air,
Bold-hearted men from Palos and Moguer
Went forth with daring dreams mad to the core.

They longed to seize the fabled metal store
Cipango's mines in rich perfection bear,
And favoring breezes bade their brave prows dare
The dim, mysterious occidental shore.

At eve, as Hope unveiled each epic view,
The tropic sea's bright phosphorescent blue
Bewitched their slumbers with mirage of gold;

Or from the foredeck of their caravels
On alien skies they wondered to behold
Strange stars new risen from ocean's glowing wells.

Jose Maria de Heredia

"ocean's glowing wells." Hence, there it is what we call "stars" ?
Look deep then, look with a child's eye at the face of the earth in the miror above (so above, so below) : Vibes of Cosmos

 

[Udjat]

This may not to do with anything but when you mention the mirror thing my mind went immediately to the story of Archimedes' death ray, which was ultimately consecutive mirrors or something along those lines. Sounds similar to this scenario in a way.

What is interesting is even the former President Obama asked myth busters to put Archimedes' death ray to the test.

 

[MaziarMohajer]

"By the way, I could find no evidence in Persian sources that supports Fomenko's theory that the Alexandrian lighthouse is actually Ivan the Great bell tower in Moscow.". Of course you did not. The manipulators would have been really sloppy. As you said, the european origin of telescope is quite shady.

First of all, in ancient times, the word « cosmos » (it was not even « cosmos », but rather « kosmos » ) did not have the current meaning of "universe" or "interstellar space". Pythagoras used it to refer to the stars in the geocentric system, but once again the cosmological model was not the one adopted in recent centuries (the heliocentric system). Let's dig deeper.
The first use of the term , in the sense of "universe" dates from 1847 (Humboldt, Cosmos, [all. Kosmos 1845-1862] Essai d'une Description physique du monde, French translation, Paris, 1847-59 ds Lar. 19e). This is a first point. The first occurrence of the word with the meaning of intersidereal (interside-real) space dates back to 1959 (A. Ducrocq, La victoire sur l'espace, p. 18 in Guilb. Astronaut., p. 23).
The term comes, via the Greco-latin "Kosmos", from the ancient Greek "κ ο ́ σ μ ο ς" which strictly means "order, good order, orderly arrangement", not "universe" or "outer space". Let's go further. But here is more :

"The verb kosmein meant generally "to dispose, prepare," but especially "to order and arrange (troops for battle), to set (an army) in array;" also "to establish (a government or regime);" "to deck, adorn, equip, dress" (especially of women). Thus kosmos had an important secondary sense of "ornaments of a woman's dress, decoration" (cosmos | Etymology of cosmos by etymonline

The reference to a mirror is self-evident, but I'd like to suggest a little more about what Pythagoras meant by 'the starry firmament' (again, a poorly known concept).

Let's come back a moment to "cosmos" and Pythagoras' ideas about it :
" The most widespread error is that Pythagoras was the first to declare that the Earth is round. It’s probably the fault of a certain Sir Thomas Little Heath (1861–1940). The youngest son of a farmer, he owed his knighthood to being permanent secretary at HM Treasury during the First World War, and his fellowships of the Royal Society and British Academy to his studies of ancient mathematics. Even today, his translations of Euclid and other Greek mathematicians are the standard versions in English. Unfortunately, Heath made a few mistakes. […] One notable mis-step was to credit the discovery that the Earth is a sphere to Pythagoras (c. 570–c. 500 BC). Heath’s Aristarchus of Samos: The Copernicus of Antiquity (1913 and still in print) begins with a brief history of astronomy up until Aristarchus’ time in the 3rd century BC. In the section on Pythagoras, we learn that the ancient sage “attributed spherical shape to the Earth for the simple reason that ‘the sphere is the most beautiful of the solid figures’”[…] But when we dive into the sources, we can find precious little evidence for it. In fact, today’s experts on Pythagoras conclude that we can’t know anything much about what the man himself might have believed." (Who First Realised the Earth was Round?)

At the time of Pythagoras, the general model was geocentrism and a flat earth. And there is nothing to suggest that Pythagoras ever questioned it. The Earth (Gē/Gaïa) was at the centre of the circulation of hemispheres (making up the firmament) carrying the stars (yet, what really are "stars" ? )

We can see just how different the antique idea of the cosmos was from our own. I would like to raise the question of the veracity of the biographies of the ancient philosophers (cf. Fomenko), given that we have absolutely no actual documents directly from their time and place that could prove to us that they really said what is attributed to them! They are part of a narrative that may well have been invented! Fomenko's theses are therefore just as valid, if not more so, than the others. They even have the merit of pointing to the pot of gold, because of their impeccable logic.

Now let's take a dip into the mirror of a tale.

It's up to you to explore the following association chain: Kosmos, cosmetics, adornements, Gē/Gaia,Gēographia (description of Gaïa), face, mirror, Selene, torch, fire, plasma, moon. The basic principle on which Alexander based his work is the mirror, not the telescope (or rather, telluscope ?) or a "pharos" (
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwnw6IykSec&t=54s
) or some kind of weapon. The MIRROR that reveals the truth, as sybilline as a "children's" story.

A child would see in the most beautiful ornament of all - the moon - a rabbit, a face... or the reflection of the beautiful Gaia...

Comme un vol de gerfauts hors du charnier natal
Fatigués de porter leurs misères hautaines,
De Palos de Moguer, routiers et capitaines
Partaient, ivres d’un rêve héroïque et brutal.

Ils allaient conquérir le fabuleux métal
Que Cipango mûrit dans ses mines lointaines,
Et les vents alizés inclinaient leurs antennes
Aux bords mystérieux du monde Occidental.

Chaque soir, espérant des lendemains épiques,
L'azur phosphorescent de la mer des Tropiques
Enchantait leur sommeil d'un mirage doré ;

Ou, penchés à l'avant des blanches caravelles,
Ils regardaient monter en un ciel ignoré
Du fond de l'Océan des étoiles nouvelles.

Jose Maria de Heredia

In English :

As falcons from their native eyrie soar,
So, tired of woes long borne with haughty air,
Bold-hearted men from Palos and Moguer
Went forth with daring dreams mad to the core.

They longed to seize the fabled metal store
Cipango's mines in rich perfection bear,
And favoring breezes bade their brave prows dare
The dim, mysterious occidental shore.

At eve, as Hope unveiled each epic view,
The tropic sea's bright phosphorescent blue
Bewitched their slumbers with mirage of gold;

Or from the foredeck of their caravels
On alien skies they wondered to behold
Strange stars new risen from ocean's glowing wells.

Jose Maria de Heredia

"ocean's glowing wells." Hence, there it is what we call "stars" ?
Look deep then, look with a child's eye at the face of the earth in the miror above (so above, so below) : Vibes of Cosmos

Hello

The idea that one can see the world in a mirror is an important concept in eastern sophism. In the story ,the Alexanderian mirror rotates and shows the images of GITI گیتی. This word means the physical world opposing مینو MINO which means metaphysical world. The text does not discuss the shape of Earth.

This magical mirror appears as a weapon, a telescope, and a lighthouse in Persian / Arabic sources. The poets / writers received edited, incomplete, and partial data of the real technologies. This helps to explain this confusion.

According to the text, the Alexanderian mirror uses a form of free energy, but I don't think this is something that can be taken seriously.

 

[MaziarMohajer]

Hello

In fact ,

This may not to do with anything but when you mention the mirror thing my mind went immediately to the story of Archimedes' death ray, which was ultimately consecutive mirrors or something along those lines. Sounds similar to this scenario in a way.

What is interesting is even the former President Obama asked myth busters to put Archimedes' death ray to the test.

Your opinion is correct and I have also mentioned it briefly. Poets and writers in the east have depicted Alexander's mirror as a lighthouse, telescope and camera. Sometimes this mirror works like Archimedes' heat ray. It is , in y view ,due to a misunderstanding of technologies. I quote the following text, which, according to an Iranian scholar, is the only Persian or Arabic text that mentions the details of Plato's burning mirror. This is similar or in fact the same as Archimedes' heat ray.Those who believe in Tartary free energy might find it interesting. In my opinion, the following passage is a description of the firearm with a match cord , in line with my previous post that Iskandar used firearms. In Eastern texts, it is common to confuse characters such as Plato , Aristotle and Archimedes .

From Darab-Name by Tarsusi ;
In the following story, Plato creates a burning mirror as a firearm in an attempt to free Alexander, who is being held hostage by the enemy.

" Plato came and brought five master blacksmiths with stones, anvils, and heat, and went to the mountain to make a mirror that night, so that they made a mirror ten meters by ten meters , like a nest ( curved mirror) and a hole in the middle like a ring.

Plato brought that mirror that night and placed it on top of that mountain and turned the back of the mirror towards the city

He ordered to make two vessels full of mercury and place them next to each other and put a fire between them, then he will come and sit behind the mirror and bring a cotton swab and smear it with Naphtha - gunpowder - and put it on the hole in the mirror and close the hole. And he waited until it was day and the sun rose from the mountain and shone on that mirror

That mirror began to turn, and the roar was falling in it, and it was turning, the image of the mirror, the image of the sun, and the image of fire all became one, and it shone in that mirror and returned. Plato turned that mirror on the sun's rotation on the equator, when the mirror's roar reached its end, he widened the mirror's hole and then Plato ran away. Those two mercury containers rose up and scattered, and a fire was created, and several pieces of cloud rose one or two hundred yards into the air and hit the city and caught fire in a part of that city.

Plato again put a pot of fire and mercury in front of the mirror. As the sun rose higher, Plato turned the mirror higher so that the mirror rose and once again widened the hole and ran away. Another time mercury and Naphtha - gunpowder - came out and half of that city caught fire. All the people of the city came up and said: O Plato, why did you burn the town like this? "

 

[Deleted member 1432]

According to the text, the Alexanderian mirror uses a form of free energy, but I don't think this is something that can be taken seriously.

...but the rest can?

So then, Aladdin's lamp was actually the first mobile telephone, with Al (Aladdin's lamp) and his magic carpet was really the technology for helicopters? Was the wardrobe in C S Lewis' Narnia series actually a 1950's inter-dimensional portal? Or, perhaps 'AL' is really Artistic License.

 

[MaziarMohajer]

...but the rest can?

So then, Aladdin's lamp was actually the first mobile telephone, with Al (Aladdin's lamp) and his magic carpet was really the technology for helicopters? Was the wardrobe in C S Lewis' Narnia series actually a 1950's inter-dimensional portal? Or, perhaps 'AL' is really Artistic License.

Well , actually I will write about the magic carpet LoL.
And in fact , as somebody else said too, they have tested the Archimedes' death ray in " real world" .

 

[FarewellAngelina]

The ancient Greeks knew all about the optics, according to AI . Euclid ,300b.c. , messed about with the geometry of vision and indeed , the earliest surviving copy of this treatise dates to the 10th C A.D. Hoho.

I have two of Alexanders magic mirrors - one I use for shaving - so far I haven't burnt myself using it. The other one hangs in my sitting room. I can look into this one and see through my glass doors a very clear reflected magnified image of trees and buildings . Surprised when I first noticed this.

It's all to do with focal length of the mirrors which is governed by the convex curvature of these mirrors. With convex mirrors the the focal point is determined to be behind the mirror and gives a clear magnified image of any object within that focal distance when looking at a reflected image.

So ,a convex mirror of focal length 5 miles or so would give a clear magnified image of objects within that distance.

It's not rocket salad. When I get the chance I will have to take that wall mirror out to the country side and see if I can find its focal length , i.e. the distance at which the image distorts.

Hope this makes sense.

Looking at say ,the full moon reflected on a glassy still body of water gives a clue to the shape of the earth. If it magnifies or shrinks or even doesn't alter in size then ??

The trees behind buildings I see are maybe 200 yards away so the curvature of yon mirror must be slight. Will have to get of my arse and take the mirror for a walk.

 

[Deleted member 1432]

Will have to get of my arse and take the mirror for a walk.

A nice time for some quiet reflection.

 

[MaziarMohajer]

Well , actually I will write about the magic carpet LoL.
And in fact , as somebody else said too, they have tested the Archimedes' death ray in " real world" .

The ancient Greeks knew all about the optics, according to AI . Euclid ,300b.c. , messed about with the geometry of vision and indeed , the earliest surviving copy of this treatise dates to the 10th C A.D. Hoho.

I have two of Alexanders magic mirrors - one I use for shaving - so far I haven't burnt myself using it. The other one hangs in my sitting room. I can look into this one and see through my glass doors a very clear reflected magnified image of trees and buildings . Surprised when I first noticed this.

It's all to do with focal length of the mirrors which is governed by the convex curvature of these mirrors. With convex mirrors the the focal point is determined to be behind the mirror and gives a clear magnified image of any object within that focal distance when looking at a reflected image.

So ,a convex mirror of focal length 5 miles or so would give a clear magnified image of objects within that distance.

It's not rocket salad. When I get the chance I will have to take that wall mirror out to the country side and see if I can find its focal length , i.e. the distance at which the image distorts.

Hope this makes sense.

Looking at say ,the full moon reflected on a glassy still body of water gives a clue to the shape of the earth. If it magnifies or shrinks or even doesn't alter in size then ??

The trees behind buildings I see are maybe 200 yards away so the curvature of yon mirror must be slight. Will have to get of my arse and take the mirror for a walk.

The image on a convex mirror is always virtual (rays haven't actually passed through the image; their extensions do, like in a regular mirror), diminished (smaller), and upright (not inverted). As the object gets closer to the mirror, the image gets larger, until approximately the size of the object, when it touches the mirror. As the object moves away, the image diminishes in size and gets gradually closer to the focus, until it is reduced to a point in the focus when the object is at an infinite distance.

A concave mirror, or converging mirror, has a reflecting surface that is recessed inward (away from the incident light). Concave mirrors reflect light inward to one focal point. They are used to focus light. Unlike convex mirrors, concave mirrors show different image types depending on the distance between the object and the mirror.

 

[FarewellAngelina]

Would just like to point out that all mirror images are virtual and not real . The focal point of a convex mirror is a virtual/imaginary point behind the mirror as shown . The main point I was trying to put forward was that the mirror could be used like a telescope to see an enlarged image of a distant object - all dependant on size of the mirror and its radius of curvature.

The images I see through my window become larger as I retreat from my original position in front of the mirror but the clarity is still there. Am intrigued .

 

[MaziarMohajer]

Would just like to point out that all mirror images are virtual and not real . The focal point of a convex mirror is a virtual/imaginary point behind the mirror as shown . The main point I was trying to put forward was that the mirror could be used like a telescope to see an enlarged image of a distant object - all dependant on size of the mirror and its radius of curvature.

The images I see through my window become larger as I retreat from my original position in front of the mirror but the clarity is still there. Am intrigued .

No one mirror can NOT be used like a telescope, but you have that magical mirror in your home—the mirror the sophists talked about.

 

[mifletzet]

Telescope in the Talmud?

Eruvin 43b ~ Jews and their Telescopes — Talmudology

 

[MaziarMohajer]

Telescope in the Talmud?

Eruvin 43b ~ Jews and their Telescopes — Talmudology

Hello, thanks for the link. In this article, it is stated that according to Jewish sources, the invention of the telescope may predate the official account of the early 17th century. I post the conclusion of the article to readers who are interested.

 

[FarewellAngelina]

No one mirror can NOT be used like a telescope, but you have that magical mirror in your home—the mirror the sophists talked about.

I disagree with that for now.

I stand 3ft away with my back to the mirror looking out through the glass panes (georgian style) at the view limited buy buildings and trees. The nearest building is abut forty yards away and fills one 10" square of the glass pane.

I turn around on the spot and look at the reflection of the scene in the mirror and the building now fills nearly two squares - the distant trees are also enlarged.

Retreat from the mirror another 6 feet keeping the same view and the image zooms in and the house fills around three glass panes. There is no loss of clarity and to my eyes the clarity seems to actually increase.

Am hoping to take this mirror off the wall and experiment outside . Hopefully we will eventually have a couple of days of clear skies - would like view some planes spraying their shit in the sky.

Since we know all history is written be the cupid stunts I'm beginning to suspect telescopes are used prevent people with less money from upsetting the apple cart. This mirror is about 2 feet across. Cost a few quid. I don't have to view the scene through an object lens - my own telescopes require much money on object lenses , my zoom lens costing £300 . Could of just bought a large mirror and walked back and forth .

I am of the opinion that we are being hoodwinked - telescope for the new religion of science . Weren't these things "invented" around the time of the reset . Interesting that the OP mentions that the universe could be observed with a mirror. Seems preposterous at first I know.

I am very surprised at the clarity of all reflected images viewed with this cheap mirror.

I'm not convinced either way yet , not done enough observations yet but what I have seen so far is that this mirror behaves like a telescope.

I'd post images but I'm not a whizz kid with computers. Anybody out there have similar experience?

 

[Deleted member 1432]

I disagree with that for now.

I stand 3ft away with my back to the mirror looking out through the glass panes (georgian style) at the view limited buy buildings and trees. The nearest building is abut forty yards away and fills one 10" square of the glass pane.

I turn around on the spot and look at the reflection of the scene in the mirror and the building now fills nearly two squares - the distant trees are also enlarged.

Retreat from the mirror another 6 feet keeping the same view and the image zooms in and the house fills around three glass panes. There is no loss of clarity and to my eyes the clarity seems to actually increase.

Am hoping to take this mirror off the wall and experiment outside . Hopefully we will eventually have a couple of days of clear skies - would like view some planes spraying their shit in the sky.

Since we know all history is written be the cupid stunts I'm beginning to suspect telescopes are used prevent people with less money from upsetting the apple cart. This mirror is about 2 feet across. Cost a few quid. I don't have to view the scene through an object lens - my own telescopes require much money on object lenses , my zoom lens costing £300 . Could of just bought a large mirror and walked back and forth .

I am of the opinion that we are being hoodwinked - telescope for the new religion of science . Weren't these things "invented" around the time of the reset . Interesting that the OP mentions that the universe could be observed with a mirror. Seems preposterous at first I know.

I am very surprised at the clarity of all reflected images viewed with this cheap mirror.

I'm not convinced either way yet , not done enough observations yet but what I have seen so far is that this mirror behaves like a telescope.

I'd post images but I'm not a whizz kid with computers. Anybody out there have similar experience?

That's all very interesting. My own personal experience with mirrors is a little strange. As a child I had a mirror in my bedroom and I somehow got the idea that it was a window into a parallel reality. it got to the point where I set up my toys behind me as i sat in front of the mirror. I spent hours watching in the mirror, waiting to see if my Action Man would be unable to resist the huge bazookas of my sister's Spanish doll. He did, of course, but then he had nothing that would benefit from the experience in his trouser department.

Somewhere on here there's an old archive post regarding magical mirrors and there's a long tradition of such things. Dr John Dee famously had his black mirror, or Speculum, with which he would communicate with ethereal entities.

@FarewellAngelina if you get transported into a parallel reality please send us a postcard.

 

[MaziarMohajer]

telescope for the new religion of science

That is for sure. I do agree. It is off- topic but I recall during the Covid BS, where I live , the qurantin freaks compared themselves to Galileo as the symbol of " the religion of science".

 

[FarewellAngelina]

More on Alexanders mirror. Took the magic mirror out side , aimed it skywards and the low dreary cloud cover was clearly in focus but as I moved the image away slowly the image became out of focus . I think the focal point of this mirror is around that height of the cloud cover.

Tried several websites trying to gain information on this clearly magnifying mirror asking a simple question i.e. "what are the specific conditions required for a convex mirror to produce a magnified image?"

C:\Users\user\Pictures\Screenshots\Screenshot 2024-07-12 184212.png

The answer appears to be that convex mirrors always produce an upright virtual image reduced in size - except when they don't .

Stupid AI answer to a reasonable question. Apparently there are special conditions where a convex mirror will produce a magnified image but these conditions are not described in any physics site that I visited , and AI is unable to locate them.

To me it seems that anything within range of the convex mirror focal point will produce a magnified image , the focal point being that imaginary spot behind the mirror where the divergent rays would converge.

So if you produce a convex mirror, these are easier to make apparently, with a focal length of say 20 miles then everything within that limit would produce a magnified image - that's how I see it . Maybe I am wrong .

I have a 4" Maksutov telescope which uses a convex mirror - found this out yesterday. Well I never. Produces brilliant images. Maksutov Russian scientist produced these from 1941.

Funnily enough I tried to film my convex mirror in action this morning with my phone camera and found that it does not register the magnification seen by the human eye. Puts a whole new meaning to the phrase " in camera".

Cameras are made to hide things that the convex mirror reveals.

Edit
Sorry that link to the screenshot doesn't work -beyond my capabilities

 

[Janusstark]

Hello

The idea that one can see the world in a mirror is an important concept in eastern sophism. In the story ,the Alexanderian mirror rotates and shows the images of GITI گیتی. This word means the physical world opposing مینو MINO which means metaphysical world. The text does not discuss the shape of Earth.

This magical mirror appears as a weapon, a telescope, and a lighthouse in Persian / Arabic sources. The poets / writers received edited, incomplete, and partial data of the real technologies. This helps to explain this confusion.

According to the text, the Alexanderian mirror uses a form of free energy, but I don't think this is something that can be taken seriously.

Well, again, check the video above, about lighthouses. It's more subtle that it seems. Of , nowadays, noboby (I mean in the corporate world) would give credit to plasma moon. But has you said,the text is about GITI گیتی which is exactly what the plasma moon mirror shows. I did not say that the face of the moon was some kind of metaphorical figure in a metaphysical context, quite the contrary.

 

[MaziarMohajer]

What I did not know during the writing is that Navai has also mentioned the Alexanderian mirror in his book Sadde Eskandar.
This articles has summary of it and compares it to Amir's and Nezami's stories . It does not add anything untold, however.