11-06-2007, 06:45 PM
The art of polishing iron mirror-bright seems to go back to the earliest iron objects. A few years ago in the Cairo museum I had the extraordinary experience of seeing my face clearly reflected in the blade of King Tutankhamon's iron dagger. I am informed that it is still as found, nor repolished. Of course, it was a gift from the king of Hatti, who could afford to have slaves spend days working it over with fine abrasives, but mirror-polishing of iron was known from earliest times.
Pecunia non olet