The greeks and egyptians had transparent glass, even glass magnifying lenses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_glass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_

The greeks and egyptians had transparent glass, even glass magnifying lenses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_glass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_glass "your bailiff comes, shows me his writ - I, standing thus, d'ye mark me, in the sun's stream, measuring my distance, guide my focus to a point upon his writ, and off it goes in fumo!"