ANTIKYTHERA: A MYSTERIOUS STORY OF A MYSTERIOUS DEVICE

June 25, 2022

ANTIKYTHERA: A MYSTERIOUS STORY OF A MYSTERIOUS DEVICE

Today's blog will be a short one. We will look into a very interesting man-made (or is it?) object that was discovered by sailors from the deep seas near the Greek island of Symi.

Why is this discovery important to us? What does it reveal about the knowledge and technological advancements of ancient civilisations? And how does it help us understand our grand old predecessors?

This is the story of an ancient instrument (or device) used by people back then to calculate various astronomical data — ranging from the duration of solar and lunar eclipses to the positions of celestial bodies in the future. This device is called the 'Antikythera Mechanism', a powerful and convincing example of human creativity and scientific thinking.

''Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand''

-Neil Armstrong

'ANTEKYTHERA' IS DISCOVERED

It all began in the year 1902. The sailors, led by their captain, were carrying out their routine sea exploration. They were on their way back to their country when a terrible storm abruptly broke out from nowhere. The captain decided to haul their ship near the Antikythera islands in Greece.

The sailors aboard the ship were sponge divers, employed to collect sponges for human use. The next day, the divers went underwater to collect sponges when they noticed something unusual — an old shipwreck. According to them, the ship was hundreds or even thousands of years old. They decided to report their discovery to the captain, leaving behind the sponges, which at that point seemed far less important.

The captain, however, was not excited about the news and dismissed it as an illusion. After all, shipwrecks were common in those regions, which were prone to deadly storms. But after his assistants (the sailors) continuously persuaded him, the captain finally agreed to dive underwater and examine the wreck himself.

To his surprise, the captain saw precious stones and jewellery, copper statues resembling dead bodies, and after careful examination of the recovered artifacts, they concluded that all these treasures belonged to ancient Roman people, dating back two thousand years.

They were awe-struck seeing such historical artifacts lying undisturbed for centuries under the dark waters of Symi. But…one thing they recovered from the wreck demanded a lot of attention — it was a very old device, mostly covered with algae and dirt that had accumulated over time. This particular device was kept inside a box, well protected…

This raised suspicion…

Why didn’t they store valuable things like gold and jewellery inside a trunk, but instead kept this device under utmost care and protection?

Did this question pop into your mind too?

It definitely struck me when I first learned about this device…

What made them do so? Is this device hiding some secret? 🤔

ANTIKYTHERA IS STUDIED

Figures 1&2: Condition of 'Antikythera mechanism' now. In display at the National Archeological Museum in Athens, Greece.

The sea-divers (sailors) knew that there was something special about this strange device, so they decided to take it back to the land and examine it cautiously and intuitively.

Since the device was in very poor condition, with a large area covered by dirt, stones, and rocks that had stuck to it during its long stay underwater, studying it became extremely challenging. Moreover, at that time, we lacked the technological capabilities needed to study such a complex device. Technologically, the device was so advanced that humans could only create something like this much later in the future, when we had the knowledge and understanding of advanced technology.

The Antikythera Mechanism demanded sophisticated instruments for proper examination due to its terrible condition, and so it was kept in a museum until the most advanced X-Ray machines were brought from England to Greece.

WHAT MAKES 'ANTIKYTHERA' SPECIAL?

Figure 3: A 2007 recreated model of 'Antikythera mechanism'.

The technology used in 'Antikythera mechanism' is so advanced that it is practically not possible for us to decode and understand such complex technological ideas. This gives us a hint of our predecessors. They were extremely intelligent and creative and had more knowledge about how to use things productively than us and make things that are beyond our ability to perceive.

In other words, this device is ahead of our time.

Careful examination of the device revealed the presence of 41 different types of gears. Further exploration revealed a very startling information, it was a computer used 2000 years ago...what?...look at the image given above...does it look like a computer to you?...not exactly...but it is...it is an astronomical computer.

As mentioned in the beginning this device could precisely tell the location of planets if we provide a specific date in one gear. It would give important results like

1) Position of Moon

2) Angle made by Earth with Sun, etc.

This device also had the capability of predicting the position of planets in the future, you need to do the same procedure once again, by giving a specific day in future and locate the position of planets on that day which is actually in the future. The most notable achievement of this device is that the values that it gave were very precise and crystal clear that matched with existing calculated values of such distances and angles.

It also brought along with it some theories about how it was invented and it can be used as a 'time machine'.

ANTIKYTHERA AND ITS MYSTERIES

''It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity''

-Albert Einstein

We all know that people are keen to investigate mysteries and things went the same way for 'Antikythera mechanism' also.

Figure 4: A hypothetical schematic representation of gearing system in, 'Antikythera mechanism'.

1. Antikythera mechanism and aliens:

Though many scientists like Prof. Stephen Hawking believed in the existence of aliens, there is no scientific bases to such arguments. Our association with aliens still remains a big mystery and scientists are still investigating the existence of such 'ideal conditions'.

Since the technology in 'Antikythera', was a very advanced one, supporters of 'alien theory' suggests that aliens helped early human beings in making such complex devices and that it is a an example of a human-alien relationship that existed in the past...do you believe in this theory?

2. Antikythera mechanism as a time machine:

Though 'Antikythera mechanism' was used more than 2000 years ago, the technology used in it did not reach human beings (Homo sapiens), for more than 100 years. The supporters of this theory claims that this device time travelled and went back to Greece but they are yet to give us the medium (or an individual, maybe) through which the device time travelled.

Figure 5: Computer model of the cosmos display. In the centre, the dome of the Earth, the phase of the Moon and its position in the Zodiac—then rings for Mercury, Venus, true Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Date, with “little sphere” markers.

In this blog, I have not included the 'mechanism' of this device, purposefully because it is a very complex phenomenon. As I have mentioned the technology used in this device is beyond our scope of research but we are continuing our efforts in understanding this 'mechanism' and solve the mysteries that is associated with this device, which as of now remains the greatest mystery in the history of mankind.

I decided to write this blog because I found the topic interesting and worth mentioning. I also want you to appreciate the creativity of the individual behind this amazing phenomenon, which is far ahead of its time in every sense. When you feel distressed and broken, try to engage yourself by looking at the world around you—you will see wonderful phenomena that may seem simple, but hide deep secrets within them. Nature is your greatest resource—observe it, learn from it, and live with it...you will soon discover the 'scientist' within you...