The oldest computer The most amazing inventions of the ancient world

In 1900, on the eve of Easter, two boats of sponge catchers returning from the coast of Africa anchored off the small Greek island of Antikythera (Antikythera) in the Aegean Sea, located between the island of Crete and the southern tip of mainland Greece - the Peloponnese peninsula. There, at a depth of about 60 meters, divers discovered the remains of an ancient ship.

Sponge divers, 1900

On the next year Greek archaeologists, with the help of divers, began to explore the sunken ship, which turned out to be a Roman merchant ship that was wrecked around 80-50 years. BC. According to the most probable hypothesis, the ship sailed from the island of Rhodes, most likely to Rome with trophies or diplomatic "gifts". As you know, the conquest of Greece by Rome was accompanied by a systematic export of cultural property to Italy.

Among the items recovered from the sunken ship was a shapeless lump of corroded bronze, taken at first for a fragment of a statue. In 1902, archaeologist Valerios Stais took up the study. Having cleared it of lime deposits, he, to his surprise, discovered a complex mechanism, like a watch, with many bronze gears, the remains of drive shafts and measuring scales. We also managed to make out some inscriptions in ancient Greek.

After lying on the seabed for 2,000 years, the mechanism has come down to us in a badly damaged form. wooden frame, on which he, apparently, was attached, completely disintegrated. metal parts severely deformed and corroded. In addition, many fragments of the mechanism were lost. In 1903, the first official scientific publication came out in Athens with a description and photographs of the Antikythera Mechanism, as this device was called.

It took painstaking work to clear the device, which lasted more than one decade. Its reconstruction seemed almost hopeless, and it remained little studied for a long time, until it attracted the attention of the English physicist and historian of science Derek de Solla Price (Derek J. de Solla Price). In 1959, Price's article "The Ancient Greek Computer" on the Antikythera Mechanism was published in Scientific American and became an important milestone in his research.

Carried out in 1971, radiocarbon analysis and epigraphic studies of the inscriptions made it possible to establish that this device was created in 150-100 BC. Examination of the mechanism by X-ray and gamma radiography provided valuable information about the internal configuration of the device.

All surviving metal parts of the Antikythera Mechanism are made of sheet bronze 1-2 mm thick. Many of the fragments have been almost completely converted into corrosion products, but in many places you can still discern the elegant details of the mechanism. Currently, 7 large and 75 small fragments of this mechanism are known.

More on initial stage research, thanks to the preserved inscriptions and scales, the Antikythera mechanism was identified as a kind of device for astronomical needs. According to the first hypothesis, it was some kind of navigation tool, perhaps an astrolabe - a kind of circular map of the starry sky with devices for determining the coordinates of stars and other astronomical observations, the inventor of which is considered to be the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus (c. 180-190 - 125 BC). e.).

However, it soon became clear that the level of miniaturization and complexity of the Antikythera mechanism was comparable to the astronomical clock of the 18th century. It contains more than 30 gears with teeth in the form of equilateral triangles. Such high complexity and impeccable manufacture suggest that it had a number of predecessors that have not been discovered.

According to the second hypothesis, the mechanism was a "flat" version of a mechanical celestial globe (planetarium) created by Archimedes (c. 287 - 212 BC), which is reported by ancient authors.

The earliest mention of the globe of Archimedes dates back to the 1st century BC. In the dialogue of the famous Roman orator Cicero “On the State”, the conversation between the participants in the conversation turns to solar eclipses, and one of them says:

I remember how I once, together with Gaius Sulpicius Gallus, one of the most learned people of our fatherland, was visiting Marcus Marcellus ... and Gallus asked him to bring the famous "sphere", the only trophy that Marcellus's great-grandfather wished to decorate his house after the capture of Syracuse , a city full of treasures and wonders.

I have often heard people talk about this "sphere", which was considered the masterpiece of Archimedes, and I must confess that at first glance I did not find anything special in it. More beautiful and more famous among the people was another sphere, created by the same Archimedes, which the same Marcellus gave to the temple of Valor.

But when Gallus began to explain to us with great knowledge the device of this device, I came to the conclusion that the Sicilian had a talent greater than what a person can have. For Gall said that ... a solid sphere without voids was invented a long time ago ... but, - said Gall, - such a sphere, on which the movements of the Sun, the Moon and five stars, called ... wandering, would be represented, could not be created in the form of a solid body.

The invention of Archimedes is amazing precisely because he figured out how, with dissimilar movements during one revolution, to maintain unequal and different paths. When Gallus set this sphere in motion, it happened that on this ball of bronze the moon replaced the sun for as many revolutions as it replaced it in the sky itself, as a result of which the same eclipse of the sun occurred in the sky of the sphere, and the moon entered the same meta where there was a shadow of the earth, when the sun from the region ... (Lacuna).

Nothing is known for certain about the internal mechanism of the celestial globe of Archimedes. It can be assumed that it consisted of a complex system of gears, like the Antikythera mechanism. Archimedes wrote a book about the construction of a celestial globe - "On the manufacture of spheres", but, unfortunately, it was lost.

Cicero also writes about another similar device made by Posidonius (c. 135 - 51 BC), a Stoic philosopher and scientist who lived on the island of Rhodes, from where the ship carrying the Antikythera mechanism may have sailed: “If someone Has anyone brought to Scythia or Britain that ball (sphaera) recently made by our friend Posidonius, a ball whose individual revolutions reproduce what happens in the sky with the Sun, Moon and five planets in different days and night, then who in these barbarous countries would doubt that this ball is the product of perfect reason? (Cicero. On the nature of the gods, II, 34)

Further research showed that the Antikythera Mechanism was an astronomical and calendar calculator used to predict the positions of celestial bodies in the sky, and could also serve as a planetarium to demonstrate their movement. Thus, we are talking about a more complex and multifunctional device than the celestial globe of Archimedes.

According to one hypothesis, this device was created at the Academy, founded by the Stoic philosopher Posidonius on the Greek island of Rhodes, which at that time was known as the center of astronomy and "engineering". It is also suggested that the engineer who developed the device may have been the astronomer Hipparchus (c. 190-120 BC), also living on the island of Rhodes, since it contains a mechanism that uses his theory of the motion of the moon.

However, the latest findings from members of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, published July 30, 2008 in the journal Nature, suggest that the concept of the mechanism originated in the colonies of Corinth, which may point to a tradition going back to Archimedes.

Despite the poor preservation and fragmentation of parts of the Antikythera Mechanism, thanks to the painstaking work of researchers, it is possible with sufficient certainty to present in in general terms its structure and functions.

After setting the date, the instrument was presumably activated by turning a knob located on the side face of the case. A large 4-spoke drive wheel was connected by multi-stage gears to numerous gears that rotated at different speeds and moved the pointers on the dials.

The movement had three main dials with concentric scales: one on the front and two on the back. There were two scales on the front panel: a fixed outer one, representing the ecliptic (a large circle of the celestial sphere, along which the apparent annual movement of the Sun occurs), was divided into 360 degrees and 12 segments of 30 degrees each with the signs of the Zodiac, and a movable inner one, which had 365 divisions according to the number of days in the Egyptian calendar used by Greek astronomers. The calendar error caused by the longer actual duration of the solar year (365.2422 days) could be corrected by turning the calendar dial 1 division back every 4 years.

The front dial probably had three hand indicators: one indicating the date, and the other two indicating the positions of the Sun and Moon relative to the plane of the ecliptic. The position indicator of the Moon made it possible to take into account the unevenness of its movement, caused by the fact that the Earth's satellite moves not in a circular, but in an elliptical orbit. For this, an ingenious gear system was used, which included two gears with a center of gravity shifted relative to the axis of rotation.

On the front panel there was also a mechanism with an indicator of the phases of the moon. A spherical model of the moon, half silver, half black, was displayed in a round window showing the current phase of the moon.

There is a point of view that the mechanism could have indicators for all five planets known to the Greeks (these are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). But not a single transmission responsible for such planetary mechanisms has been found. At the same time, recently discovered inscriptions that mention the stationary points of the planets suggest that the Antikythera Mechanism could also describe their movement.

Finally, on a thin bronze plate covering the front dial, there was a parapegma - an astronomical calendar indicating the rises and sets of individual stars and constellations, indicated by Greek letters, corresponding to the same letters on the zodiac scale.

Thus, the device could show the relative position of the stars on the celestial sphere on a specific date, which could have practical use in the work of astronomers and astrologers, eliminating complex and time-consuming calculations.

On the back panel were two large dials. The top dial, which had the form of a spiral with five turns and 47 branches in each turn, displayed the Metonic cycle, named after the Athenian astronomer and mathematician Meton, who proposed it in 433 BC. It was used to coordinate the duration of the lunar month and the solar year in the lunisolar calendar.

As the ancient Greek scientist of the 1st century BC Gemin noted in his "Elements of Astronomy", the Greeks made sacrifices to the gods according to the customs of their ancestors, and therefore "they must maintain agreement with the Sun in years, and with the Moon in days and months."

On the upper dial of the rear panel there was also an auxiliary dial, divided into four sectors, reminiscent of the seconds dial of modern wristwatches.

In 2008, the head of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, Tony Freese, and his colleagues discovered on this dial the names of 4 pan-Hellenic games - Isthmian, Olympic, Nemean and Pythian, as well as the games in Dodona. The Olympic dial was to be incorporated into an existing gear train that moved the pointer 1/4 turn per year.

This confirms that the Antikythera mechanism could be used to calculate the dates of religious holidays associated with astronomical events (including the Olympic and other sacred games), as well as serve to correct calendars based on the Metonic cycle.

At the bottom of the back panel was a spiral dial with 223 compartments showing the Saros cycle. Saros, discovered, perhaps, by Babylonian astronomers, is the period after which, due to the repetition of the relative position of the Sun, the Moon and the nodes of the lunar orbit on the celestial sphere, the solar and lunar eclipses. Saros includes 223 synodic months, which is approximately 18 years 11 days 8 hours.

On the scale of the dial showing the cycle of Saros, there are symbols Σ for lunar eclipses (ΣΕΛΗΝΗ, Moon), symbols Η for solar eclipses (ΗΛΙΟΣ, Sun) and numerical designations made in Greek letters, presumably indicating the date and hour of eclipses. It was possible to establish correlations with actually observed eclipses.

The smaller sub-dial displays the "triple Saros" or "Exeligmos cycle" (Greek: ἐξέλιγμος), giving the eclipse recurrence period in whole days. The field of this dial is divided into three sectors: one blank and two with the designations of hours (8 and 16), which must be added for every second and third Saros in the cycle to get the time of the eclipses. This confirms that the instrument could be used to predict lunar and possibly solar eclipses.

Computer reconstruction of the mechanism

The Antikythera mechanism was enclosed in a wooden box, on the doors of which were bronze tablets containing a manual for its use with astronomical, mechanical and geographical data. Interestingly, among the place names in the text, ΙΣΠΑΝΙΑ (Spain in Greek) is found, which is the oldest mention of the country in this form, in contrast to Iberia.

Thanks to the efforts of researchers, the Antikythera Mechanism is gradually revealing its secrets, expanding our understanding of the possibilities of ancient science and technology. In 1974, in the paper "Greek Gears - A BC Calendar Computer", Price introduced theoretical model The Antikythera Mechanism, based on which Australian scientist Allan George Bromley of the University of Sydney and watchmaker Frank Percival made the first working model. A few years later, British planetarium maker John Gleave designed a more accurate model that worked according to Price's scheme.

A major contribution to the study of the Antikythera mechanism was made by Michael Wright, collaborator London Museum Science and Imperial College London, which in 2002 was able to recreate a complete reconstruction of the device, and in 2007 presented its modified model. It turned out that the Antiker mechanism allows modeling not only the movements of the Sun and the Moon, but also Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

In 2016, scientists presented the results of their many years of research. On the surviving 82 fragments of the device, it was possible to decipher 2,000 letters, including 500 words. Yet the description, according to scientists, could take 20,000 characters. They told about the purpose of the device, in particular, about determining the dates of 42 astronomical phenomena. In addition, it contained the functions of prediction, in particular, the color and size of the solar eclipse was determined, and from it the strength of the winds on the sea (the Greeks inherited this belief from the Babylonians).

"This device is simply extraordinary, it is one of a kind," said Mike Edmunds, a professor at Cardiff University who is leading the study of the mechanism. “Its design is excellent, and the astronomy is absolutely accurate… From the point of view of historical value, I consider this mechanism more expensive than the Mona Lisa.”

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This device is from 80 BC. was found at the bottom of the sea, aboard an ancient Greek ship and is considered the most ancient computer. Upon careful examination of the oldest computer on the planet Earth, the famous Antikythera Mechanism, scientists found that it is still working.

The device, made by the ancient Greeks 2,000 years ago, was discovered among the wreckage of a sunken Roman freighter off the coast of the island of Ankithera and named after the place of discovery. As researchers recently found out, this device was used to calculate the solar and lunar cycles. In addition, scientists believe that with its help the ancient Greeks calculated the movement of the planets known to them then: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. One of the participants working group, prof. Ivan Seiradakis of the Aristotle University of Thessalonica stressed that this is a unique instrument that is "as important to technology as the Acropolis is to architecture." However, not everyone agrees with the group's view of the purpose of the ancient mechanism.

The discovery of the device dates back to 1902, when archaeologist Valerios Stais noticed among the artifacts recovered from the sunken ship, a strange design of rusty gears. After that, more fragments were discovered, and scientists managed to restore the mechanism completely. There are 30 elements in the Antikythera Mechanism. Researchers believe that the structure was enclosed in an unpreserved wooden casing, as well as a lever with which the computer was powered. The origin of the instrument is still a mystery, but X-ray inscriptions have dated it to 150-100 B.C. before new era. And this means that the device was developed by the Greeks long before similar mechanisms appeared in other regions. Moreover, by technical specifications it transcends everything created within the next 1000 years.

For many years, the Antikythera Mechanism has become a kind of puzzle for historians and archaeologists. Scattered fragments did not allow us to guess how it looked originally. Everyone collected it in their own way and, therefore, interpreted its purpose in their own way.

X-ray of the mechanism

But the latest X-ray data seems to be the most precise way to determine the device's functionality. On the front panel of an ancient computer, images were found representing the Greek zodiac cycle and the Egyptian calendar, arranged in concentric circles. On the back there are inscriptions telling about the solar and lunar cycles, in particular, fixing solar and lunar eclipses. Prior to this discovery, the use of an eclipse predictor was only a hypothesis.

Unfortunately, a more detailed study of the principles of operation of the device is complicated by the unknown initial number of rings and gears and a crow, the researchers got the whole device or only a part of it. But a number of conclusions can be drawn.

Drawing of the mechanism obtained on the basis of x-rays

For example, the Moon passes some parts of its orbit faster due to the elliptical shape of the latter. To take into account this unevenness and avoid mistakes, the developer of the ancient mechanism used the so-called planetary gear, in which the outer gear rotates around the central one. The rotation periods of the gears are calculated in such a way that they sort through all the available options. "When you see this, all that remains is to open your mouth in amazement," the head of the group, prof. Mike Edmunds.

In the process of fluoroscopy, the team of scientists was also able to read most of the inscriptions on the surface of the mechanism. This information suggests that the Antikythera Mechanism also described the motion of the planets.

How much do we know about the technologies that ancient civilizations owned? It seems to us that there can be no gaps or inconsistencies in modern science, but every day archaeologists discover something that does not fit into the usual idea of ​​"hoary antiquity". One of these artifacts, which has been recognized by official science and comprehensively studied, is the so-called Antikythera mechanism, - a device that turned scientists' ideas about the level of technological progress in ancient Greece.

Despite the fact that the Antikythera mechanism was found more than a century ago - back in 1901, it was only by 2008 that it was possible to fully unravel its purpose and principle of operation. At the time of discovery, the mechanism was a piece of limestone, in which several bronze gears were fixed. For the restoration and reconstruction of the mechanism, it was necessary to use the latest scientific methods– computed tomography (three-dimensional x-rays), computer programs, as well as surface detailing technologies. The final conclusions about the work and principles of the Antikythera Mechanism were made by a group of scientists led by mathematician Tony Frith from Cardiff University.

What is the Antikythera Mechanism?

The results were stunning: all previously made assumptions about the functions of the mechanism were fully confirmed. Moreover, it has been discovered that the Antikythera Mechanism is capable of such complex and accurate astronomical calculations that even modern scientists consider it a real miracle. Until now, they had no idea how high the level of development of astronomy was in Ancient Greece.

What can the Antikythera Mechanism "do"? Let's try to bring it into single list all its incredible features.

1. The mechanism could calculate the movement and position of planets such as Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

2. Predict solar and lunar eclipses with an hourly accuracy, as well as the direction of shadow movement during the passage of the eclipse and the color of the moon during the eclipse.

3. Calculate the position of the Sun and Moon relative to fixed stars.

4. The mechanism could serve as an astronomical calendar for the calculations of the Olympics.

5. In the operation of the mechanism, the features of the movement of the Moon around the Earth were taken into account with great accuracy: with the help of a special pin, the elliptical orbit of the Moon was taken into account, as well as the 9-year cycle during which this orbit rotates.

According to the reconstruction of scientists, the Antikythera mechanism was a small wooden box measuring approximately 33 × 18 × 10 cm. Inside the mechanism contained 27 gears (those that survived), and their total number, presumably, was 52. wooden case there were several dials with arrows, with the help of which the movement was calculated celestial bodies. Reconstruction appearance mechanism, as well as a diagram of the internal structure can be seen in the photographs.

Who Invented the Antikythera Mechanism?

Of course, today it is impossible to establish with accuracy who the brilliant inventor who created the wonderful mechanism was. However, there is one very plausible assumption on this score.

Radiocarbon dating made it possible to establish that the mechanism was created around 150-100 BC. The study of numerous inscriptions that were made on the details of the mechanism showed that it was invented either in Corinth or in one of its colonies - for example, in Sicily. But in the 3-4 centuries BC. the city of Syracuse in Sicily was one of the largest city-states. It is noteworthy that it was in this city that the legendary ancient Greek mathematician and engineer Archimedes lived and worked! In addition, in history there are references to unusual astronomical mechanisms invented by Archimedes. For example, here is a quote from the treatise "On the State" by Mark Thulius Cicero:

“But,” Gallus said, “such a sphere, on which the movements of the Sun, the Moon and five stars, called wandering and wandering, would be represented, could not be created in the form of a solid body; the invention of Archimedes is amazing precisely because he figured out how, with dissimilar movements, during one revolution, to maintain unequal and different paths. When Gallus set this sphere in motion, it happened that on this ball of bronze the Moon replaced the Sun for as many revolutions as it replaced it in the sky itself, as a result of which the same eclipse of the Sun occurred in the sky of the sphere, and the Moon entered the same meta where the shadow of the Earth was when the Sun was out of the region…” [Lacuna]

Undoubtedly, the principle of operation of the Antikythera mechanism is similar to the described device-sphere. It is noteworthy that no other surviving ancient analogues of the Antikythera Mechanism have yet been found. That is, this device is unique in its kind - similar gear mechanisms began to be used again only in the 14th century in watches. Undoubtedly, this mechanism significantly expands the previous ideas of scientists about the level of development of science in the ancient world. Presumably, the unique knowledge of the ancients was lost as a result of the decline of the Greek and then the Roman Empire. In particular, Syracuse was captured and plundered by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, and the loot was sent to Rome on ships - perhaps one of these ships subsequently sank near the island of Antikythera.

Why is it so important to know about the technologies of the ancients today? The Antikythera mechanism is only a small fragment of the knowledge that ancient civilizations possessed, and as we see, modern scientists interpret many archaeological finds based on the existing scientific paradigm and modern materialistic ideas about the primitive ancient world. But the fact is that the level of development of ancient civilizations, not only technically, but also spiritually, was an order of magnitude higher than in modern society. Hence, false interpretations of the found artifacts arise, and even silence of many unique finds. You can read more about this in Anastasia Novykh’s book “AllatRa” – in this unique work you will find an incredible amount of information about historical and archaeological research and finds that can turn all your ideas about the history of mankind! Download the book for free by clicking on the quote below.

Read more about this in the books of Anastasia Novykh

(click on the quote to download the entire book for free):

Anastasia: Alas, as if on purpose, in our time all this ancient knowledge of the peoples of the world is presented to people as mythology and ancient “primitive beliefs”. And the “inconvenient facts” testifying to the same knowledge of ancient people, which until recently even modern science are not commented. Yes, and all science is built solely on the basis of materialistic thinking. In the same astrophysics, to study cosmic phenomena, analytical methods are often used in the construction of models, theories and predictions.

- Anastasia NOVICH - AllatRa

- 2643

Sometimes among the archaeological finds there are objects that make us reconsider the views on the history of the development of mankind that existed earlier. It turns out that our distant ancestors had technologies that were practically not inferior to modern ones. A prime example high level ancient science and technology is Antikythera mechanism.

Diver's find

In 1900, a Greek ship fishing for sea sponge in the Mediterranean Sea got into a severe storm north of the island of Crete. Captain Dimitrios Kondos decided to wait out the bad weather near the small island of Antikythera. When the excitement subsided, he sent a group of divers to look for a sea sponge in the area.

One of them, Lycopantis, surfaced and said that he saw some kind of sunken ship on the seabed, and near it a huge number of horse corpses, which were in varying degrees of decomposition. The captain did not believe it, he decided that the diver dreamed everything because of carbon dioxide poisoning, but nevertheless decided to check the information received on his own.

Having descended to the bottom, to a depth of 43 meters, Kondos saw an absolutely fantastic picture. Before him lay the remains of an ancient vessel. Near them are scattered bronze and marble statues, barely visible from under a layer of silt, densely dotted with sponge, algae, shells and other bottom dwellers. It was their diver who mistook for the corpses of horses.

The captain suggested that this ancient Roman galley could carry something more valuable than bronze statues. He sent his divers to inspect the ship. The result exceeded all expectations. The booty turned out to be very rich: gold coins, gems, Jewelry and many other items that were not of interest to the team, but for which you could still get something out by handing them over to the museum.

The sailors collected everything they could, but much still remained at the bottom. This is due to the fact that diving on such
depth without special equipment is very dangerous. During the lifting of treasures, one of the 10 divers died, and two paid with their health. Therefore, the captain ordered the work to be curtailed, and the ship returned to Greece. The artifacts found were handed over to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

The discovery aroused great interest among the Greek authorities. After examining the objects, the scientists found that the ship sank in the 1st century BC during a voyage from Rhodes to Rome. Several expeditions were made to the crash site. For two years, the Greeks lifted almost everything that was there from the galley.

Beneath the limestone

On May 17, 1902, archaeologist Valerios Stais, who was analyzing the artifacts found off the island of Antikera, picked up a piece of bronze covered with lime deposits and shell rock. Suddenly, this block broke, as the bronze was badly damaged by corrosion, and some gears glistened in its depths.

Stais suggested that this was a fragment of an ancient clock, and even wrote a scientific work on this subject. But colleagues from the archaeological society met this publication with hostility.

Stans was even accused of cheating. Critics of Stans said that such complex mechanical devices could not have existed in the era of Antiquity.

It was concluded that this object came to the crash site from later times and has nothing to do with the sunken galley. Stais was forced to retreat under the pressure of public opinion, and the mysterious object was forgotten for a long time.

"Jet plane in Tutankhamun's tomb"

In 1951, Yale University historian Derek John de Solla Price accidentally stumbled upon the Antikythera Mechanism. He devoted more than 20 years of his life to the study of this artifact. Dr. Price knew he was dealing with an unprecedented find.

Not a single instrument of this kind has survived anywhere else in the world,” he said. - Everything that we know about the science and technology of the Hellenistic era, in general, contradicts the existence of such a complex technical device while. The discovery of such an object can only be compared with the discovery of a jet aircraft in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Reconstruction of the mechanism

Derek Price published the results of his research in 1974 in Scientific American. In his opinion, this artifact was part of a large mechanism consisting of 31 large and small gears (20 survived). He served to determine the position of the Sun and Moon.

The baton from Price was taken over in 2002 by Michael Wright of the London Science Museum. During the study, he used a CT scanner, which allowed him to more accurately get an idea of ​​​​the structure of the device.

He discovered that the Antikythera mechanism, in addition to the Moon and the Sun, also determined the position of the five planets known in antiquity: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Modern research

The results of the latest research were published in the journal Nature in 2006. Led by Professors Mike Edmunds and Tony Frith of Cardiff University, many distinguished scientists have been involved. With the help of modern equipment a three-dimensional image of the object under study was made.

With the latest computer technology inscriptions containing the names of the planets were opened and read. Almost 2000 characters have been deciphered. Based on the study of the shape of the letters, it was established that the Antikythera mechanism was created in the 2nd century BC. The information obtained during the research allowed scientists to reconstruct the device.

The car was in wooden box with two doors. Behind the first door was a shield that allowed observing the movement of the Sun and Moon against the background of the signs of the zodiac. The second door was on the back of the device. And behind the doors there were two shields, one of which was responsible for the interaction of the solar calendar with the lunar one, and the second predicted solar and lunar eclipses.

In the far part of the mechanism there should have been wheels (which disappeared) responsible for the movement of other planets, which can be learned from the inscriptions made on the object.

That is, it was a kind of ancient analog computer. Its users could set any date, and the device accurately showed the positions of the sun, moon, and five planets that were known to Greek astronomers. Moon phases, solar eclipses- everything was predicted with accuracy

The genius of Archimedes?

But who, what genius could create this miracle of technology in ancient times? Initially, a hypothesis was put forward that the creator of the Antikythera mechanism was the great Archimedes - a man who was far ahead of his time and seemed to have appeared in Antiquity from the distant future (or no less distant and legendary past).

There is a record in Roman history of how he stunned the audience by demonstrating a "celestial globe" showing the movement of the planets, the Sun and the Moon, as well as predicting solar eclipses with lunar phases.

However, the Antikythera mechanism was made after the death of Archimedes. Although it is possible that it was this great mathematician and engineer who created the prototype, on the basis of which the world's first analog computer was made.

Currently, the island of Rhodes is considered to be the place of manufacture of the device. It was from there that the ship sailed that sank off Antikythera. Rhodes in those days was the center of Greek astronomy and mechanics. And the creator of this miracle of technology is considered to be Posidonius of Apamea, who, according to Cicero, was responsible for the invention of a device that indicates the movement of the Sun, Moon and other planets. It is possible that Greek sailors could have had several dozen such mechanisms, but only one has come down to us.

And it still remains a mystery how the ancients were able to create this miracle. They could not have such deep knowledge, especially in astronomy, and such technologies!

It is quite possible that in the hands of the ancient masters there was a device that had come down to them from ancient times, from the time of the legendary Atlantis, whose civilization was an order of magnitude higher than the modern one. And already on its basis they created the Antikythera mechanism.

Be that as it may, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the greatest explorer of the depths of our civilization, called this find a wealth that surpasses the Mona Lisa in its value. It is these restored artifacts that turn our minds around and completely change the picture of the world.

Nikolai SOSNIN

The Antikythera mechanism, found on the seabed at the beginning of the last century, lay in the museum's window for half a century, until Derek Price paid attention to it. Recently, researchers taking part in the Antikythera Mechanism Research project revealed some interesting new facts about this unusual device.

1. The mechanism was found at a Roman-era shipwreck

The name Antikythera, located in the Aegean Sea between mainland Greece and Crete, literally means "the opposite of Kythera" - another, much larger island. A ship believed to be Roman today sank off the coast of the island in the middle of the 1st century AD. A huge number of artifacts were found on board.

2. Find at the cost of life

In 1900, Greek divers, who were looking for sea sponges at the bottom, found the remains of a shipwreck at a depth of almost 60 meters. Diving equipment at that time consisted of linen suits and copper helmets.

When the first diver surfaced and reported seeing a shipwreck on the sea floor and many "decaying horse corpses" (which later turned out to be bronze statues covered in a layer of marine organisms), the captain assumed that the diver had been poisoned by nitrogen while under water. water. Later exploration work in the summer of 1901 resulted in the death of one diver and paralysis from decompression sickness in two more.

3. The culprits of the shipwreck

An astrophysicist at the University of Athens, Xenophon Moussas, theorized in 2006 that the ship on which the mechanism was found might have been bound for Rome as part of the Emperor Julius Caesar's triumphal parade in the 1st century AD. Another theory is that the ship was carrying the looted valuables of the Roman general Sulla from Athens in 87-86 BC.

During the same time period, the famous Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero mentioned a mechanical planetarium called the "Sphere of Archimedes" that demonstrated how the Sun, Moon and planets move in relation to the Earth. More recent research, however, suggests that the ship may have sailed to Rome from Turkey.

4 The Mechanism's Meaning Has Been Unknown For 75 Years

A unique object made of bronze and wood was found on the ship next to sculptures, coins, glassware and ceramics. Since all other artifacts seemed more worthy of preservation, the mechanism was effectively ignored until 1951. After another two decades of research, the first report on the Antikythera Mechanism was published in 1974 by physicist and historian Derek de Price. But Price's work was unfinished when he died in 1983, and how the device actually worked had not yet been clarified.

5. Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Richard Feynman admired the mechanism

Famed marine explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his crew sank to the bottom of the Antikythera shipwreck in 1976, shortly after Price's initial publication. They found coins from the 1st century AD and several smaller bronze parts of the mechanism.

A few years later, physicist Richard Feynman visited the National Museum in Athens. Feynman was utterly disappointed with the museum as a whole, but later wrote that the Antikythera mechanism was "a completely strange, almost impossible... machine with gears, much like a modern clockwork."

6. This is the first known prototype of a computer

Long before the invention of the digital computer, there certainly were analog computers. They essentially ranged from mechanical aids to devices that could predict hot flashes. The Antikythera mechanism, which was developed to calculate dates and predict astronomical phenomena, is why it has been called an early analog computer.

7 The Inventor Of Trigonometry Could Have Created The Mechanism

Hipparchus is primarily known as an ancient astronomer. He was born on the territory of modern Turkey in 190 BC, and he worked and taught mainly on the island of Rhodes. Hipparchus was one of the first thinkers to suggest that the earth revolves around the sun, but he could never prove it. Hipparchus created the first trigonometric tables to try and solve a number of astronomical questions, which is why he is known as the father of trigonometry.

Because of these discoveries, and because Cicero mentions a planetary device that was built by Posidonius (who became head of Hipparchus' school on Rhodes after his death), the creation of the Antikythera Mechanism is often attributed to Hipparchus. A new study, however, showed that at least two people created the mechanism. different people, so it is possible that the mechanism was created in the workshop.

8. The technology of the mechanism was so complex that nothing more complicated could be created for almost 1500 years.

The mechanism, consisting of 37 bronze gears in a wooden container, only the size of a shoe box, was very progressive for its time. With the help of the rotation of the handles, the gears moved, rotating a series of dials and rings, on which there are inscriptions, as well as the symbols of the Greek signs of the zodiac and the Egyptian calendar days. Similar astronomical clocks did not appear in Europe until the 14th century.

9. The mechanism was created to keep track of various events and seasons

The mechanism kept track of the lunar calendar, predicted eclipses and showed the position and phases of the moon. It also tracked seasons and ancient festivals such as Olympic Games. Thanks to lunar calendar people could count optimal timing for Agriculture. Also, the inventor of the Antikythera mechanism provided two dials that rotated, showing lunar and solar eclipses.

10. The mechanism has a "built-in" instruction manual

On a bronze panel at the back of the mechanism, the inventor left either instructions on how the device worked or an explanation of what the user saw. Inscriptions in Koine Greek (the most common form of the ancient language) mention cycles, dials, and some of the functions of the mechanism. Although the text does not provide specific instructions on how to use the mechanism and assumes some prior knowledge of astronomy, it does help to describe the device.

11. No one knows where and how the mechanism was used

While many of the mechanism's functions have been elucidated, how and where it was used is still unknown. Scholars think that it may have been used in a temple or school, but it may also have belonged to some wealthy family.

12. It is known where the movement was made

Thanks to the use of Koine in numerous inscriptions on the movement, it is easy to guess that it was created in Greece, which was geographically very extensive at that time. The latest analysis of the inscriptions suggests that the mechanism may have tracked at least 42 different calendar events.

Based on some of the dates mentioned, the researchers calculated that the creator of the mechanism was probably located at 35 degrees north latitude. In combination with the mention of Cicero with a similar device in the school of Posidonius, this means that the Antikythera mechanism was most likely created on the island of Rhodes.

13. The device was also used for divination

Scientists from the Antikythera Mechanism Research project, based on the preserved 3,400 Greek characters on the device (although many thousands more are missing due to the artifact being incomplete, many thousands more are missing), found that the mechanism could detect eclipses. Since the Greeks regarded eclipses as good or bad omens, they could predict the future based on them.

14. The movement of the planets was measured with an accuracy of 500 years

The movement has pointers to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, all of which are clearly visible in the sky, as well as a spinning ball that shows the phases of the moon. The working parts by which these pointers worked have disappeared, but the text on the front of the mechanism confirms that the planetary motion was modeled mathematically very accurately.

15 There May Actually Be Two Antikythera Shipwrecks

Since Cousteau explored the wreck in the mid-1970s, very little work has been done in terms of underwater archaeological excavations due to the depth at which the ship remains lie. In 2012, marine archaeologists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the Greek Ministry of Culture's College of Underwater Antiquities again descended to the wreck using the latest scuba gear. They found massive accumulations of amphoras and other artifacts. This means that either the Roman ship was significantly larger than previously thought, or another ship was sunk nearby.