In 1900, on the eve of Easter, two sponge fishing boats 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

The following year, Greek archaeologists, with the help of divers, began to explore the wreck, which turned out to be a Roman merchant ship that was wrecked around 80-50 BC. 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. The wooden frame, on which he apparently was attached, completely disintegrated. The metal parts were 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.

Even at the initial stage of the study, 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, possibly 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 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 Marc Marcellus ... and Gallus asked him to bring the famous "sphere", the only trophy that great-grandfather Marcellus wished to decorate his house after the capture of Syracuse, a city full of treasures and miracles.

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 If someone brought to Scythia or Britain that ball (sphaera) that our friend Posidonius recently made, a ball whose individual turns reproduce what happens in the sky with the Sun, Moon and five planets on different days and nights, then who in these barbaric countries Would you doubt that this ball is the product of a perfect mind? (Cicero. On the nature of the gods, II, 34)

Further research revealed that the Antikythera Mechanism was an astronomical and calendar calculator used to predict positions. heavenly bodies in the sky, and could also serve as a planetarium to demonstrate their movement. In this way, 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.

but latest findings members of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, published on July 30, 2008 in the journal Nature, suggest that the concept of the mechanism originated in the colonies of Corinth, which may indicate 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 confidence to present 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 does not move in a circular, but along 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 - a period after which, due to the repetition relative position Sun, Moon and nodes of the lunar orbit on the celestial sphere, in the same sequence, 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 (Michael Wright), an employee of the London Science Museum and Imperial College London, who in 2002 was able to recreate a complete reconstruction of the device, and in 2007 presented a modified model of it. 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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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 striking example of the high level of ancient science and technology is Antikythera mechanism.

Diver's find

In 1900, a Greek sponge fishing boat in the Mediterranean was caught in a severe storm. north of the island 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 great amount corpses of horses that were in varying degrees decomposition. The captain did not believe it, he decided that the diver dreamed everything because of the poisoning carbon dioxide, but nevertheless decided to independently check the information received.

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, precious stones, jewelry and many other items that were not of interest to the team, but for which it was still possible to gain something 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 is a fragment of an ancient clock, and even wrote about this scientific work. 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 we know about the science and technology of the Hellenistic era, on the whole, contradicts the existence of such a complex technical device at that time. The discovery of such an object can only be compared with the discovery of a jet aircraft in the tomb of Tutankhamen.

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. Using the most modern equipment, a three-dimensional image of the object under study was made.

Using 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 a 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

What you see in the first photo is a completely unusual and fantastic mechanism that came to us from such a distant antiquity that at that time there was not even Christianity. Would you like to wear this on your own wrist? Of course, he can't take photos or connect to Facebook, however, after going through the history of this subject, some writer could create an immortal work, like the Count of Monte Cristo.

This story began 2200 years ago with a great scientist, and ended with a shipwreck on the high seas. Jacques 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 upside down and completely change the picture of the world.

In 1900, Captain Dimitrios Kondos returned to Greece from an expedition to North Africa and waited out bad weather north of Crete in the Mediterranean, near the island of Antikythera. He sent part of his team in search of a sea sponge. One of the team members, Elias Stadiatos, surfaced and reported that on the seabed, at a depth of about 60 meters, he saw a shipwreck and a huge number of horse corpses, which were in varying degrees of decay. The captain decided that Elias was poisoned by carbon dioxide and decided to check everything himself.

When Kondos sank to the bottom, an absolutely fantastic picture appeared before his eyes. In place of the sunken ancient ship, with a huge amount of booty and treasure, there were bronze statues that were covered with a centuries-old layer of marine organisms. It was these statues that the sailor perceived as the corpses of horses. The team collected everything they could carry and returned back to Greece, and from there an expedition was sent to the crash site.

The first indications were that the material lifted from the bottom was over 2,000 years old. Within 2 years, a huge number of marble and bronze Roman statues, coins and other artifacts were brought. When they began to lay out the finds, one of the pieces fell apart, and scientists saw some metal parts inside.

What did the researchers of that time do? Yes, they simply put this find aside, because they decided that in 100 BC such technologies did not yet exist and that this thing accidentally ended up in an ancient collection. Only in 1951 did the English physicist Derek Price become interested in this. He established that the mechanism dates from the period from 100 to 300 BC. e. and is the most advanced technology of the ancient Greeks.

For 50 years, the painstaking restoration of the ancient machine, consisting of 82 elements, went on! This system is called the Antikythera mechanism. In 2005, Hewlett-Packard deciphered 95% of the inscriptions preserved on the device. With the help of X-Tech equipment, a 3D x-ray scan of each fragment of the machine was made.

It turns out that it was a kind of ancient analog computer. You could set any date and the device showed exactly the positions of the Sun, Moon and five planets, which were known to Greek astronomers. Lunar phases, solar eclipses - everything was predicted to within a few hours, adjusted for leap years.

Scientists suggest that only one person of that time was able to turn numbers into a system of cogs and gear wheels - the great mathematician Archimedes. Among other things, he was an excellent designer. There is one record in Roman history of a great scientist astonishing the audience by demonstrating a "celestial globe" describing the movements of the planets, the Sun and the Moon, as well as predicting solar eclipses with lunar phases.

Reconstructed Antikythera Mechanism. Front and back view.

However, the Antikythera mechanism was made 80 years later than Archimedes died. It is likely that the scientist created a prototype, and only later the first analog computer in the world was reproduced. Although how the ancients managed to build this miracle remains a mystery, since even the first clockwork, created much later, was huge and did not have such a complex and correct device.

Great mathematician - Archimedes

Hublot's watch development is a modified version of Antikythera, made in a more compact form, with the definition of time and astronomical predictions. This unique timepiece will be presented at Baselworld 2012 as a tribute to our civilization's 22 centuries of history.

The age of the ancient "computer" was estimated at 2200 years

The so-called Antikythera mechanism, which is considered one of the oldest analog devices, could have been made even earlier than was generally accepted. After studying the dial of the device and records of eclipses according to the Babylonian calendar, the researchers came to the conclusion that the ancient "computer" was invented in 205 BC - 50-100 years earlier than it was thought.

The 2000-year-old mechanism that the Greeks used to calculate the movement of celestial bodies has long been dated to 100, maximum 150 BC. Archaeologists now believe the device was made just seven years after the assassination of Archimedes by a Roman soldier in 212 BC.

A more accurate dating of the Antikythera mechanism also suggests how the Greeks could use it to calculate the movements of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, as well as predict solar and lunar eclipses. Having reconstructed the elements of the dial, the scientists found that the system was based on the principles of Babylonian arithmetic, and not trigonometry, as was believed until recently, since such a method did not yet exist in antiquity.

The Antikythera mechanism was discovered by a Greek diver in 1900 on an ancient ship that sank near the island of Antikythera (near Crete) between about 70 and 60 BC. The mechanism, which was invented over two thousand years ago, was a very complex computing device for that era. It was placed in a wooden case, contained 37 bronze gears and dials with arrows.

The reconstruction of the device made it possible to establish that the Greeks used it as a "calendar" to determine the phases of the moon and the position of the sun. To set the settings, it was necessary to rotate the knob. In addition to the Antikythera mechanism, a bronze statue of a young man, a spear, antique jugs and other artifacts were found on the ship. In the spring of this year (rev.-2014), archaeologists found new fragments of the dial, which made it possible to establish a more accurate date for the origin of the oldest "computer".

Background. A few facts that are not on Wikipedia

Sensation of 1900: the remains of an ancient merchant ship were accidentally discovered near the Greek island of Antikythera in the Aegean Sea. The valuable cargo that sank along with the ship at first frightened the divers to death - "There are corpses! Decaying corpses !!". They did not immediately realize that the bodies, heads, legs and arms lying at the bottom belong to statues, bronze and marble.

The find was too large and unusual to do without the intervention of authorities and scientists. A momentous decision was made to raise everything that could be found from the bottom. Truly significant: the official history of underwater archeology begins with the excavations at the site of the wreck of the Antikythera ship and, most importantly, modern history Antikythera mechanism.

Dozens of statues and their fragments, decorations, pieces of furniture, luxurious glassware, vessels for wine and oil - it took two years to raise almost four hundred items from the bottom. The underwater excavations were led by Valerios Stais, director of the Athens National Archaeological Museum. Since then, this museum has kept the bulk of the artifacts that were - or will be - found at the wreck of the Antikythera ship.

One of the halls of the Antikythera exhibition in the Athens Archaeological Museum. All exhibits are the cargo of the Antikythera ship. Photo: namuseum.gr

The Greeks claim that in the entire history of underwater archeology, nothing has been found that can compare - in quantity, variety and historical value - with that first accidental discovery in 1900. The Greeks are probably right: artifacts from the Antikythera ship occupy several halls at the annual exhibitions at the Athens Archaeological Museum, and excavations resumed in 2012 each season bring a new “catch” - as it turned out, there is still a lot left at the bottom.

Against the backdrop of all this splendor, shapeless, corroded pieces of metal, taken from the bottom along with obviously valuable items, at first did not interest anyone. Only in 1902, Valerios Stais "scraped" one of the large fragments and discovered something that looked like a bronze part of some mechanism. Gear? Clock face? But after all, the first mechanisms using gears - watches - were invented in Europe only in the 14th century? How could this medieval technology end up on a ship that sank before the start of our era? What purpose did the mysterious device serve, broken into ugly parts?

Antikythera mechanism. The largest surviving detail (fragment A), 1902. Photo: The Albert Rehm Archives / Bavarian State Library

At this point, "archaeological debris" turned into one of the most valuable archaeological finds in the world. The nondescript remains of an ancient mechanism became a sensation - perhaps the slowest, sluggish, gradual and dosed sensation in history. The Antikythera Mechanism has been studied for 114 years, research results are updated as technology advances, scientists report their findings in neat portions. Status for 2016: "The exact purpose of the Antikythera Mechanism is still unknown, but discoveries recent years allow us to make educated guesses in this regard.

Perhaps only in our time have scientists realized the true value of the Antikythera Mechanism - they began to understand it better. “These small, corroded bronze fragments contain such a volume of knowledge that it would be enough for a pile of books about the scientific and technological achievements of antiquity, as well as about how this knowledge spread and interacted with the cultural environment of its time. The Antikythera mechanism is undoubtedly the most information-rich artifact ever found by archaeologists," said Alexander Jones, professor of history at New York University. exact sciences and one of the lead investigators of the AMRP project.

Inscription on a fragment of the Antikythera Mechanism, not to scale. Photo: The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project / namuseum.gr

According to ancient tradition, any device must be accompanied by instructions from the manufacturer. In 1902, during the first careful examination, Valerios Stais noticed tiny letters on one of the fragments. The first words read were Αφροδίτη ("Aphrodite", as the Greeks called the planet Venus) and Ηλίου ακτίνα ("sunbeam"). Immediately there was an assumption that the Antikythera mechanism is somehow connected with astronomy. But why the first discovered inscriptions were made in a mirror image, from right to left, Stais could not explain this. The answer was found after several years of research: this part of the text was not the original, but a "negative", an imprint of an inscription from another detail. The letters were imprinted on a thick layer of marine sediments covering all the fragments of the mechanism. The original piece may still lie at the bottom of the Aegean off the coast of Antikythera.

Over time, scientists found the reason for the poor preservation of the metal: the details of the mechanism were made from sheets of the so-called deformable bronze, with a low tin content. Such bronzes are still being produced, they are plastic and convenient for manual machining, but they do not tolerate long-term contact with sea ​​water. On the other hand, the bronze statues found at the crash site have been perfectly preserved - a different type of bronze, foundry, was used to cast them.

One of the bronze statues ("Philosopher") found at the site of the wreck of the Antikythera ship. Photo: namuseum.gr

The corroded parts of the Antikythera mechanism are extremely fragile, the mechanism itself turned out to be multi-layered, and the technology to see through such physical interference did not exist for a long time. Nevertheless, the first researchers managed to decipher almost 600 signs and symbols located on visible surfaces. What they read was consistent with the initial hypothesis that the mechanism was somehow connected with astronomy, and gave hope that the instructions for the mysterious device still exist.

Two wars and political upheavals in Europe reduced scientific activity to almost zero. The details of the mechanism, like other valuable museum artifacts, were moved from place to place more than once, some of the fragile fragments crumbled or were lost - modern scientists were able to determine this by comparing the current state of the details with pre-war photographs. And if the lost details can be virtually restored, then the fragments of the text and the clues contained in them have disappeared forever.

The second wave of research was launched in the early 1950s by the eminent physicist and historian of science Derek de Solla Price. He again drew attention to the sensational device, but only in 1971 he managed to obtain permission to study the mechanism using an X-ray machine. Thus, the first pictures of the most complex interiors of the ancient "device" appeared, which puzzled scientists for many years to come. Price was also the first to attempt to restore the original appearance and astronomical functions of the mechanism. Today, Price's model is considered erroneous, but he fulfilled his mission: the technology of antiquity began to be purposefully studied with the help of constantly developing modern technologies.

Currently, there are many options for reconstructing the Antikythera Mechanism, but the model proposed by mechanical engineer Michael Wright is considered the most reliable. Wright turned out to be a real visionary (or just a very good engineer): back in the 1990s, he argued that the mechanism is more complicated than is commonly believed, and predicted the presence of additional parts and functions in it. Wright's correctness has been brilliantly confirmed by research in recent years.

The deciphering of the inscriptions, however, progressed slowly: by the 1970s, the number of identified signs increased from 600 to 923. The pictures taken by the X-ray machine gave a blurry picture - the metal parts were seen well, but it was almost impossible to read the tiny signs on the inner surfaces.

Technology "grew" to the Antikythera Mechanism only in the 21st century, when inventions like computed tomography or digital imaging became publicly available and began to be used for the needs of archeology. In 2005, AMRP, an international project to study the Antikythera Mechanism, was created. Physicists, astronomers, engineers, historians and archaeologists from different countries joined forces to - without exaggeration - to comprehend the secrets of the ancients.

Almost immediately, they were faced with a problem that was by no means a scientific one: since fragile priceless parts are forbidden to be transported, scientists had to drag an eight-ton Bladerunner, a heavy-duty tomograph for detecting microcracks in turbines, to Athens (equipment travel is a common practice when examining especially valuable artifacts, we recently told a similar story in the material on the study of Tutankhamun's dagger). But the result justified all efforts and expectations.

Antikythera Mechanism, radiographic study using the Bladerunner apparatus. Photo: The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project

Astrophysicist Mike Edmunds, one of the leaders of AMRP, talks about the initial stage of the project with his usual self-irony: “Actually, we were just going to find out exactly how the Antikythera mechanism worked. We successfully completed this task. that the technology we used also makes it possible to read the texts on the internal and external surfaces of the mechanism, and that we are doing it much better than in all previous attempts.

The main method for studying texts is PTM technology (Polynomial Texture Mapping, polynomial texture mapping), which is now actively used, for example, to read almost worn out cuneiform writing on Babylonian clay tablets. It looks something like this: the object is photographed at different angles of light incidence, and then, based on two-dimensional images, the program recreates the most probable three-dimensional image of the surface. Fortunately, the equipment is more or less portable.

Exploration of the Antikythera Mechanism using RTM technology. Photo: Cultural Heritage Imaging / culturalheritageimaging.wordpress.com

The case quickly moved forward. The very first year of work brought another sensation: new fragments of the mechanism were discovered. And not at the bottom of the sea - the crash site of the "Antikythera ship" in the 1950s and 1970s was examined by Jacques-Yves Cousteau himself, but his findings did not add anything new to the Antikythera mechanism. In 2005, before starting the main study, the scientists rechecked what was left after the pre-war cleaning and conservation of the mechanism parts. From the pile of "waste" they fished out tiny fragments of metal and marine sediments. The first researchers seemed to anticipate the future development of technology and did not throw away anything that was associated with the Antikythera Mechanism.

So the number of fragments increased to 82: seven large ones (they are denoted by Latin letters from A to G) and 75 small ones, numbered from 1 to 75. The value of small fragments is that fragments of text have also been preserved on them - often it is only a couple of letters or numbers but they were extremely important. Fifteen fragments contained the same mirror text as the first fragment studied by Stais - that is, the "negative" from the original part, imprinted on the oxidized surface. The researchers had to put together, in their own words, a "double puzzle" of originals and mirror prints.

A year after the start of the project, the number of found and deciphered signs reached 2160. As they read the inscriptions, the researchers increasingly realized the importance of the text for understanding the purpose of the mechanism and the amount of knowledge contained in it. The inscriptions have become the main object of study, and this is a complex multi-stage process: to discover, process, decipher and place information in the appropriate historical and scientific context.

AMRP press conference June 9, 2016. In the foreground is a model of the Antikythera Mechanism. Photo: Petros Giannakouris / AP

15 Surprising Facts About the Antikythera Mechanism This is the most mysterious mechanism in the world.

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 scientific project"Research on the Antikythera Mechanism" revealed new interesting 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 seabed 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 wrote afterwards 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 tides. 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 to 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, has shown that at least two different people made the movement, so it is possible that the movement was created in a 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 the seasons and ancient festivals such as the Olympic Games. Thanks to the lunar calendar, people could calculate the optimal timing for agriculture. Also, the inventor of the Antikythera mechanism provided for 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 movement. While 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 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 discovered mass gatherings amphorae and other artifacts. This means that either the Roman ship was significantly larger than previously thought, or another ship was sunk nearby. The oldest computer in the world

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. When carefully examining 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 cargo ship off the coast of the island of Ankithera and named after the place of the find. 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 members of the working group, prof. Ivan Seyradakis 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 BC. before the new era. And this means that the device was developed by the Greeks long before similar mechanisms appeared in other regions. Moreover, in terms of technical characteristics, it surpasses everything created over 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 accurate 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 hair, 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.

Modern prototypes of the movement

If the Antikythera Mechanism indeed indeed matches the assumptions of the researchers, then the conclusion follows that its operation was based on the heliocentric device theory solar system, quite unusual for a time when most Greeks adhered to Aristotle's opinion about the rotation of the Universe around the Earth. According to Michael Wright, curator of mechanical engineering at the London Science Museum, the mechanism may have been created at the academy founded by the Stoic philosopher Poseidonis on the Greek island of Rhodes. Indeed, later his student Cicero described a device that in many ways resembles the Antikythera mechanism.