The archaeological discovery that changed our entire understanding of the level of technology possessed by ancient civilisations, remaining unequalled for more than 1,500 years.
Since its discovery, it has remained the most compelling Archeological artefact ever found, being studied more than any other single artefact in the entire history of Archaeology. However, only in the last few years can we finally say we understand the true purpose and scale of the genius behind it.
The remarkable events that led to this Archeological discovery in many ways echo the chilling circumstances behind its owner's harrowing final moments.
“How does the bust of some hairy man change our understanding of anything, this is total twaddle!"
A plethora of stunning statues and treasures were discovered alongside this extraordinary artefact, in many ways, stealing the limelight at first.
During the spring of 1900, a small crew of Greek Sponge divers were forced to venture further from their home waters to find new Sponge fishing grounds, while sailing south their small fishing boat encountered a violent storm that ripped at their sails and drove them towards the rocks of a small island.
As the sea churned, forming valleys of seething deep green that threatened to capsize their small vessel or smash it against unseen rocks in the chaotic frenzy of the stormy gloom, the Greek captain wrestled for control of his little boat against the forces of nature, guiding it into a bay that sheltered them from the worst of the severe storm.
The next day, the crew awoke to find the sky clear and the water that had threatened to take their lives the night before now calm and crystal clear. Having never fished the waters around this island before, the captain sent a young diver down to see if there was any Sponge fishing to be had.
Elias regretted eating pickled fish and tinned beans last night.
Not long after going down, the young diver started violently tugging at his rope in a desperate panic, so the crew quickly pulled him to the surface and removed his brass helmet, shaking like a leaf, the diver said that he had seen heaps of dead bodies beneath them.
The captain suited up and decided he would go down and see for himself, because this had to be one of the most over-the-top excuses he had ever heard. What he found stunned him, for the dead bodies were in fact a mass of exquisite bronze and marble statues littered across the seabed. The captain explored the shipwreck for a while, before taking a bronze arm and returning to the surface.
The bronze arm of a boxer, found at the wreck.
With the shipwreck discovered, but not a Sponge in sight, the rather practical crew carried on their voyage to better Sponge fishing grounds, with a bronze arm safety tucked away.
Later that year, the Captain approached the Greek authorities with his bronze arm and explained his find and before long an expedition was organised with the original Sponge diving crew tasked with the role of recovering artefacts from the wreck.
Over the next two years the Sponge Divers turned Marine Archeologists would battle rough seas and storms around the island, while bringing up a vast quantity of ancient statues, coins, pristine Hellenistic glassware, and a wealth of extraordinary finds.
The shipwreck had been an enormous vessel for the ancient world and had carried a staggering amount of exquisite valuables, all of which now lay just beneath the surface.
This massive galley had probably been caught in the storms and rough seas around the little island, just as the Sponge Divers boat had, but unlike the smaller fishing boat, the Greek treasure ship had not survived, sinking around 80 BC.
Amongst all the treasure, from gold and silver coins to priceless ancient statues and jewellery, a small lump of green corroded bronze was found and chucked to the side, where it would remain in storage for the next two years, totally overlooked, sadly degrading without the proper treatment it had urgently required upon removal from the water.
The Antikythera Mechanism, 200BC.
Until one day, a visiting MP noticed the unassuming clump of green corroded bronze neglected in the corner and took a closer look, it had dried out and split, inside he could see countless gear wheels with tiny teeth, engravings and intricate mechanisms.
Naturally, everyone suddenly stopped caring about everything else from the shipwreck and focused on this remarkable artefact.
Scientists, Linguists, Archeologists, Astronomers and Naval experts from all around the world started studying the little machine. However, being only the early 1900s, it was difficult to truly understand this ingenious device, for the next 50 years it baffled the world.
Until a series of rather clever fellows slowly pieced it together, one gear diagram at a time, British Professor Price commissioned an X-ray of the Antikythera Mechanism and worked out how many teeth were on some of the gears, which seems like a rather small step forwards, but meant they now knew the device could calculate the cycles and position of the moon.
Jump forward to the last few years and a study led by the University of Cardiff in Wales which built a state-of-the-art scanner to finally unlock the answers to perhaps the greatest mystery in the history of Archaeology.
Using their custom-built high-resolution surface scanner and X-ray machine, the findings revealed 37 intricate meshing bronze gears, precision mechanisms and thousands of fine engravings.
This Antikythera Mechanism was the first analogue computer in history. It could map the movements of the moon and sun through the zodiac, accurately predict future eclipses and calculate the position of Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.
Technology of this level quite literally didn't belong in the ancient world, or so we originally thought.
The ancient writing of Cicero talks of two incredible mechanical devices that the genius Archimedes built in the 2nd century BC, which could calculate the positions of the moon and stars with precision, the Antikythera Mechanism is possibly one of these two devices or a later copy.
2,200 years ago, Ancient Greeks built astronomical computers that would not be equalled until the 15th century.
‘If the insight of the ancient Greeks had matched their ingenuity, we would not merely be pottering around on the Moon, we would have reached the nearer stars.’ — Arthur C. Clarke.
