Is the Antikythera Mechanism an Astronomical Calendar?
The sudden discovery of a hunk of bronze discovered in 1901 changed humankind’s understanding of their history. It all started when an archeologist was browsing through objects discovered in an old vessel (nearly 2000 year old) near a Greek island called Antikythera.
There were many treasures in the wreck, including beautiful pots and vases, pieces of awe-inspiring jewelry, an ancient philosopher’s bronze statue etc. However, the most peculiar piece was a neatly arranged set of brass dials and gears mounted inside a case. The structure was kept inside a box matching the size of a mantel clock. Archeologists named the instrument the “Antikythera mechanism.”
It’s probably one of the most profound blends of intelligence and mystery, which gives us a glance at ancient Greek technology. It’s arguably the first computer in the world, and its brilliancy is acknowledged by Google as the leading search engine highlighted it in a Google doodle in 2017.
Our today’s post aims to dig deeper and reveal the secrets associated with the Antikythera mechanism – is it really an astronomical calendar? Keep reading and get to know!
Antikythera Mechanism- An Enigma
The 82 discolored, corroded bronze fragments may not look like something extraordinary. However, once these scattered pieces are assembled, they reveal a complex mechanism that with 37 gears for tracking the motion of the sun and the moon and forecast eclipses. This astronomical calculator or calendar is known as the Antikythera mechanism.
As said before, it was discovered in a shipwreck, which was found on the coast of Crete in 1901. The remains of this ancient device are now displayed in the National Archeological Museum of Athens. Archeologists say that the trading ship was sunk in the first half of the first-century B.C.E near Antikythera Island, located in the Mediterranean sea.
As per John Markoff, renowned journalist of the NewYork Times, “this ancient device predates other examples of similar technology by more than 1000 years.” There are a lot of debates regarding the build and the creator of this device. Considering its sophistication, several archeologists and historians believe that it must have been influenced or designed by one of the legendary Greek scientists like Posidonius, Archimedes, or Hipparchus.
The Antikythera Mechanism- A Closer Look
Known as the first set of scientific dials or scales, the Antikythera mechanism involves a lot of unraveled mysteries. Its radiographic images revealed that no other geared mechanism was so complex except for the medieval cathedral clocks built a millennium later.
The Antikythera mechanism was designed out of bronze sheets. It would have been stored in a case of the size of a shoebox. The openings of the case and the faces of the mechanism have a lot of Greek inscriptions.
These inscriptions clearly indicate the astronomical or calendrical purpose of the device. Historians believe that it had a hand-turn shaft connected by a crown gear to the main gear wheel. It used to drive the other gear trends, and each revolution of the primary gear wheel used to indicate one solar year.
The Front Side…
There is a large dial with pointers on the front side of the mechanism, which aims to show the position of the sun and the moon in the zodiac. In addition, there’s a half-silvered ball that displays lunar phases.
What’s more surprising, the drive train for the lunar position is unexplainably sophisticated! It involves epicyclical hearing and a slot-pin mechanism that can mimic subtle variations in the moon’s motion across the sky. In the contemporary world, this mechanism is more known as the Hipparchus and Ptolemaic system.
The Back…
Now talking about the back of the mechanism, it holds two large dials. The giant upper dial holds a five-turn spiral slot. It also has a moving pointer that shows the Synodic months or the 235 lunations in the Metonic cycle. This 19-year long cycle is efficient in regulating calendars. The subsidiary dial is a four-ear dial that could show the expected time of different Pan-Hellenic games like the Olympics and more.
With a four-turn spiral and a lot of symbols, the big lower dial shows the solar and lunar eclipse months. The calculation is based on the 18.2 years Saros eclipse cycle. Experts believe that these astronomical cycles were introduced to Greeks from different Babylonian sources. The inscriptions reveal that there was probably a display for planetary positions, and it was located on the front face of the mechanism. However, unfortunately, many relevant parts of this wonder device are missing.
A Few New Clues
Recently, some science historians and physicists have found another clue about the device’s origin. Its eclipse-predict calendar and the back dial mechanism include a solar eclipse that took place on 12th May, 205 B.C. These findings have been published in the archive for the history of exact sciences.
Previously, researchers used to subject the mechanism to radiocarbon dating analysis and analyze the Greek inscription on the front and back of the device, which generated an idea about the manufacturing date, which dates back to 100 to 150 B.C. In addition, it has been found that the mechanism was not influenced by Greek trigonometry. Instead, it used to involve the theories of Babylonian arithmetic.
Final words
Antikythera mechanism, the only known physical survivor of an era-old tradition of mechanical astronomical displays, is indeed mysterious and exciting. It evidences the existence of such scientifically advanced mechanisms in the ancient world.
Though the exact purpose of the Antikythera mechanism is speculative, scientists and historians believe that it was used as an astronomical calendar in ancient Greek to calculate different universal phenomena.
Several studies are still digging deeper into the secrets of Antikythera, and several expeditions are returning to the site of the secret to analyze the different artifacts and other things. These pieces may help them find more clues about the construction of the Antikythera mechanism and we may get to know more about this ancient wonder.
Hope this post has helped you troll around the ancient lanes of history and unravel the secrets of Antikythera – the astronomical calendar!
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