Ancient Greek Sculpture Depicting a Laptop

a reply to: brianporter

The fact that a child is delivering the message is interesting I imagine peasant kids were the couriers of the day delivering messages around Greek & Roman cities on these little devices you can imagine them scuttling through the bustling streets with a couple of these tablets in a satchel and being paid a couple of low denomination coins (Quadrans) for their efforts.

I believe the bas-relief presents an image of a little girl showing her writing-lessons to her mother.

The child's pride and the mother's equally proud but critical scrutiniy are visible in the expressions on their faces.

a reply to: purplemer

It looks like a box that may contain chocolate or other delicacies.

originally posted by: Kangaruex4Ewe

Or is it some "koynd" of conspiracy?

Some Koynd of Skoy

I can't believe anyone would think the holes in the side are USB ports. The holes are round - not rectangular - thus clearly are PS2 ports and demonstrate why Greek culture fell: it could not adapt to new technology (like USB) and thus was outpaced and supplanted.

If you want to be really impressed, check out all the Egyptian and other cultures from the ancient past depicting scrolls in their sculptures and artwork and such. We are just now beginning to see flexible screens and electronic ink displays, and are still a ways off before shipping products that will enable us to simply roll up a big HD display and shove it in our pocket.

Yepper, those ancient Khemetians were way ahead of us. Roll up SHD touch displays are far in advance of clunky rigid laptops. And don't even get me started on those way cool pyramid shaped super broadband wifi and plasma wireless power generators and the obelisk extend stations. When we reach that level of tech, then - maybe - we might have some bragging rights over at least a small part of the past. ;-)

a reply to: beansidhe

It is indeed ingenious! I had never seen these before which is surprising to me! So the hole would hold the "pencil"marker.

originally posted by: skalla
I'm taking a punt here and don't have time to look into things any further, but the "ports" may well be to attach a decorative (bronze?) fascia on to the box etc.

I also thought a wax tablet or sweets/delicacies like others, but it's thinness an the manner of the observers hand led me towards jewellery or similar.

Given the fact that Ancient Greece is so well documented, and that this item appears in stonework (amongst other reasons) it being a laptop is way out of reach.

But they were thin and there are many types even multiple paged ones like a book.

I'm all for and fully believe in the Ancient Astronaut theory, but when it get's to points like this, all it does is take the wind out of the sails. Not every sculpture showing something that could be interpreted as modern technology is proof of Alien visitation. Similar to how ancient peoples who may have seen modern technology would relate it to something natural like "Giant Metal Birds" for example.

It's obviously a Jewelry box or something similar.

a reply to: purplemer
There's many things I have been seeing lately that make me question time travel. Know granted this one individually is not very convincing being as though it could very well be a hinged box although i will say for a box you don't usually look at the back of the lid nor dos it seem very large for a box and not to mention if it were just a box why make a statue of it. But many other things in combination such as the piston looking structure they found in what the archeologist thought was a rock being dated at millions of years or even a confirmed legitimate photo taken back in the 1950's of a man waring what appears to be a modern day hoody taking a picture with what appears to be a smart phone.

originally posted by: Skyfloating
Laptops have only a couple of years durability. I doubt the greeks would own these pieces of junk. They had much better: Oracles. And crystal glasses into which they would look and google the secrets of the whole universe.

My laptop been going 10 years now ... I've replaced the screen, the CPU cooling fan, the hard disk drive more than a good few times, the screen locking circuit board and the keyboard.

I'd say that the object is either a greek vanity box (mirror on the top, jewelry on the bottom) or a wax writing system.

"Hi Mom, guess what? I've beaten my score on Angry Harpies" "Very good dear, but make sure you close the box once your finished. Your father will need it for tomorrow to do his tax returns".

originally posted by: pheonix358

It's not a laptop, look how thick it is, it would have to be a way old model.

Ummmm... Heloooo! Ancient Greek Sculpture? OF COURSE it's a way old model!

Probably still had USB 1.0.

a reply to: jashn20002000

Funny what a simple point of view change makes, on seeing that relief I'd think that it's interesting how a laptop looks like that ancient Greek thing...

Not the other way around!

When I see threads like this on the front page of ATS I know its a slow week.

Thats right the Greeks had laptops hhahahahhaha

jesus no electricity no transistors no freagin idea how to code the dam thing but they had lap tops. do you suppose they had dvd drives too or am I being too ridiculous. What did they use for a case? cow dung?? Marble? Wood? Because it wasnt a plastic polymer.

Stop. Think. Post.

originally posted by: skalla
a reply to: purplemer

C'mon, it's a hinged box, most likely containing jewellery.

I dont open my laptop with my pinky raised, its not tea with the queen!

a reply to: purplemer

What you have here is something the world of art calls a "visual metaphor. In a technique used in the collage and in other ideas about perspective, we may envision objects finding a congruent shape or topology. We may remember looking at the clouds in our younger years and seeing different shapes as animals, flowers and other things. So too we now see the "laptop," even though when the sculpture was made there was no such thing documented.

a reply to: purplemer

How dumb can the writer of this article be? Look at the so-called “laptop” it is clearly broken off along its entire edge (as well as the hand holding it), & what this clown is calling “USB ports” is clearly supports for another piece of the sculpture that was BROKEN off! But to take a line from Star Wars “Who’s the more foolish? The fool or the fools who follow him?”

originally posted by: Confed2001
But to take a line from Star Wars “Who’s the more foolish? The fool or the fools who follow him?”

Well, if you want my opinion, it's the fools that follow him.

Didn't Jesus say that when the fools lead the fools, they both get hit with the rubber chicken?

Well, it was something like that anyway.

Harte

originally posted by: Char-Lee
a reply to: beansidhe

It is indeed ingenious! I had never seen these before which is surprising to me! So the hole would hold the "pencil"marker.

About 15 years ago, we had Palm pilots which had a stylus:



Of course, 3000 years ago, we had clay tablets which had a stylus, that were used to store cuneiform messages.

I think it's probably a mirror of polished metal. The wax writing tablets was a good idea, but why isn't she holding a stylus then?

Her left hand looks deformed, or the statue got broken or something? At first I thought her hand was chopped off and there were veins and tendons (or wires?) Left dangling out of the wrist..


Eta- at the top of this page, the post by Astyanax seems equally probable...

No electricity back then, so they charged their laptop batteries off of Zeus' lightning bolts.