Researcher cites ancient Minoan-era 'computer'

Originally posted by DonnaLynn
How fantastic! This just further instills the thought that we were technologically advanced before and some major catastrophe occurred which wiped the knowledge out. Could it have been a political uprising? That is what I believe.

Not all fans of "Atlantis" and the idea of advanced ancient civilizations are aware how we know about that. Its not Edgar Cayce, or chanellers, but Plato. Plato also has something to say about the repeated destruction of civilization in the same text he discusses Atlantis.

I will just let you read for yourself what he says.

classics.mit.edu...

Thereupon one of the priests, who was of a very great age, said: O Solon, Solon, you Hellenes are never anything but children, and there is not an old man among you. Solon in return asked him what he meant. I mean to say, he replied, that in mind you are all young; there is no old opinion handed down among you by ancient tradition, nor any science which is hoary with age. And I will tell you why. There have been, and will be again, many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes; the greatest have been brought about by the agencies of fire and water, and other lesser ones by innumerable other causes. There is a story, which even you have preserved, that once upon a time Paethon, the son of Helios, having yoked the steeds in his father's chariot, because he was not able to drive them in the path of his father, burnt up all that was upon the earth, and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt. Now this has the form of a myth, but really signifies a declination of the bodies moving in the heavens around the earth, and a great conflagration of things upon the earth, which recurs after long intervals; at such times those who live upon the mountains and in dry and lofty places are more liable to destruction than those who dwell by rivers or on the seashore. And from this calamity the Nile, who is our never-failing saviour, delivers and preserves us. When, on the other hand, the gods purge the earth with a deluge of water, the survivors in your country are herdsmen and shepherds who dwell on the mountains, but those who, like you, live in cities are carried by the rivers into the sea. Whereas in this land, neither then nor at any other time, does the water come down from above on the fields, having always a tendency to come up from below; for which reason the traditions preserved here are the most ancient.

Originally posted by tonypazzohome

lame. there are no apps for that

I know huh!

You can't even play PONG

WTH?

It would be nice if some of the imaging techniques used on the Antikythera device could be used on this. I think it's probably a stretch to call it a computer without any moving parts, but it's certainly an interesting find.

Judging by the teeth on the outside edge, is it possible that it is only one of a number of interconnecting movable pieces?

We may never know how many more artifacts are buried in museums and private collections labeled "Ritual artifact", Archaeologist for "we haven't a clue".

Ancient Antikythera Mechanism Continues to Amaze with Recent Discovery

New Research Shows the Antikythera Mechanism Tracked the Sun

Ancient Antikythera Mechanism Continues to Amaze with Recent DiscoveryThe Antikythera mechanism, one of the world's oldest known gadgets, has coughed up another secret. In addition to tracking time and upcoming Olympic games, the mechanism was also great at tracking the motion of the Sun across the sky.

Because the orbit of the Earth around the Sun is an elipse, not a circle, our great life-giving star would appear at times to move more quickly across the sky than at others. The mechanism was great at correcting for this subtle "weirdness" when it involved the Moon's elliptical orbit, thanks to a specialized series of two tiny gears. With the Sun, the effect is even more subtle from an earthbound perspective, so the gears (if they had existed) would have had to be even tinier. Too tiny to be of any practical use, it turns out, so the designer allegedly used something different: Pure geometry.

Reports Wired:

[Science historian James Evans of the University of Puget Sound] and colleagues suggested a simpler way to make the sun dial appear to change speed: Stretch the zodiac. If the spaces on the front wheel of the mechanism were of different widths, Evans reasoned, then the hand representing the sun would take longer to travel through the part of the year lumped under the zodiac sign of Taurus than through Libra.

The delay would make the sun look like it was moving slower at some times of year and faster at others, even though the gears turning the hand moved at a constant speed.

Ancient Antikythera Mechanism Continues to Amaze with Recent DiscoveryX-ray tests have proven this out to a certain extent, although Evans's zodiac model discovery remains controversial. What is undeniable is this this ancient device remains a source of wonder. [Wired]

They obviously knew the Earth had an eliptical orbit around the Sun.

gizmodo.com...#!5788247/ancient-antikythera-mechanism-continues-to-amaze-with-recent-discovery
www.themarysue.com...

about this?

Yet again, Slayer - good show!

I just got back from a trip out West, and a friend I visited who is a well-recognized innovator showed me - and I mean literally went through the steps to create another - showed me how the ancients provided themselves with electricity.

He showed how simple items very easily are put together - less than five minutes - to provide a battery that will run for years and years and years - and all it needs is a bit of moisture now and then.

He said, "That Baghdad battery? The claims the ancients couldn't electroplate? This here shows clearly that's a BS position. Ancient men weren't stupid, and not nearly as backward as portrayed."

He intends to show the attendees at this summer's Tesla Convention how to make them and how they work. This guy always shows attendees things they've never seen before, and this year will be no different.

Here is more food for thought:

Homer knew about America or Atlantis?

Ogygia
en.wikipedia.org...

Geographical account by Strabo

Approximately 7 centuries after Homer, the Alexandrian geographer Strabo criticized Polybius on the geography of the Odyssey. Strabo proposed that Scheria and Ogygia were located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
“ At another instance he [Polybius] suppresses statements. For Homer says also, 'Now after the ship had left the river-stream of Oceanus',[4] and, 'In the island of Ogygia, where is the navel of the sea',[5] where the daughter of Atlas lives; and again, regarding the Phaiakians, 'Far apart we live in the wash of the waves, the farthermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant with us.'[6] All these clearly suggest that he composed them to take place in the Atlantic Ocean."[7] ”
[edit] Geographical account by Plutarch

Plutarch also gives an account of the location of Ogygia:
“ First I will tell you the author of the piece, if there is no objection, who begins after Homer’s fashion with, an isle Ogygian lies far out at sea, distant five days’ sail from Britain, going westwards, and three others equally distant from it, and from each other, are more opposite to the summer visits of the sun; in one of which the barbarians fable that Cronus is imprisoned by Zeus, whilst his son lies by his side, as though keeping guard over those islands and the sea, which they call ‘the Sea of Cronus. The great continent by which the great sea is surrounded on all sides, they say, lies less distant from the others, but about five thousand stadia from Ogygia, for one sailing in a rowing-galley; for the sea is difficult of passage and muddy through the great number of currents, and these currents issue out of the great land, and shoals are formed by them, and the sea becomes clogged and full of earth, by which it has the appearance of being solid.[8]

Ogygia was named after Ogyges
en.wikipedia.org...

Ogyges, Ogygus or Ogygos (Greek: Ὠγύγης or Ὤγυγος) is a primeval mythological ruler in ancient Greece, generally of Boeotia,[1] but an alternative tradition makes him the first king of Attica. Though it's possible that the word is derived by the Greek Okeanos (Ωκεανός), the great river that surrounded the earth disc, the Greek word Ogygios (Ωγύγιος), meaning Ogygian, came to be synonymous with "primeval," "primal," or "from earliest ages."[2]

reply to post by SLAYER69


Not Maya! -Aztek!

Fore some reason this is a common error....

---Regarding the topic of this thread, I'm not sure this decorated stone is a "computer"; mere a calendar.

If one draw circles and lines on a plate, presenting... let's say "2^3×3×5×73" - one could have a pretty artistic presentation of the hours of one year; still not a computer!
I see neither moons or suns, I see only dots and lines... Why is there not Aegan numerals on the plate?

Did these guys count decimal or sexagesimal?

There are circular Egyptian calendars elder than this one. What makes this one so special?
If this is supposedly a piece of a mechanic device, why was it not made from copper or bronze?

Anyhow I'm too tired to make sense of anything, so... it would be nice if anyone digs up some more info on this artifact while I practice my remote dreaming...

BTWFYI (for no reason what so ever) If you are deranged and/or in the need of tuning into "real time" - try a graphic presentation of "(2304 (-1390 + 1739 n))/614400" !

reply to post by SLAYER69


Hi Slayer, thanks for the great post.

The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the 'computer' was this: Coral Castle

The device Ed supposedly used to build coral castle, reminds me of this cog thingy.

reply to post by nakiel



Interesting.

You mean this one?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4e31aa39e0f5.gif[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/977ddaa10b1c.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by Lordvander


DONT TELL THEM!!!

That spoils the surprise.

Wow Slayer another great thread. I love this stuff. I have always thought that the ancients knew more than they are given credit for. I see this as a form to use in a mold for sand casting. Many years ago I worked in an iron foundry. We used forms like that to sand cast objects for customers. I would guess that there is more to the mechanism than this one piece. Maybe the other parts are some where in the museum or perhaps they are lost.

Originally posted by boondock-saint

Originally posted by baddmove
btw..does it have moving parts?

I had the same question but
looking closer at the pic, it
appears to me that it doesn't.
It appears solid to me but I may be
wrong.

But if it did move on a wheel basis
then we might also have to change
history on when the wheel was invented.

Sometimes the "computer" does not have to move, but the surrounding items do. Mechanisms like these in circular fashion always remind me of ancient pendulum calendars with the right weights... or magnetic thresholds

The right place at the right time.

Now that is fascinating. Excellent find, Slayer.

It's obviously very sturdy to remain intact after all this time. Leads me to wonder what kind of more delicate devices they may have produced that we will never find intact. Our ancestors were far more advanced than modern science would have us believe, in my opinion.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by punkinworks10

 

One would work out celestial "Computations" with it.

No?

Funny.

By that logic, a pencil is a !!COMPUTER!!!"

Harte

It's certainly an interesting find, but not particularly surprising.

Most societies used various forms of computation. The Incas used a system based on colour to sort their harvest and catalogue the contents of their storage rooms. The modern computer was invented back in the Victorian era! And let's not forget the humble abacus.

I don't doubt that there have been many other examples, perhaps even older, that have simply not been discovered yet, or else have perished in the dusts of time. If you perceive a 'computer' as being an extension of the human thought and memory capacity (and now an emotional extension if you use social networking), then technically, many things could be categorised as early computers.

What I'm interested in is the prevalence of ancient computing devices in these societies. I know the Incan system was very prevalent, but was this Minoan idea one that was widely used? Guess we may never know.

really interesting. Thanks!

Originally posted by Harte

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by punkinworks10

 

One would work out celestial "Computations" with it.

No?

Funny.

By that logic, a pencil is a !!COMPUTER!!!"

Harte

True.

Makes me think of Crichton E.M. Miller statement that the Celtic cross was used for calculations. Could it be a similar device used in another or multiple ways?



Like on the ground it's a sun dial and hanging it on a pole makes it a sextant.

Here's a viewzone article and rexresearch