Ancient Astronomy's Mysteries

The Antikythera Mechanism
One of the most important and interesting pieces of ancient technology, used possibly as an astronomical and calendar calculator. Mechanically, it is a most complex mechanism incorporating 32 gear-wheels as well as inscriptions related to the zodiac and the months. Discovered in 1900-1901 by sponge divers from Syme in an ancient shipwreck near the island of Antikythera. Dated to ca 80 A.D

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The mechanism consisted of a box, the external faces of which bore metal plates that were scaled. On these plates (9) and on the flaps of the box, various signs were engraved, as well as names of months, constellations, signs of the zodiac, names of the then known planets, winds, indications for the equinox and the times certain constellations appeared and disappeared on the sky .The mechanism laying in the box consists of 30 toothed wheels (10) the diameter of which varies from 9 to 132 mm. The most impressive feature of the mechanism is its differential gear system (11) accepting two different rotations. This gear is a characteristic evidence of the high technological standards of the whole structure. These toothed wheels were set in motion with the aid of a hand operating shaft and rotated at a different speed each, putting in motion in their turn other shafts and indicators on the scaled plates vesting the surface of the box. So this machine is a Calendar Computer of great accuracy, showing also the movements of the sun, the earth, the moon, and the main constellations in their different phases. It is noticeable that Arthur Clark said about it that although 2000 years passed, this item represents a level of technological development that the western technology only reached during the 18^th Century.

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The Mallia Table
The Mallia Table was discovered in the Central Court of the Minoan Palace of Mallia on Crete. It is a large limestone disk 90 centimeters in diameter and 36 centimeters thick. Around its circumference are 33 cups of equal size. A 34th. cup is larger and is located in a sort of ear that extends beyond the normal circumference of the disk. The larger cup is oriented due south. The disk is set in the stone pavement of a small terrace that is slightly elevated above the level of the Central Court. This strange monolith, which dates circa 1,900-1,750 BC, has been a puzzle to scholars since its discovery in 1926 by French excavators.

C.F. Herberger's thesis is that the disk is a lunisolar clock. The 33 small cups provide a convenient and symmetrical division of the 99 lunation's of the 8-year cycle. By moving markers, one could have a fairly accurate lunisolar clock. The 34th. cup, by virtue of its larger size, would announce the need for an intercalcated month. This sort of clock, even though arrived at empirically, represents a remarkable innovation for a period almost 4,000 years ago.

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  More Astronomy's Mysteries ? : Ancient Alien Visitors : The Dogons, The Dropas, The Yellow Emperor

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