At the moment, the Antikythera Mechanism (it got this name from the Greek island near which it was found) is actually the first strange find that has received a clear scientific explanation. However, hundreds of mysterious objects that do not fit into the historical context, better known under the code name "irrelevant artifacts", await "the queue for decryption". We have selected the most interesting of them.
Astronomy "according to Hipparchus"
An antique shipwreck loaded with statues, coins, jewelry and ceramics was discovered between Cyprus and the Peloponnese in 1900. At that time, no one paid attention to the piece of bronze covered with limestone. And only half a century later, digging in the storerooms of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the English historian Derek John de Solla Price revealed this thing to the world. In X-ray light, it became clear that this is a partially preserved mechanism with bronze dials and hands. Given the location of the ship, it was assumed that it came from Rhodes, where at that time the famous astronomer and mathematician Hipparchus of Nicea was working. Scientists defended their dissertations and broke spears in heated debate, what is it - an ancient Greek computer, a part of an alien ship, or an ancient nuclear bomb trigger?
We tried to make out the inscriptions that covered almost the entire surface of the find. Given the appalling state of the artifact, the task was daunting. Decryption took over ten years. And just recently, at a conference in Athens, it was announced that the Antikythera mechanism is nothing more than an ancient Greek textbook on astronomy. And although, in fact, he is really connected with space, he has nothing to do with the "green men". It's a shame, of course …
Two thousand years before Volta
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The National Museum of Iraq contains exhibits that date back to the Parthian period (250 BC). These are earthenware vases of various sizes with necks filled with bitumen, into which copper cylinders are inserted, and in the middle they are stuck along an iron rod. In 1936, the German archaeologist Wilhelm Koening found that if a vessel was filled with vinegar, a current source with a voltage of about 2 volts would be obtained. In addition, vases could well be used for electroplating (it was first used in the early 19th century).
Intrigued, Wilhelm Koening decided to revise the storage facilities of the Iraqi museum. Imagine his surprise when he found silvered vases dating back to 2500 BC, the ideal coating of which left no doubt that it was applied by an electrolytic method. Say hello to Luigi Galvani from the 2nd millennium BC.
Stainless iron
One of the attractions of Delhi is the Iron, or Kuttuba Column. Its age is 1600 years, height is 18 meters, weight is 17 tons. It was made during the reign of King Chandragupta II from almost pure iron that does not rust. At one time it was assumed that it was steel. However, chemical analysis showed 99% iron, impurities of silicon, sulfur, nitrogen and a slightly increased content of phosphorus. Almost every year, scientists try to prove that there is absolutely nothing strange about the Iron Column, but somehow it does not work out.
It is believed that if you stand with your back to the column and wrap your arms around it from behind, this will bring happiness, and your wish will come true.
Sorcerer manuscript
Rarely does an artifact boast so many definitions of "unknown" in the designation of its components. The Voynich manuscript (named after the antiquarian who acquired it first) is a beautiful illustrated catalog of something unknown, written by an unknown person in an unknown language using an unknown alphabet. There is something for learned men to scratch their heads.
According to the results of radiocarbon analysis, the manuscript was created between 1404 and 1438 during the early Renaissance. The text is not even remotely similar to any earthly alphabet, it cannot be deciphered and baffles cryptographers. Judging by the illustrations, the manuscript is divided into six sections: botanical (contains unknown, but carefully drawn plants), astronomical (here at least something familiar - 12 constellations), cosmological (strange diagrams and maps), pharmaceutical, biological and prescription. To be honest, it all looks like a so-called grimoire (book of a sorcerer), but this has not been proven either. Be that as it may, the Voynich manuscript is now considered the most mysterious book in the world.
First of all - helicopters
A helicopter, an airship, a glider and a submarine (and in such a form that hardly leaves any doubts) are depicted on one of the panels of the Temple of Osiris in the ancient city of Abydos. Construction time - 1200 BC (XIX dynasty of the pharaohs). The decoration of the hall, where untimely "traces of scientific and technological progress" were found, refers to the reign of the most famous pharaoh of Egypt - Ramses II. Officially, these strange pictures are believed to be palimpsests. This is the name of the secondary images applied over the previously existing ones. In this case, it is believed that the cartouches (names and titles in hieroglyphic form) of Ramses II, who completed the construction of the temple, were applied to the cartouches of his father Seti I (why on earth?), Who had begun to build the temple. And supposedly over the millennia the plaster has collapsed,which created the illusory images of machines of the 20th century. Needless to say, few people believe in these explanations.
COMPETENTLY
Vadim Lakiza, archaeologist, candidate of historical sciences, deputy director for research at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences:
- Indeed, there are a large number of archaeological finds, the purpose of which scientists cannot explain. And given the fact that various mystical interpretations of events are very popular in modern society (cinema and the media undoubtedly played a role here), people tend to assume in such cases that some incomprehensible object is at least a lost part of an alien spacecraft. as a maximum - a secret device constructed by a highly developed earthly civilization that existed before and died.
Basically, as a historian, I see nothing wrong with such fantasies of people (but not scientists). It must be admitted that sometimes the path to great discoveries begins with strange ideas. A classic example is the story of the discovery by a German entrepreneur and self-taught archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann of the legendary Troy, in the reality of which none of the serious scientists believed.
Nevertheless, a specialist in his work must be guided by reliable facts. And they are as follows: while we cannot explain from a scientific point of view, some of the archaeological finds. But there is hardly any mystical component here. It is quite possible that an object that seems mysterious and inexplicable to us was as everyday for a person of that era as a fork is for us. However, we already exist in a different time dimension. In the surviving chronicles and manuscripts, people are not inclined to describe in detail household items - only important historical events. So it turns out that the point is not in mysticism, but in a banal lack of information. And, by the way, over time, scientists almost always manage to get to the bottom of the truth. This happened in the case of the Antikythera Mechanism.
Olga BABENINA