Having carefully considered the miracle of ancient Greek technology, which is commonly called Antikythera Mechanism, scientists have found that this device not only predicted solar eclipses but also organized a calendar for calculating a four-year cycle of Olympics - precursor of modern Olympic Games.
The new results also show that the idea of this mechanism has arisen in the colonies of Corinth - perhaps in Syracuse in Sicily. According to scientists, on this basis we can assume that the device had relevance with Archimedes.
Archimedes, who lived in Syracuse and died in 212 BC, invented a planetarium, a mechanism for calculating the movements of the Moon and the known planets at the time, and wrote a book about astronomical mechanisms that do not come down to us.
Antikythera Mechanism, sometimes referred to as "the first analog computer", was found over a hundred years ago on a board of a ship that sank near the tiny island Antikythera that to the north of Crete. Previously, scientists have determined that the device was made during the period 140-100 BC. And only now, through a system of visual modeling with high-resolution three-dimensional X-ray tomography, the specialists were able to decipher inscriptions and reconstruct the functions of the bronze gears mechanism. As a result of the latest researchers was managed to look in detail at the scale at the rear of
the instrument, including the names of all 12 months of the ancient calendar.
The names of months have Corinthian origin, which leads to the hypothesis of heritage, ascending to Archimedes.
According to researchers, the link between mechanism and the Corinthians was unexpected, as the rest of the cargo ship, apparently came from the eastern Mediterranean - Rhodes and Pergamum. The names of months, written on the case of the device almost completely coincide with the names of the calendars, originating from Illyria and Epirus - areas in north-western Greece - as well as from the island of Corfu. The names of the seven-month point to possible links with Syracuse.
From the inscriptions also reveal that one of the scales of the instrument used to record dates of Olympics - they were held every four years and served as a generally chronological milestone for the ancient Greeks, scientists said.
Many riddles of mechanism have not yet been disclosed. If we talk about broader issues, as noted scholars and historians, yet it is unclear which place this mechanism got in the development of ancient Greek technology. In ancient literature there are few references to similar instruments, including a description of the device, created by Archimedes in the writings of Cicero. But this mechanism is extracted from the seabed in 1901 - the only obvious pattern, survived to the present day.
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