Ten amazing inventions from ancient

times
o     
Dating back thousands of years are numerous examples of ancient technology that leave us
awe-struck at the knowledge and wisdom held by people of our past. They were the result of
incredible advances in engineering and innovation as new, powerful civilizations emerged and
came to dominate the ancient world.  These advances stimulated societies to adopt new ways of
living and governance, as well as new ways of understanding their world. However, many ancient
inventions were forgotten, lost to the pages of history, only to be re-invented millennia later. Here
we feature ten of the best examples of ancient technology and inventions that demonstrate the
ingenuity of our ancient ancestors.
1. The ancient invention of the steam engine by the Hero of Alexandria

Heron Alexandrinus, otherwise known as the Hero of Alexandria, was a 1 st century Greek
mathematician and engineer who is known as the first inventor of the steam engine.  His steam
powered device was called the aeolipile, named after Aiolos, God of the winds. The aeolipile
consisted of a sphere positioned in such a way that it could rotate around its axis. Nozzles
opposite each other would expel steam and both of the nozzles would generate a combined
thrust resulting in torque, causing the sphere to spin around its axis. The rotation force sped up
the sphere up to the point where the resistance from traction and air brought it to a stable rotation
speed. The steam was created by boiling water under the sphere – the boiler was connected to
the rotating sphere through a pair of pipes that at the same time served as pivots for the sphere.
The replica of Heron’s machine could rotate at 1,500 rounds per minute with a very low pressure
of 1.8 pounds per square inch.  The remarkable device was forgotten and never used properly
until 1577, when the steam engine was ‘re-invented’ by the philosopher, astronomer and
engineer, Taqu al-Din.
2. Is the Assyrian Nimrud lens the oldest telescope in the world?
The Nimrud lens is a 3,000-year-old piece of rock crystal, which was unearthed by Sir John
Layard in 1850 at the Assyrian palace of Nimrud, in modern-day Iraq.  The Nimrud lens (also
called the Layard lens) is made from natural rock crystal and is a slightly oval in shape.  It was
roughly ground, perhaps on a lapidary wheel. It has a focal point about 11 centimetres from the
flat side, and a focal length of about 12 cm.  This would make it equivalent to a 3× magnifying
glass (combined with another lens, it could achieve much greater magnification). The surface of
the lens has twelve cavities that were opened during grinding, which would have contained
naptha or some other fluid trapped in the raw crystal.  Since its discovery over a century ago,
scientists and historians have debated its use, with some suggesting it was used as a magnifying
glass, and others maintaining it was a burning-glass used to start fires by concentrating sunlight.
However, prominent Italian professor Giovanni Pettinato proposed the lens was used by the
ancient Assyrians as part of a telescope, which would explain how the Assyrians knew so much
about astronomy. According to conventional perspectives, the telescope was invented by Dutch
spectacle maker, Hans Lippershey in 1608 AD, and Galileo was the first to point it to the sky and
use it to study the cosmos. But even Galileo himself noted that the 'ancients' were aware of
telescopes long before him. While lenses were around before the Nimrud lens, Pettinato believes
this was one of the first to be used in a telescope. 
3. The Oldest Calendar in Scotland

Research carried out last year on an ancient site excavated by the National Trust for Scotland in
2004 revealed that it contained a sophisticated calendar system that is approximately 10,000
years old, making it the oldest calendar ever discovered in the world. The site – at Warren Field,
Crathes, Aberdeenshire – contains a 50 metre long row of twelve pits which were created by
Stone Age Britons and which were in use from around 8000 BC (the early Mesolithic period) to
around 4,000 BC (the early Neolithic). The pits represent the months of the year as well as the
lunar phases of the moon. They were formed in a complex arc design in which each lunar month
was divided into three roughly ten day weeks – representing the waxing moon, the full moon and
the waning moon. It also allowed the observation of the mid-winter sunrise so that the lunar
calendar could be recalibrated each year to bring it back in line with the solar year. The entire arc
represents a whole year and may also reflect the movements of the moon across the sky.
4. Ancient Roman Concrete was Far Superior to Our Own

Scientists studying the composition of Roman concrete, which has been submerged under the
Mediterranean Sea for the last 2,000 years, discovered that it was superior to modern-day
concrete in terms of durability and being less environmentally damaging. The Romans made
concrete by mixing lime and volcanic rock. For underwater structures, the combination of lime
and volcanic ash with seawater instantly triggered a chemical reaction in which the lime
incorporated molecules into its structure and reacted with the ash to cement the whole mixture
together. Analysis of the concrete found that it produces a significantly different compound to
modern day cement, which is an incredibly stable binder. In addition, the ancient concrete
contains the ideal crystalline structure of Tobermorite, which has a greater strength and durability
than the modern equivalent. Finally, microscopic studies identified other minerals in the ancient
concrete which show potential application for high-performance concretes, including the
encapsulation of hazardous wastes. "In the middle 20th century, concrete structures were
designed to last 50 years," said scientist Paulo Monteiro said. "Yet Roman harbour installations
have survived 2,000 years of chemical attack and wave action underwater.”
5. 2000-year-old metal coatings superior to today’s standards

Research has shown that artisans and craftsmen 2,000 years ago used a form of ancient
technology for applying thin films of metal to statues and other items, which was superior to
today’s standards for producing DVDs, solar cells, electronic devices and other products. Fire
gilding and silvering are age-old mercury-based processes used to coat the surface items such
as jewels, statues and amulets with thin layers of gold or silver. From a technological point of
view, what the ancient gilders achieved 2000 years ago, was to make the metal coatings
incredibly thin, adherent and uniform, which saved expensive metals and improved its durability,
something which has never been achieved to the same standard today.  Apparently without any
knowledge about the chemical–physical processes, ancient craftsmen systematically
manipulated metals to create spectacular results. They developed a variety of techniques,
including using mercury like a glue to apply thin films of metals to objects. The findings
demonstrate that there was a far higher level of understanding and knowledge of advanced
concepts and techniques in our ancient past than what they are given credit for.
6. The incredible 2000-year-old earthquake detector

Although we still cannot accurately predict earthquakes, we have come a long way in detecting,
recording, and measuring seismic shocks. Many don’t realise that this process began nearly
2000 years ago, with the invention of the first seismoscope in 132 AD by a Chinese astronomer,
mathematician, engineer, and inventor called Zhang (‘Chang’) Heng.  The device was
remarkably accurate in detecting earthquakes from afar, and did not rely on shaking or
movement in the location where the device was situated.  Zhang's seismoscope was a giant
bronze vessel, resembling a samovar almost 6 feet in diameter. Eight dragons snaked face-down
along the outside of the barrel, marking the primary compass directions. In each dragon's mouth
was a small bronze ball. Beneath the dragons sat eight bronze toads, with their broad mouths
gaping to receive the balls. The sound of the ball striking one of the eight toads would alert
observers to the earthquake and would give a rough indication of the earthquake's direction of
origin.  In 2005, scientists in Zengzhou, China (which was also Zhang's hometown) managed to
replicate Zhang's seismoscope and used it to detect simulated earthquakes based on waves
from four different real-life earthquakes in China and Vietnam. The seismoscope detected all of
them. As a matter of fact, the data gathered from the tests corresponded accurately with that
gathered by modern-day seismometers!
7. Mythical sunstone used as ancient navigational device

An ancient Norse myth described a magical gem used to navigate the seas, which could reveal
the position of the sun when hidden behind clouds or even before dawn or after sunset. Now it
appears the myth is in fact true. In March 2013, a team of scientists announced that a unique
calcite crystal, which was found in the wreck of an Elizabethan ship sunk off the Channel Islands,
contains properties consistent with the legendary Viking sunstone and that shards of the crystal
can indeed act as a remarkably precise navigational aid.  According to the researchers, the
principle behind the sunstone relies on its unusual property of creating a double refraction of
sunlight, even when it is obscured by cloud or fog. By turning the crystal in front of the human
eye until the darkness of the two shadows are equal, the sun's position can be pinpointed with
remarkable accuracy.
8. The Baghdad Battery

The Baghdad Battery, sometimes referred to as the Parthian Battery, is a clay pot which
encapsulates a copper cylinder. Suspended in the centre of this cylinder—but not touching it—is
an iron rod. Both the copper cylinder and the iron rod are held in place with an asphalt plug.
These artifacts (more than one was found) were discovered during the 1936 excavations of the
old village Khujut Rabu, near Baghdad. The village is considered to be about 2000 years old,
and was built during the Parthian period (250BC to 224 AD). Although it is not known exactly
what the use of such a device would have been, the name ‘Baghdad Battery’, comes from one of
the prevailing theories established in 1938 when Wilhelm Konig, the German archaeologist who
performed the excavations, examined the battery and concluded that this device was an ancient
electric battery. After the Second World War, Willard Gray, an American working at the General
Electric High Voltage Laboratory in Pittsfield, built replicas and, filling them with an electrolyte,
found that the devices could produce 2 volts of electricity. The question remains, if it really was a
battery, what was it used to power?
9. 1,600-year-old goblet shows that the Romans used nanotechnology

The Lycurgus Cup, as it is known due to its depiction of a scene involving King Lycurgus of
Thrace, is a 1,600-year-old jade green Roman chalice that changes colour depending on the
direction of the light upon it. It baffled scientists ever since the glass chalice was acquired by the
British Museum in the 1950s. They could not work out why the cup appeared jade green when lit
from the front but blood red when lit from behind. The mystery was solved in 1990, when
researchers in England scrutinized broken fragments under a microscope and discovered that
the Roman artisans were nanotechnology pioneers: they had impregnated the glass with
particles of silver and gold, ground down until they were as small as 50 nanometres in diameter,
less than one-thousandth the size of a grain of table salt. The work was so precise that there is
no way that the resulting effect was an accident. In fact, the exact mixture of the metals suggests
that the Romans had perfected the use of nanoparticles.  When hit with light, electrons belonging
to the metal flecks vibrate in ways that alter the colour depending on the observer’s position.
10. The ancient Antikythera mechanism

The Antikythera mechanism was discovered in 1900 during the recovery of a shipwreck off of the
Greek island, Antikythera, in waters 60 meters deep. It is a metallic device which consists of a
complex combination of gears, and dates back to the 2nd century BCE. The Antikythera
mechanism is one of the most amazing mechanical devices discovered from the ancient world. 
For decades, scientists have utilized the latest technology in attempts to decipher its
functionality; however, due to its complexity, its true purpose and function remained elusive. But
in the last few years, a number of scientists appear to have solved the mystery as to precisely
how this incredible piece of technology once worked. Peter Lynch, professor of meteorology at
University College Dublin, explains: “The mechanism was driven by a handle that turned a linked
system of more than 30 gear wheels…The gears were coupled to pointers on the front and back
of the mechanism, showing the positions of the sun, moon and planets as they moved through
the zodiac. An extendable arm with a pin followed a spiral groove, like a record player stylus. A
small sphere, half white and half black, indicated the phase of the moon. Even more impressive
was the prediction of solar and lunar eclipses.” Amazingly, the device even included a dial to
indicate which of the pan-Hellenic games would take place each year, with the Olympics
occurring every fourth year.  Just one small cog out of 30 remains a mystery and it is hoped that
further research can place this last piece in the puzzle.
By April Holloway
o