The Antikythera Mechanism is a 2000 year old computer

115 years ago, divers found a piece of gold on a Greek island. It changed our understanding of human history. One hundred and fifteen years ago, an archaeologist was examining artifacts found in a 2,000-year-old shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera. Among the precious objects of the ruins — beautiful vases and pots, jewels, bronze statues of ancient philosophers — are the most diverse: the process of making jewelry and playing instruments in place of the mantel clock scale. Archaeologists have called the tool the Antikythera Tool.

A modern reconstruction of the mechanism. LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images

𝔍𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞 𝔚𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔵𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔭𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔱𝔬𝔬𝔩 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔭𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔡𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔭 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔲𝔰𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔯𝔞𝔣𝔱. ℑ𝔫 𝔞𝔡𝔡𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔠𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔩𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔰. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔭𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔵𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢 𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔰, 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔫 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔶, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔬𝔭 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔨𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔰. piotrmak | Instagram | Linktree

What is the Antikythera Mechanism? At first glance, the piece of metal found near the wreckage looks like something you might find in a junk yard or hanging on the wall of a swimming pool.

But if you look at this machine, you will see evidence of at least a dozen, carefully placed on top of each other, which are precisely set in the watch of the Swiss owner. This is the level of technology that archaeologists often attribute to the 16th century, shortly before the first.

But the mystery remains: what is the purpose of this work? The world’s first mechanical computer?
For archaeologists, it was immediately obvious that the mechanism was some kind of clock, calendar, or calculating device. But they don’t know what it is about.

For decades, they debated: Is Antikythera a miniature model of the planet? Or maybe it was the first astrolabe (instrument for calculating latitude)?

In 1959, Princeton science historian Derek J. de Solla Price provided the most in-depth scientific analysis of the project to date. After looking closely at the gear, he realized that the system was used to describe the position of the planets and stars in the sky according to the calendar month. The instrument will represent the calendar year and in turn will move several small gears to show the movements of the planets, the sun and the moon.

𝔍𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞 𝔚𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔵𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔭𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔱𝔬𝔬𝔩 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔭𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔡𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔭 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔲𝔰𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔯𝔞𝔣𝔱. ℑ𝔫 𝔞𝔡𝔡𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔠𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔩𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔰. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔭𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔵𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢 𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔰, 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔫 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔶, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔬𝔭 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔨𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔰. piotrmak | Instagram | Linktree

So you can set the main gear to a calendar day and get an approximation of where those objects in the sky will be on that day. And Price said on the pages of Scientific American that it is a computer: “This system is like a big clock in the sky… or like a modern analog computer that uses mechanical parts to avoid tedious calculations.

It is a computer in the sense that you, as a user, can enter a few simple changes and it will produce many complex mathematical calculations. Today, computer programs are written in digital code — a series of numbers and zeros. This old clock has its code symbol and the mathematical measurement of its application. All the user has to do is enter the date into the device, and with the next step of gear rotation, the system can calculate approximately the angle of the sun passing through the sky.

A picture taken at the Archaeological Museum in Athens on September 14, 2014 shows a piece of the Antikythera Mechanism.
LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Image

Scientists have even learned how the Antikythera Mechanism works

Since the discovery, modern X-ray and 3D imaging technology has allowed scientists to dig deeper into the remains of the structure and learn more about its secrets.

In 2000, researchers discovered a text — a kind of manual — written in a part of the system that had never been seen before. The text — written in small decipherable ancient Greek letters — helped them solve the puzzle of what the machine was made of and how it worked. All in all, it’s amazing. The system consists of several dials and clock faces, each with a different function to measure the movements of the sun, moon, stars and planets, but all of them work from the main crank:

A small rock or mirror that would have passed through the sky to show the movements of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter across the night sky.
The position of the sun and the moon, in relation to the twelve stars of the zodiac

Solar calendar, identifying the 365 days of the year
Lunar calendar, counting the 19-year lunar cycle
A small sized ball that rotates to show you the moon phase

It is very beautiful: another dial of the series that counts down the days of sports events that are regularly organized on the Greek islands, such as the Olympic Games.

𝔍𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞 𝔚𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔵𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔭𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔱𝔬𝔬𝔩 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔭𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔡𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔭 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔲𝔰𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔯𝔞𝔣𝔱. ℑ𝔫 𝔞𝔡𝔡𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔠𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔩𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔰. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔭𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔵𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢 𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔰, 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔫 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔶, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔬𝔭 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔨𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔰. piotrmak | Instagram | Linktree

His organization is still another mystery. How the ancient Greeks did this work is not known to this day. Whatever his use and construction, we know this: his discovery changed our understanding of human history and reminds us that a stroke of genius is possible at any human age.