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Worlds most modern ancient advancement

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  Quote Berosus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Worlds most modern ancient advancement
    Posted: 13-Nov-2004 at 20:55
Others have already mentioned the advancements that are most obvious to me, the Baghdad battery and Hero's steam engine.  However, I can add these:

The world's oldest flush toilet, found in the queen's chambers in the Minoan palace at Knossos.  That's something that would be re-invented in the 19th century.

The cup that looked like glass, but wouldn't break when dropped.  Petronius mentioned this in one of his stories about the Roman emperor Tiberius, who then killed the inventor because he saw this as a threat to the stability of Rome.  It may not be true, but if it is, we could have an early form of plastic described here.

The iron Ashoka Pillar, which has been standing out in the Indian climate for at least 16 centuries without rusting.  I believe only last year was a way found to cast a pillar like that.

The skull of Rhodesian man, the first Neanderthal found in Africa, has a bullet hole in it!  Did he actually live in the 18th or 19th century, and get shot by a European, or did somebody have guns, thousands or tens of thousands of years ago?
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  Quote coolstorm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Nov-2004 at 02:41

In the first emperor tomb of Chin China. They discovered some swords that had some compound steel layer on them. I have forgot what type. I read an article on it. This technology was later discovered again by the Germans during ww2. The layer prevented the sword from rust and made them tougher. There was a sword that was bent by a collaped tomb warrior. they removed the warrior and the sword turned straight by itself. Such type of position-memorizing mental wasn't discovered until the 20th century also.

during the three kingdom period of china, the preminister of shu state also invented some wooden cows could contain and transport foods for the army. the wooden cows could move by themselves.

he also invented the most ancient rocket. the concept of the rocket is similar to that of the modern one. it was for communication purposes of the military and had fire underneath.

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  Quote Cywr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Nov-2004 at 23:49
The only thing that bothers me is the purpose of them.  Sure, elctroplating.  But surely there must be some other purpose too?


But why must there be some other purpose?
For a while Europeans realised you could stick two pieces of metal in a citrus friut, and get some off prickle feeling from it, it was only in the 1800s that some Italian realised that this was effectivly a battery and that that pricling sensation was current, and even then it took a while before people figured out what to actualy use it for.
And alternative uses are not always obvious. Clockwork mecahnisms had been around in Europe for the best part of half a millenia, possibly longer, and radios for about a century, electric dynamos even longer, but it was only a decade ago that someone thought to combine those three elements and make a clockwork radio, despite how obvious and usefull it may seem, no-one though to do it, (or there again, maybe they did and it was dismissed, over looked, etc.)

Its highly likely that someone realised that it could be used in electroplating by playing around, without understanding the inner dynamics of what is going on.
Its easy to say, "ah, thats a battery, they could have done so much more with it", but if they are not aware of what a 'battery' (as we know it to day) is, or what exactly is going on, then that whole window of opportinity that we see is invisible to them.

And perhaps the invention didn't spread because it didn't really have that much use back then?


Is the most likly scenario.
Take the ancient Greeks and their 'steam engine', technicly it harnessed the power of steam, but it was basicly little more than a nifty party trick, so it didn't get anywhere and was eventualy forgotten somewhat, untill modern steam engines came along and people starting saying "hey, those old Greeks did that too".
There are numerous such examples, inventions are only renembered if there is a profitable use for them, otherwise they are forgotten by the mainstream, and become curiosities.


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  Quote Styrbiorn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Nov-2004 at 15:35
Originally posted by white dragon

i believe that we are just recently figuring out how to make the greek tireme


Rather trying to find out how the old Greeks built their triremes, which is a completely different matter (archaeology/reverse engineering as opposed to actual invention/engineering).
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  Quote white dragon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Nov-2004 at 14:48
i believe that we are just recently figuring out how to make the greek tireme
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  Quote Kubrat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-Oct-2004 at 20:05
Don't be so doubtful...

The only thing that bothers me is the purpose of them.  Sure, elctroplating.  But surely there must be some other purpose too?  And perhaps the invention didn't spread because it didn't really have that much use back then?
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  Quote Quetzalcoatl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-Oct-2004 at 18:31

Unfortunately, there is no written record as to the exact function of the jar, due to destruction of Iranian literary sources and libraries by Arabs upon invasion of Iranian territories in 7th century, but the best guess is that it was a type of battery.
Scientists believe the batteries (if that is their correct function) were used to electroplate items such as putting a layer of one metal (gold) onto the surface of another (silver), a method still practiced in Greater Iran today.

 

 Electroplating is practiced everywhere around the world not just in iran. I find this hard to believe, that they've discovered a battery so early. If they've invented that, this would have been a great achievement. So the arabs were a killer of  great civilisation, if this invention was recorded and someone has exploited them today we would been travelling outside the solar system.

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  Quote Cyrus Shahmiri Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-Oct-2004 at 15:46


In June, 1936, while a new railway was being constructed near the city of Baghdad workers uncovered an ancient tomb. In the excavation that followed it was determined that the tomb was built during the Parthian period which ranged from 250 BC to AD 250 (+/-).

According to most texts the "voltic pile," or electric battery, was invented in 1800 by the Count Alassandro Volta. Volta had observed that when two dissimilar metal probes were placed against frog tissue, a weak electric current was generated. Volta discovered he could reproduce this current outside of living tissue by placing the metals in certain chemical solutions. For this, and his other work with electricity, we commemorate his name in the measurement of electric potential called the volt.
The little Parthian jar found in ancient Western Iranian territories of Greater Iran (now Iraq), suggests that Volta didn't invent the battery, but reinvented it. The jar was first described by German archaeologist Wilhelm Konig in 1938.  The jar was found in Khujut Rabu just outside modern Baghdad and is composed of a clay jar with a stopper made of asphalt. Sticking through the asphalt is an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar - orany other electrolytic solution - the jar produces about 1.5 to 2.0 volts.


The jars are believed to be about 2000 years old from the Parthian period (The third Iranian dynasty ruled roughly 248 BCE to 28 April CE 224),  and consist of an earthenware shell, with a stopper composed of asphalt. Sticking through the top of the stopper is an iron rod. Inside the jar the rod is surrounded by a cylinder of copper. Konig thought these things looked like electric batteries and published a paper on the subject in 1940.
World War II prevented immediate follow-up on the jars, but after hostilities ceased, an American, Willard F. M. Gray of the General Electric High Voltage Laboratory in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, built some reproductions. When filled with an electrolyte like grape juice, the devices produced about two volts.


Not all scientists accept the "electric battery" description for the jars. If they were batteries, though, who made them and what were they used for?
Unfortunately, there is no written record as to the exact function of the jar, due to destruction of Iranian literary sources and libraries by Arabs upon invasion of Iranian territories in 7th century, but the best guess is that it was a type of battery.
Scientists believe the batteries (if that is their correct function) were used to electroplate items such as putting a layer of one metal (gold) onto the surface of another (silver), a method still practiced in Greater Iran today.

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  Quote Imperatore Dario I Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-Oct-2004 at 14:54

Originally posted by Kubrat

How about the way sound carries in Greek Amphitheaters?  No one knows how they did it, no one can design a theater which carries sound as well either.

And Greek Fire, I'm pretty sure that we don't know its chemical composition today.

 

I think we're just beginning to grasp what Greek Fire was. It was never written down, so we just may never know. But it's believed to be some kind of petroleum product.


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  Quote SJI Lasallian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-Oct-2004 at 05:46
I heard they found in China...unique ancient sex 'toys' that were used by the neglected concubines of the ancient Chinese emperors...
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  Quote Shifty Russian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Oct-2004 at 21:52
Originally posted by TMPikachu

In northern China, they dug up a 1000 year old bra

I was looking for that

I believe i saw a doc - on a mechanical moon calandar - from around the Galileo era. Galileo also created a pretty kool - measuring device - for the "mile stones"

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  Quote Yiannis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Oct-2004 at 07:33

The "Mechanism of Antikithera"

 

Search for the words in Google

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  Quote TMPikachu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2004 at 20:26

In northern China, they dug up a 1000 year old bra

 

 

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  Quote Quetzalcoatl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2004 at 19:29

 

 Irresistible.

 

 As for invention, french kiss.

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  Quote Quetzalcoatl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2004 at 19:29

 

 Is that girl irresistible or is it just.

 As for invention, I'll say french kiss.

 

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  Quote I/eye Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2004 at 05:12

Tripitaka Koreana, consisting of over 80,000 blocks, created during mongol invasions, was stored in Hae-In temple, but in the 1970's they moved some to a modern storage facility with air humidity control etc, and defections started to appear, and they moved them back to the old temple where no problems arose



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  Quote Tobodai Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2004 at 16:39
some dude in Alexandria made a steam engine
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  Quote Kubrat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2004 at 15:07
How about the way sound carries in Greek Amphitheaters?  No one knows how they did it, no one can design a theater which carries sound as well either.

And Greek Fire, I'm pretty sure that we don't know its chemical composition today.
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  Quote demon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2004 at 12:42

I heard that sumerians had helmets that were so fine that it could be rivaled only by our current technology.

Grrr..
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  Quote Ptolemy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01-Oct-2004 at 14:02
I think a greek in Alexandria made a toy 'train' one time, but he never recognized the significance of it.
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