Mystery of oldest computer solved
The Antikythera mechanism, a compact ancient device discovered by sponge divers near the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901, was designed to track the movements of the sun, moon, and planets.
The Antikythera mechanism — an ancient shoebox-sized device that was used to track the motions of the sun, moon and planets — followed the Greek lunar calendar as was previously thought.
The Antikythera mechanism, a compact ancient device discovered by sponge divers near the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901, was designed to track the movements of the sun, moon, and planets. Dating back approximately 2,200 years, this intricate instrument, featuring bronze gears, is often considered the world’s oldest computer.
The device included a component known as the “calendar ring,” which was intended to mark the days of the year with individual holes for each day. Although the ring is only partly preserved, recent studies using advanced X-ray imaging, combined with precise measurements and mathematical analysis, have suggested that the mechanism tracked 354 days, consistent with the Greek lunar calendar, rather than the Egyptian solar calendar.
In 2020, researchers utilized X-ray images to propose that the mechanism covered a 354-day year. More recently, another research team applied sophisticated statistical techniques to examine the arrangement of the known holes and reconstruct the probable layout of the missing holes. Their findings indicated that the mechanism likely featured 354 or 355 holes, reinforcing the idea that it followed the Greek lunar calendar rather than the 365-day Egyptian solar calendar.
