this tech was truly ahead of its time
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
insanely advanced ancient technologies
before we begin this video is made in
partnership with Sotheby’s if you’re
interested in seeing more videos of cool
historical artifacts subscribe to
Sotheby’s channel on YouTube for this
list we’re looking at the pieces of
ancient technology that were far more
advanced than most of their
contemporaries or even better than what
we have today
although often a generalized term
applied to any sort of incendiary weapon
the Greek fire invented by the Byzantine
Empire was truly something special
primarily used at sea Greek fire also
called sea fire was a substance
projected through siphons or pressurized
nozzles onto enemy ships which were then
ignited though its method of delivery
was also highly advanced what made Greek
fire unique was that it could not be
extinguished by water its exact
composition was such a closely guarded
secret that we still don’t really know
what it was made of number 9 Efendi dong
Yi Chong hung was an ancient Chinese
polymath who invented this remarkable
device whose name translates to
instrument for measuring the seasonal
winds and the movements of the earth an
early sized Moscone’s invention was a
bronze urn like machine that used a
pendulum and cranks to drop a ball in
one of eight directions which indicated
the direction of an earthquake this
allowed the government to quickly
deliver aid to regions affected by the
disasters the ho Fong si dong Yi was
able to detect earthquakes from hundreds
of miles away even if no tremors were
felt by those in its vicinity which was
very impressive for the time number
eight hi folks
central heating is a relatively recent
development or is it the hypo cost was a
form of primitive central heating
invented by the ancient Greeks and later
adopted by the Romans meaning under
burnt hypo costs were created with
furnaces built under buildings which fed
smoky hot air into a space built between
the ceiling of
lower room and the floor of the upper
one with pipes and outlets used to heat
walls and upper floors while some
private residences use them they
required lots of labour usually done by
slaves to maintain so they were normally
found in public buildings like baths or
temples number seven on our talk disks
named for the town in Greenland where
the first was discovered una talked
disks are compasses that were used for
navigation by the Vikings he told me it
was possible to go west over the open
sea using this the famed Mariners and
raiders used these disks in concert with
Sun stones which were calcite crystals
to navigate even when the Sun was behind
clouds or below the horizon though the
latter was likely less common as they
often sailed above the Arctic Circle
where the Sun rarely sets during certain
seasons the disks and stones allowed
Vikings to navigate within a few degrees
of accuracy and while still not perfect
that was definitely way ahead of its
time
number six ancient metal plating they
don’t fill them like they used to in
fact they can’t numerous metal plating
and gilding techniques of bygone times
are far superior to those of our modern
day ancient metal workers were able to
coat their metals and films of gold and
silver in ways we still don’t understand
creating beautiful and lasting works of
art in addition some artifacts such as
the iron pillar of Delhi India are still
standing and rust free after 1600 years
due to being constructed with
phosphorous which acts as a better under
coating than those we have today number
five steam powered pigeon archie tas was
an ancient greek philosopher and
polymath and among other notable
developments he created a bird-like
device powered by steam a hollow wooden
contraption attached to a source of
steam this pigeon was filled with
pressure to the point where it was
launched through the air allowing it to
fly for a few hundred metres besides
being an early example of steam power
some have referred to Archie tosses
invention as being among the first
flying machines or even one of the first
robots number for the Lycurgus cup sure
a cup can’t be an advanced piece of
technology right well as it happens they
can be the like Kyrgyz cup is an ancient
Roman cup that changes colors depending
on which direction it’s lit and possibly
which substance is put inside it this
effect is achieved by microscopic gold
and silver particles within the glass
which means that the Romans developed
rudimentary nanotechnology over a
thousand years ago not only that but the
like Kyrgyz Cup is arguably more
advanced than current technology used
for differentiating different substances
within water and has been inspiring
scientists to emulate it we may think
we’re serious drinkers now but the
Romans took things to a whole other
level
number three ancient Chinese drills and
gas pipelines drilling deep into the
ground may seem like a recent human
endeavor but China has been delving the
depths of the earth for around two
millennia the ancient Chinese drilled
into the ground not for oil but for salt
which was rare further inland to find it
underground
they developed highly sophisticated
drilling technology capable of reaching
hundreds of feet underground and with a
variety of drill bits for different
situations their excavations also
uncovered methane pockets which along
with the salt water they harvested and
transported using bamboo pipelines just
a reminder to subscribe to Sotheby’s
channel for more videos featuring
amazing and unique artifacts like a lost
Imperial Chinese Vaz that was found in a
French attic number two heroes robotic
cart hero or Heron of Alexandria was in
many ways the Leonardo da Vinci of the
first century he created many things
that were centuries ahead of their time
including automatic doors and even a
coin-operated vending machine arguably
one of his most impressive inventions
was a programmable cart that some
considered to be one of the earliest
robots instead of strings of code though
the cart was programmed with literal
strings allowing it to go forwards and
backwards as well as turn number one the
Antikythera mechanism named for the
island it was found off the coast of
this mysterious device was actually an
ancient Greek analog computer composed
of bronze and around the size of a clock
the Antikythera mechanism could be used
to indicate the location of stars the
phases of the Moon and the position of
the planets
the Greeks knew about years in advance
it could also keep track of the
four-year cycle of games like the
Olympiad the device used complex
clockwork the likes of which would not
be seen again until the 14th and 15th
centuries and its creation predates most
computers by a good 2,000 years this
video is made in partnership with
Sotheby’s click the link to subscribe to their channel for more cool videos
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
insanely advanced ancient technologies
before we begin this video is made in
partnership with Sotheby’s if you’re
interested in seeing more videos of cool
historical artifacts subscribe to
Sotheby’s channel on YouTube for this
list we’re looking at the pieces of
ancient technology that were far more
advanced than most of their
contemporaries or even better than what
we have today
although often a generalized term
applied to any sort of incendiary weapon
the Greek fire invented by the Byzantine
Empire was truly something special
primarily used at sea Greek fire also
called sea fire was a substance
projected through siphons or pressurized
nozzles onto enemy ships which were then
ignited though its method of delivery
was also highly advanced what made Greek
fire unique was that it could not be
extinguished by water its exact
composition was such a closely guarded
secret that we still don’t really know
what it was made of number 9 Efendi dong
Yi Chong hung was an ancient Chinese
polymath who invented this remarkable
device whose name translates to
instrument for measuring the seasonal
winds and the movements of the earth an
early sized Moscone’s invention was a
bronze urn like machine that used a
pendulum and cranks to drop a ball in
one of eight directions which indicated
the direction of an earthquake this
allowed the government to quickly
deliver aid to regions affected by the
disasters the ho Fong si dong Yi was
able to detect earthquakes from hundreds
of miles away even if no tremors were
felt by those in its vicinity which was
very impressive for the time number
eight hi folks
central heating is a relatively recent
development or is it the hypo cost was a
form of primitive central heating
invented by the ancient Greeks and later
adopted by the Romans meaning under
burnt hypo costs were created with
furnaces built under buildings which fed
smoky hot air into a space built between
the ceiling of
lower room and the floor of the upper
one with pipes and outlets used to heat
walls and upper floors while some
private residences use them they
required lots of labour usually done by
slaves to maintain so they were normally
found in public buildings like baths or
temples number seven on our talk disks
named for the town in Greenland where
the first was discovered una talked
disks are compasses that were used for
navigation by the Vikings he told me it
was possible to go west over the open
sea using this the famed Mariners and
raiders used these disks in concert with
Sun stones which were calcite crystals
to navigate even when the Sun was behind
clouds or below the horizon though the
latter was likely less common as they
often sailed above the Arctic Circle
where the Sun rarely sets during certain
seasons the disks and stones allowed
Vikings to navigate within a few degrees
of accuracy and while still not perfect
that was definitely way ahead of its
time
number six ancient metal plating they
don’t fill them like they used to in
fact they can’t numerous metal plating
and gilding techniques of bygone times
are far superior to those of our modern
day ancient metal workers were able to
coat their metals and films of gold and
silver in ways we still don’t understand
creating beautiful and lasting works of
art in addition some artifacts such as
the iron pillar of Delhi India are still
standing and rust free after 1600 years
due to being constructed with
phosphorous which acts as a better under
coating than those we have today number
five steam powered pigeon archie tas was
an ancient greek philosopher and
polymath and among other notable
developments he created a bird-like
device powered by steam a hollow wooden
contraption attached to a source of
steam this pigeon was filled with
pressure to the point where it was
launched through the air allowing it to
fly for a few hundred metres besides
being an early example of steam power
some have referred to Archie tosses
invention as being among the first
flying machines or even one of the first
robots number for the Lycurgus cup sure
a cup can’t be an advanced piece of
technology right well as it happens they
can be the like Kyrgyz cup is an ancient
Roman cup that changes colors depending
on which direction it’s lit and possibly
which substance is put inside it this
effect is achieved by microscopic gold
and silver particles within the glass
which means that the Romans developed
rudimentary nanotechnology over a
thousand years ago not only that but the
like Kyrgyz Cup is arguably more
advanced than current technology used
for differentiating different substances
within water and has been inspiring
scientists to emulate it we may think
we’re serious drinkers now but the
Romans took things to a whole other
level
number three ancient Chinese drills and
gas pipelines drilling deep into the
ground may seem like a recent human
endeavor but China has been delving the
depths of the earth for around two
millennia the ancient Chinese drilled
into the ground not for oil but for salt
which was rare further inland to find it
underground
they developed highly sophisticated
drilling technology capable of reaching
hundreds of feet underground and with a
variety of drill bits for different
situations their excavations also
uncovered methane pockets which along
with the salt water they harvested and
transported using bamboo pipelines just
a reminder to subscribe to Sotheby’s
channel for more videos featuring
amazing and unique artifacts like a lost
Imperial Chinese Vaz that was found in a
French attic number two heroes robotic
cart hero or Heron of Alexandria was in
many ways the Leonardo da Vinci of the
first century he created many things
that were centuries ahead of their time
including automatic doors and even a
coin-operated vending machine arguably
one of his most impressive inventions
was a programmable cart that some
considered to be one of the earliest
robots instead of strings of code though
the cart was programmed with literal
strings allowing it to go forwards and
backwards as well as turn number one the
Antikythera mechanism named for the
island it was found off the coast of
this mysterious device was actually an
ancient Greek analog computer composed
of bronze and around the size of a clock
the Antikythera mechanism could be used
to indicate the location of stars the
phases of the Moon and the position of
the planets
the Greeks knew about years in advance
it could also keep track of the
four-year cycle of games like the
Olympiad the device used complex
clockwork the likes of which would not
be seen again until the 14th and 15th
centuries and its creation predates most
computers by a good 2,000 years this
video is made in partnership with
Sotheby’s click the link to subscribe to their channel for more cool videos
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