History Channel - Ancient Discoveries: Machines of the Gods 1/4

Ancient Discoveries is a documentary television series that premiered on December 21, 2003 on The History Channel. The program focuses on ancient technologies. The show's theme is that many inventions which are thought to be modern have ancient roots or in some cases may have been lost and then reinvented. The program is a follow-up to special originally broadcast in 2005 which focused on technologies from the Ancient Roman era such as the Antikythera mechanism and inventors such as Heron of Alexandria. Episodes of the regular series have expanded to cover other areas such as Egypt, China and East Asia, and the Islamic world.

Ancient Discoveries was made for The History Channel by Wild Dream Films based in Cardiff in the UK. Much of the filming was done on location across the world. The series uses contributions from archaeologists and other experts, footage of historical sites and artifacts, computer generated reconstructions and dramatized reconstructions along with experiments and tests on reconstructed artifacts.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Greek
• Gods
• Olympus
• Macedonia
• Makedonia
• Alexander
• the
• Great
• Philip
• Macedon
• Greece
• Hellas
• Zeus
• Artemida

[astrologikon]

We have historical accounts of use of mechanic devices in military defence (like Archimedes' in Syracuses) and there is no hint of any superstition in these reports. So it would have been impossible for mechanics to be used by... evil priests to ...impress the... sheep. Typical christian wishful thinking! LOL

At Heron's time mechanics were widespread and often used for scientific or defence purposes. No historical sources, of his time or little later on, exist about any scams or priest tricks.

[astrologikon]

Mechanic inventions begun with Archimedes (his inventions had been used for the military defence of Syracuses, and the Roman general Marcellus was unable to defeat them and had to resort to traitors, to get into the city).

Back then people knew, that such mechanical devices could be made, and there was no reason to suggest any superstition. The whole documentary is inaccurate, ridiculous and shameful and ii only highlights the typical christian smear and hatred against real religions!

[Ricovali]

ITS NOT "BEFORE THE COMMON ERA" ITS "BEFORE CHRIST" B.C. You idiot liberals.

[palinkorn2010]

@astrologikon i think the video brought up some pretty good examples but i don't thik they were evil. just clever

[badpanda84]

WTF  at 1:09 is that a statue with many breast spraying breat milk

[kimokamal5]

Almost all of the great minds and thinkers of ancient Greece have been to Egypt early in their lives to learn from the Egyptians the knowledge that no one knew anything about at that time.The Greeks took that knowledge and added to it.That ancient knowledge almost died out when the barbarians of Europe destroyed the Roman empire but the ancient Muslim Arabs translated all the Latin and Greek books they found and added a lot to it and preserved it for posterity,thats the only good thing they did.

[wavular]

@astrologikon I think you are disillusioned.

[Apollodorosh]

@clone1eighty7 Not to mention the fact that the ancient Hellenes didn't need priests to mediate between them and the God slike in other religions (like xtianity). Everyone could petition the God sthemselves, and offer prayers, sacrifices, worship, etc. Women where in this respect equal to men and could even decide on their own to make pilgrimages. So people had personal relationships with the Gods, and a mediator was unnecessary.

[Apollodorosh]

@clone1eighty7 Actually the documentary is wrong at this point... Hellenic priests didn't have any real power. They where chosen by the community they served. These mechanical devices merely served to more easily bring the worshippers in the right state of mind to commune with the Gods.

[princeofthegodseuphr]

@DavidUmstattd some churches use the same tricks too

[astrologikon]

Heron was a student of Ctesebius (both are considered to be of the Archimedian school of mechanics). Heron, among many things, had invented hydraulic clocks, and a 'dioptra' for geographic and stellar calculations.