While it’s well known that the ancient Greeks were responsible for inventing one of the first computational devices, the Antikythera mechanism, the Internet is abuzz with claims that one statue dating back to 100 BC depicts an individual holding a modern-style laptop.
According to USA Today, the sculpture in question is known as “Grave Naiskos of an Enthroned Woman with an Attendant” and was used as a funeral marker in 100 BC. The sculpture, which is currently being displayed at the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, depicts a woman sitting in a throne-like chair while a young servant standing in front of her holds open a thin box.
Or is it a thin box? Reports published this week, including one from the Daily Mail, cite claims from people who believe the device is actually a laptop computer, complete with visible USB ports. The object, conspiracy theorists claim, is too wide to be a jewelry box and too thin to be a chest of some kind, and the woman is looking at is like a person looks at a laptop screen.
So was the Oracle of Delphi a laptop? Does this mean that the ancient Greeks actually were the ones who invented modern-day computer technology, or was time travel somehow involved, as the Daily Mail reported some people in tinfoil hats seem to believe? Highly unlikely.
Time travel? Ancient Greek laptops? Sadly, no.
Such theories date back to at least 2014, when YouTube user StillSpeakingOut posted a video in which he said that he was “not saying that this is depicting an ancient laptop… but when I look at the sculpture I can’t help but think about the Oracle of Delphi, which was supposed to allow the priests to connect with the gods to retrieve advanced information and various aspects.”
However, as Inquisitr and The Epoch Times pointed out, wax tablets that the Greeks are known to have used as early as the 14th century BC, and which have a striking similarity in appearance to the so-called laptop in the sculpture, have appeared in other works of art, including a painting from the Greek vase artist Douris that was created sometime around 500 BC.
Kristina Killgrove, a bioarchaeologist at the University of West Florida, further debunked the ancient laptop/time travel claims in an excellent piece for Forbes. She explained that the object in question may be an unrealistic depiction of a jewelry box or a wax tablet, as suggested above. As for the holes in the object, “ancient marble sculptures often have holes that used to hold wooden or other perishable objects,” Killgrove said. “Perhaps a wooden facade graced the box/tablet.”
The sculpture in question “shows evidence of reworking,” she added. It was originally a grave marker with three sides, but the top portion, the lefthand wall and the inscription on the bottom are now missing. The holes could relate to any of the missing pieces, Killgrove said. Finally, she added that there is a possibility that the sculpture itself could either be a fake, or a replica of the original.
One thing that seems clear, though, is that time travel is (sadly) not involved. Nor does it seem as though the Oracle of Delphi was an HP laptop – which seems obvious given the fact that in order to “connect with the gods” and gather information, it probably would’ve needed Wi-Fi. As tends to be the case, the most boring explanation appears to be the most plausible one.
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Feature Image: Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum
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