By Shreesha Ghosh
8 September, 2022
This circular bronze artefact is at least 2,000 years old and was found in the sunken wreckage of a Greek cargo ship in 1901. It contained a maze of interlocking gears and mysterious characters etched on the top face. Scientists and archaeologists were baffled by the discovery and have figured it to be an astronomical calculator and the world's first analogue computer.
Image source: Wikipedia
German archaeologist Wilhelm Konig found these five mysterious clay jars containing an iron rod encased in a copper cylinder and believed them to be batteries for electroplating. But the details of the discovery are unclear. Some think König unearthed it during an excavation in 1936 and others say he found it in 1938 in Baghdad Museum.
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In 2004, police discovered a movie theatre in the Catacombs of Paris. They are underground ossuaries (storage for the bones of the dead). The theatre had a giant cinema screen, projection equipment, film reels, a fully stocked bar, rocks cut into seats and a restaurant. When the police left and returned for a formal investigation, all the equipment had vanished, but a note was left behind, "Ne cherchez pas" ("Do not search").
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Egyptian boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun's mummy was discovered on 28 Oct 1925 by English Egyptologist Howard Carter. He was the 13th pharaoh of Egypt, and his mummy was found in its entirety with treasures that helped egyptologists to understand the process of mummification. The king's life and cause of death are ambiguous as it is believed that he died from an infection or injuries sustained in a chariot accident.
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In 2015, archaeologists from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, excavated a 5,000-year-old stone slab that measures 43 ft by 26 ft. It contains cup and ring markings, the best example of the Neolithic or Bronze Age. It features around 90 carved indentations, the finest sets of rock carving. Few researchers have linked the stone's inscriptions to astronomical phenomena, like eclipses, but none have been proven yet.
Image source: Wikipedia
Discovered in the 1960s, this ancient multi-level underground city near Cappadocia, Turkey, is an architectural marvel, according to archaeologists. Throughout the excavations over time, it was found that volcanic eruptions helped its formation. People used the area at different points in history as a shelter during times of war.
Image source: Wikipedia
Among the different train tracks that branch out from the Grand Central Terminal’s network in NY, several are hidden underground. The one known as Track 61 throughout history was said to have a secret entrance to the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Former President Franklin D Roosevelt used this track the most to travel from the hotel to the station, allowing him to avoid the press and the public.
Image source: Alamy