9 Rare Historic Things You Won't Believe Existed

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• published: 14 Oct 2016
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From kinky furniture to ancient batteries here are rare historic things you won't believe existed! Subscribe to Talltanic http://goo.gl/wgfvrr #4 The Baghdad Battery In 1938, German archaeologist Wilhelm Konigwhile was on a dig just outside Baghdad in modern day Iraq when he found a five-inch-long clay jar containing a copper cylinder that encased an iron rod. The vessel had clear signs of corrosion. Testing revealed that an acidic agent like vinegar or wine had been inside the cylinder and the rod. The battery-like item has been dated to around 200 B.C., which is known as the Parthian era. The Parthians were a warrior society not noted for scientific achievement. Replicas of the Baghdad batteries can conduct electricity. Some experts think that the early Iraqis were using wine, vinegar, lemon or grape juice as an acidic electrolyte solution that could generate an electric current of about two volts. Whether these artifacts are truly batteries and what they were used for is still up for debate. #3 The Nebra Sky Disc The Nebra Sky Disc is such a spectacular representation of the universe that archeologists were once convinced it had to be a forgery. The Bronze age artifact was discovered in 1999 near the Ziegelroda Forest in Germany by two men who were exploring the forest with metal detectors. They sold the Sky Disc on the black market, where it was traded several times, gaining stature with each purchase. When archeologists finally got a good look at the Disc after a police sting, they were stunned by the Disc's beauty and size. They suspected it was a fake, since Bronze age people were believed to have been violent and brutal, with no understanding of the world around them. The Disc caused them to rethink their beliefs about the sophistication of ancient peoples. The huge disc is one foot across and weighs almost five pounds. The body is made of bronze, with several symbols made of gold. The symbols appear to be a sun, moon and several stars. The angles show the precise journey of the sun between summer and winter for the latitude in Nebra. This shows that Bronze age Europeans were aware of the movement of the stars and how it impacted their world. The Nebra Sky Disc is considered one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century. #2 The James Ossuary The James Ossuary is a mysterious limestone bone box that bears an Aramaic inscription reading “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” Its discovery in 2002 shocked the world, but archeologists cannot agree on whether the box is real or fake. If the James Ossuary does contain the bones of James, brother of Jesus, it will be the oldest recorded reference to Jesus Christ. The Ossuary dates from the time period around Jesus' birth and death, as it is believed to have been made sometime between 0 and 70 A.D. First century Jewish people commonly collected the bones of a dead person and placed them inside an ossuary. Two paleographers, who are experts in dating and authenticating inscriptions, have examined the Ossuary and concluded the inscription is authentic. Other evidence suggests the Ossuary is the burial box of James the Just. Professor Camil Fuchs analyzed the box and concluded that of the thousands of ossuaries that have been found, only one refers to a brother. Naming a brother or son was only done when the person who is referred to has achieved great fame or importance. Professor Fuchs also studied the frequency of names in the first century, reporting that statistically there was only 1 person named James with a brother named Jesus and a father named Joseph living in Jerusalem at the time. #1 Antikythera Mechanism The ancient Greek machine known as the Antikythera Mechanism is said to be more valuable to human history than the Mona Lisa. That's because the mechanism turned out to be the world's first analog computer. The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered in 1900 by divers who were exploring a shipwreck off of a Greek island. The machine, which was discovered inside a wooden box, resembles a large clock. It contains 233 teeth and multiple moving gears and 80 fragmented pieces. The amazing machine was carbon-dated to around 150 to 100 B.C. Archeologists believe that the mechanism actually relies on early Babylonian astronomical theories and calculations, meaning that the knowledge it represents dates from far earlier than 150 B.C. This technology appears to have been lost to human knowledge, since it would be thousands of years before a machine of such complexity would appear again. Scientists are amazed by the complexity and accuracy of the Antikythera Mechanism's measurements. By winding a knob on the side of the mechanism, the machine can show the positions of the sun, moon and specific stars and planets on any specific date and time. The device could replicate the movements of the moon caused by its elliptical orbit around the earth. It could also predict the dates of solar and lunar eclipses.