10 EURO SILVER COIN PROOF THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM 2022

Περιγραφή

The Antikythera Mechanism was recovered from a shipwreck discovered by sponge divers in 1900 near the island of Antikythera. It is dated to the Hellenistic period and was used for astronomical calculations. It has been characterized as an early form of an “analog computer.” It consists of more than 30 bronze gears that set indicators in motion on different dial faces. The manual selection of a date on the large dial, which represented the zodiac cycle as well as the solar and lunar year, activated the gears and the remaining pointers. These, in turn, displayed on the corresponding dials the position of the selected date within the four-year cycle of the Panhellenic Games (Olympia, Pythia, Isthmia, Nemea), the positions of the five planets known at the time, and their correlation with astronomical cycles of particular interest to the ancient Greeks. The mechanism also predicted solar and lunar eclipses. The study of the mechanism has engaged numerous researchers for decades and continues today through the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, using advanced imaging techniques that constantly reveal new and impressive details about its operation.