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Tuesday, October 04, 2005 → by Danieru
This bemused and amazed me, I hope it does you too...
Will future archeologists look back at our culture in 2000 years time and marvel at how advanced we were? I would love to think so. I would also like to believe that this Egyptian model really was used as a flying toy, or as the basis for a full-scale version, but the 'symbolic purpose' argument is so easily wielded and often impossible to argue with. It's probably been labeled as a 'soul ascension vehicle' by now and put in cold storage with a heap of shiny scarab beetles. (check out this link for some highly ridiculous hieroglyphic readings...)
What do you think? Is it possible that the Egyptians were flying primitive airplanes 2000 years before the Wright brothers got off the ground, or are mummified-pigs more likely to fly?
"This object (shown in sketch) was found in 1898 in a tomb at Saqquara, Egypt and was later dated as having been created near 200 BCE. As airplanes were unknown in the days when it was found, it was thrown into a box marked "wooden bird model" and then stored in the basement of the Cairo museum.The linked article goes on to assess a handful of other possible ancient flying machines, but this one takes the biscuit for its sheer plausibility. I always have problems with how often ancient artifacts are viewed symbolically, even metaphorically. Humans have been using the same basic brains for the entirety of our 'civilised' history, is it so impossible to assume that practicality or vanity sometimes took precedent in these remote, symbol driven cultures?
It was rediscovered by Dr. Khalil Messiha, who studied models made by ancients. The "discovery" was considered so important by the Egyptian government that a special committee of leading scientists was established to study the object.
As a result of their findings, a special exhibit was set up in the center hall of the Cairo museum, with the little model as its centerpiece. It was even labeled as a model airplane......In that context, it seems rather incredible that someone, more than 2,000 years ago, for any reason, devised a model of a flying device with such advanced features, requiring quite extensive knowledge of aerodynamics. There were no such things as airplanes in these times, we are told by archeologists and historians. But this case seems to be an exception, living in the midst of the rather unimaginative and rigid paradigm of contemporary science. It is also necessary to point out that Egyptians are known to have nearly always made scale-models of projects and objects which they planned to create or build..." - link
Will future archeologists look back at our culture in 2000 years time and marvel at how advanced we were? I would love to think so. I would also like to believe that this Egyptian model really was used as a flying toy, or as the basis for a full-scale version, but the 'symbolic purpose' argument is so easily wielded and often impossible to argue with. It's probably been labeled as a 'soul ascension vehicle' by now and put in cold storage with a heap of shiny scarab beetles. (check out this link for some highly ridiculous hieroglyphic readings...)
What do you think? Is it possible that the Egyptians were flying primitive airplanes 2000 years before the Wright brothers got off the ground, or are mummified-pigs more likely to fly?
Categories: History, Mystery, Egypt, Archeology, Hoax?, Amazing, Myth, Technology, Weird
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I think an extension of what you're talking about is the whole "alien archeology" fascination. It's sort of a way to downplay non-European civilizations, a kind of archaeological Bell Curve (for crazies).
btw:
"A similar type of curving wings are implemented on the Concorde airplane, giving the plane a maximum lift without detracting from its speed.
'In that context, it seems rather incredible that someone, more than 2,000 years ago, for any reason, devised a model of a flying device with such advanced features, requiring quite extensive knowledge of aerodynamics."
Hmm, oh really, in the context of the CONCORDE airplane. Maybe they weren't considering breaking the sound barrier three times over to give trans-Atlantic flight a pickup... *sigh. -this is Jenny btw
October 04, 2005 10:09 AM
Finally, proof! :)
October 04, 2005 10:45 PM
They found it and thought it might lead to a secret chamber and so, after much hassling with the Egyptian authorities they were allowed to build a robot to crawl up the tunnel - they found a small door at the end. MYSTERY INCREASED! was it a secret passage to a chamber of untold riches? or maybe a doorway into another universe (stargateat your heart out?)
Years pass, another robot is built, this time with the ability to drill through the small doorway and peer inside. The atmosphere is electrifying. Live on TV across the world the camera scoots up the tiny hole, taking a good hour or so to get in drilling distance of the door.
The drill spins!
The cameras zoom in!
Millions watch?
Breath are held!
And then! Beyond the amazing door! What secrets have been witheld for over 2000 years! It's......
A limstone block. Yes that's right, a solid, limestone block, even more boring than the first.
Those crazy Egyptian tomb builders... its almost as if they knew how to wind-up future archeologists and conspiracy theorists the world over.
Time to put the robot in cold storage and call it a day...
Check out the full story of the epic double doored passageway here...
Enjoy
October 05, 2005 6:55 AM
They need friggin' Webwawat to "investigate the airshafts in the third chamber," but then use a candle to guage the "slight draft" in the northern equivalent?
"However, these doors made the story about the Great Pyramid of Khufu more exciting, especially because the second door in the south shaft does not look like the first one and also the door in the north shaft is located in the same place as the one in the south shaft and appears similar to it with its two copper handles. "
exciting... sure. Wow, am I glad I'm not an archaeologist. Then again, at least I'd have a webpage regulary read by bored geijin... Nope, still glad.
October 05, 2005 4:26 PM
Much of the problem in the discussion comes from calling the item a "model airplane". This implies that the object in question is presumptively a miniature image ("model") of our modern, powered, heavier-than-air flying machines ("airplane"). I consider this to be "Von Danniken logic", which amounts to a mixture of "magical thinking" and wishful imagination.
On the other hand, it's entirely reasonable that somebody in those times might find occasion to fool around with bits of reed and/or papryus, come up with a working glider (which is what I'd bet this really is!), and decide to make a more-durable version out of wood, for the amusement of his/her friends and children. I'd be more impressed if it had a propeller, even one spun by a pulled string. (I gather they had nothing to match our rubber-bands. ;-) )
Then too -- scale matters a lot, as does the goal of a project. It's a lot easier to cobble up a hand-held toy that will glide a few feet, than it is to build something that can hold up a human weight, and keep *that* in the air for any length of time. If you think about it, the Egyptians could probably have made a barely-passable hang-glider too, but *I* wouldn't trust my butt to such a thing! (Admittedly, I've never been hang-gliding, even with modern equipment.) But the key developments needed for the first powered airplane able to carry a human were: (1) better structural materials (notably aluminum), and (2) a compact and reasonably-light motor/fuel combo (the Wright brothers used a bicycle engine). That makes for a long jump from hand-held wooden toys to a 747, let alone the Concorde.
October 09, 2005 3:12 PM
Peace, love and blood.
June 17, 2008 11:55 PM
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