All language subtitles for The UnXplained s07e02 Impossible Ancient Inventions.eng

An ancient nuclear weapon

that turned a city to glass.

A pillar made of iron,

impervious to decay.

And a mystical chemical elixir
that turns lead

into gold.

Today, many of us believe
that we're living

in a civilization
that has reached the height

of technological innovation.

But all around us,

there are clues
that an ancient world

once existed which possessed

extraordinary feats
of engineering,

chemistry and
mechanical marvels.

What innovations can be
found in the legends of the past?

And who were the masterminds
behind what we might call

impossible ancient inventions?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

This Mediterranean
stronghold was once the most beautiful

and powerful city
of ancient Greece.

But in 213 BC,

the Romans wanted
to take it for themselves

and began a siege,

deploying a formidable force

of over 60 warships

equipped with the latest devices

to support their assault.

Yet they would soon discover
that overpowering the defenses

at Syracuse would
be a terrifying task

as they faced the
ingenious inventions

of the great
mathematician Archimedes.

Archimedes is
a huge figure in intellectual history,

and he was a-a scientist,

he was an inventor,
he was a philosopher.

He did many, many
important inventions,

such as the Archimedes' screw,

which was basically a screw

to draw water up from the
waterways so you can irrigate.

And he was located in Syracuse,

so when the Romans
decided to lay siege to the city,

we have Archimedes using
his considerable intellect

and his considerable
practical skills

and technological skills to
try to help save his home city.

One of the things
he did is he built numerous kinds

of catapults and ballistae...

things that threw
bolts and rocks.

And so they could
never even get close

with their big siege towers.

He also used his
knowledge of levers.

You can, say, lever
out a huge rock

and drop it right on a ship.

Archimedes
was a master of tools of war.

He could try the
Claw of Archimedes,

and it was an iron
claw like my hand.

And it reached out from shore,

grabbed the ship,

pressed it down,
and caused it to sink.

But one of the things
that he may have had

was the idea of the death ray.

In addition
to the monstrous claw,

the great thinker invented a
devastating new technology

that could attack ships

before they reached
the island fortress.

It's a weapon shrouded
in mystery and myth

that has come to be known
as Archimedes' death ray.

Archimedes' death ray

had some beam
of magic electrical

or-or energy beam
that could reach out

and sink these Roman ships,

set them on fire
from a distance.

Of course, fire
is terrifying at sea

because the ship's gonna
burn to the waterline.

So you're either gonna burn
to death or you're gonna drown.

Neither one of those
are happy conclusions.

So, this idea that
ancient Greeks

in the third century BC

had some beam

that could reach out and
sink these Roman ships,

set them on fire
from a distance,

it just sparks the imagination.

The ingenious
inventions of Archimedes

repelled Rome's nautical
assault for over a year.

Eventually, in 212
BC, the Roman army

was able to breach
the wall of the outer city

and take control of Syracuse.

And at 78 years old,

Archimedes was mistakenly
killed by a Roman soldier.

Today, more than 2,200 years

after the siege of Syracuse,

the legend of
Archimedes' death ray

continues to mystify us.

One of the fun things about
thinking about ancient devices,

there are these ones
that have been a mystery.

We think of them
as impossible things

for ancients to have done.

And certainly, for
most of human history,

it's really fundamentally hard

to get a ray beam to be
really tight and energetic.

But we really don't
know how they did it.

How did
Archimedes invent

such an advanced
weapon technology

thousands of years ago?

Well, some experts
theorize that he devised

a surprisingly simple solution.

He harnessed the
power of the Sun.

On a crisp autumn
day, students from

the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology

align dozens of mirrors
throughout the campus

and wait for the Sun to shine.

One of the most
interesting experiments

was with Archimedes' death ray.

They built a-a model
of a piece of the ship,

and they took about 40 mirrors,

and they held
them up to the Sun.

When they got them all focused

and got ten minutes of good sun,

they were able to
catch wood planking...

like just chunks
of wood... on fire.

So it does suggest that
the Archimedes' death ray

is not a crazy idea.

You know, we don't really
know what happened,

but this shows that something
sure could've happened

that made the
Archimedes' death ray

a totally interesting
and plausible story.

We have
to commend them for trying

to duplicate the conditions

that existed 2,000 years
ago in building this device.

They were able
to set a small fire,

but a fire that could knock
out a fleet of enemy ships

probably was not done.

The distances are enormous.

So, it's possible
to focus the light,

it's possible to create a fire,

but not over the distances
involved and the number

of fleets of ships that
are coming at you.

The truth
behind Archimedes' death ray

is still shrouded in mystery.

Archeological
evidence of the invention

has never been found,

and there are no surviving
records from Archimedes himself.

In fact, the first known mention
of Archimedes using mirrors

appears 700 years after
the siege of Syracuse

in a work by Greek
mathematician Anthemius of Tralles.

It was pure speculation
that he had used some sort of

large mirror or focusing device.

But this idea of a directed
energy beam is a powerful idea.

And then that carries through
to the technologies of today.

Today, we use lasers.

We use them to shoot missiles
out of the sky from our ships.

Archimedes was
talking about death rays,

something that we wouldn't see
for a few more thousand years.

We're talking about laser beams.

Laser beams that
have enough power

to literally fry the enemy,

to punch a hole in the
hull of enemy ships.

Archimedes was onto
something, a new form of warfare,

but the state of the matter
is, we simply don't know.

Whether Archimedes'
death ray existed or not,

the details of this mythic
invention suggests...

that even our most
advanced modern technology

may have started
in the ancient world.

We like to think
that science is building steadily

on earlier achievements.

That it's sort of a
steady linear progression

of adding knowledge
and technology.

What we often find
is that civilizations

go in-in spurts, and-and-and
they can disappear,

and whole knowledge
can disappear.

Civilizations can get invaded.

Libraries can catch on fire.

And so, a lot of our
technological process

seem to be, every once in a
while, reinventing the wheel.

Could some of today's

most cutting-edge
advancements actually be

reinventions of
ancient technology?

Perhaps further evidence
may be found by examining

an ancient Hindu text

said to describe
an atomic weapon.

In the final
days of World War II...

the deadliest conflict
in human history...

the United States
sends a B-29 bomber

over the Japanese
city of Hiroshima

and drop an atomic bomb.

Three days later, another
A-bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.

Having witnessed
the devastating power

of atomic weaponry firsthand,

Emperor Hirohito announces
Japan's total surrender,

and the Second World
War comes to an end.

Before then, warfare was
always done on a small scale.

It was settled right
there on the battlefield.

But with nuclear weapons,

you could vaporize the enemy.

Never in the history
of Homo sapiens,

until the development
of the atomic bomb,

have we had the power
of total annihilation.

According
to most historians,

the bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki

mark the first and only time

that atomic bombs
were deployed in warfare.

But is it possible
that this technology

existed in the distant past?

There is a growing
belief that atomic weapons

were not only invented
thousands of years ago

but they were
also responsible for

wiping an ancient
metropolis off the map.

A team of researchers from
the Indian Archaeological Survey

excavate a mound on the
banks of the Indus River.

They find the
remnants of a vast city,

dating back an
astonishing 5,000 years,

called Mohenjo-Daro.

Mohenjo-Daro

is one of the first
real cities in the world.

It seems to have been
one of the great centers

of what is called the
Harappan civilization.

This was a very,
very well-planned,

very successful civilization.

It had several cities, but
Mohenjo-Daro is the largest,

stretching over 250 acres.

It had thousands and
thousands of people.

They had sewage systems.

They had bathing systems.

And then a very strange
thing about it is its rapid demise.

It seems to, disappear very, very quickly

from the archeological record.

Mohenjo-Daro was a vital,

thriving society civilization
for many thousands of years.

And suddenly, by
around 1200 BCE,

the civilization vanished.

That's another baffling story.

Some kind of disaster

killed thousands and
thousands of people.

Mohenjo-Daro means
the "Mound of the Dead"

in Urdu language.

Something unspeakable
happened in the site.

Even though experts
agree that Mohenjo-Daro

had at least
40,000 people living,

we only found 43
skeletons so far.

Which is very strange,
because we are supposed to find

more human remains.

So, what happened
to the humans there?

One of the kind of
amazing features

is this scene of what appears
to be massive destruction.

They've discovered
over 40 bodies,

clearly wiped out together.

And researchers
have found evidence

of high levels of radioactivity
in these skeletons.

And I find this fascinating
because of a couple of things.

One is, you know, could this
have been a nuclear explosion?

The
evidence on the ground

during excavations
seem to reveal

high levels of radioactivity.

And this started to suggest

that the ancient peoples

did indeed have what we
might describe as atomic bombs.

Atomic
bombs leave a clear

radioactive signature
after detonation.

And while these
radioactive skeletons

are certainly intriguing,

it's not the only evidence
of a nuclear event.

One of the most
mysterious aspects of Mohenjo-Daro

was the discovery
of vitrified glass

and evidence of fusion.

It was found that stones
had quite literally melted,

and that this was being
found at Mohenjo-Daro.

Very similar to what happened
at Nagasaki and Hiroshima

in the 20th century.

If one of
the oldest civilizations

really was destroyed
by atomic warfare,

would there be
a historical record

of such a monumental event?

Well, some believe there is,
in a 5,000-year-old Hindu text

that speaks of weapons
of mass destruction

deployed during a
great ancient war.

According to historical text

called Mahabharata,

there was an ancient world
war that happened in India,

very close to Mohenjo-Daro.

In the Mahabharata, there
are advanced weapons

very similar to nuclear weapons.

The classic example of
this is called the Brahmastra.

When you activate
the Brahmastra,

it creates a huge fireball

that can destroy an entire city.

They talk about how
bright it is and how hot it is.

So, it is quite possible

that there was a
nuclear explosion

in Mohenjo-Daro.

Is the
Mahabharata proof

that atomic weapons were
invented thousands of years ago?

While it's a matter of debate,

there is a very
strange coincidence

surrounding this text.

J. Robert Oppenheimer,
the father of the atomic bomb,

who led the top-secret
U.S. program

to develop the atomic
bomb during World War II,

was obsessed with
the Mahabharata.

And Oppenheimer
developed a particular affinity

to a portion of this text
called the "Bhagavad Gita."

In American Prometheus,
we write quite a bit about

Oppenheimer's
fascination with the "Gita."

We can quote from
letters that he wrote

to his brother Frank,
saying how excited he was

to have discovered
these Hindu scriptures.

And Oppenheimer repeatedly

quotes from the "Gita"
throughout his life.

It's a little curious in that
he's a boy from New York City,

he was a product
of Western culture,

not Indian civilization

that goes back
thousands of years,

and yet there was
some driving attraction

that Oppenheimer
held for the "Gita."

We know that
Oppenheimer read the "Bhagavad Gita,"

and it is all about how
the weapons were used,

how the weapons were
designed or manufactured.

So that might have
given him some idea

or some impetus to
design this atomic bomb.

Was the atomic
bomb a reinvention

of a devastating
ancient technology?

There are some who
certainly believe it to be true.

But there's another
legendary creation

whose purpose is
not to destroy worlds

but rather to
create true wonders.

It's a mystical elixir known
as the philosopher's stone.

On the grounds
of this rural farmhouse

is an apple tree that represents

a legendary story in
the history of science.

It is said that here, in 1666,

a young Isaac
Newton was pondering

the mysteries of the universe,

when he saw an apple fall
straight down from the tree.

In a flash of inspiration, the
great scientist and inventor

formulated a theory that
would change the world,

known as the law of gravity.

Isaac Newton was
one of the foremost

individuals in the so-called
Scientific Revolution.

He had his hand in everything.

He co-invented calculus.

He formulated laws of motion.

He did important
optical experiments,

which explained
the nature of light.

He was the first
to really theorize

and mathematize gravity.

Newton was a genius.

But in addition to
that, there is a Newton

that most people don't know,

which is that he was
also an alchemist.

Sir Isaac
Newton's towering intellect

helped lay the foundation
for modern science.

But many are surprised to
learn that he was also obsessed

with a mystical practice
that stretches back

over 4,000 years
to ancient Egypt

called alchemy.

The ancient practice of alchemy

is really an art
of transformation.

Taking substances apart,

breaking them down
to their essences,

and then recombining
those essences

in the hope of getting
something that is

more pure, more useful.

It does sound like
magic, but it's actually

the precursor to
modern chemistry.

The
idea is that it's sort of

science working in a
framework of magic.

These are basically
scientists trying to figure out

how to change one
thing into another.

On the one hand, it's sort
of a scientific endeavor.

On the other hand,
it's a mystical endeavor.

Today, when we
look back at alchemists,

we laugh, we realize

there's so much black
arts involved with that.

But realize that, for its
time, it was legitimate.

You could do chemical
reactions and mix potions

and sometimes come
up with interesting results.

Isaac Newton was
fascinated by alchemy

because alchemy,
back then, was fair game.

It was a tremendous mystery.

Alchemists
sought to unlock

the mysteries of
the physical world.

And by the seventh century,

references to a
legendary substance

began appearing
throughout alchemical texts.

It was a concoction
so shrouded in secrecy,

it was often
represented by symbols

and in coded language.

Every master alchemist,
including Sir Isaac Newton,

yearned to crack the code
to creating what is called

the philosopher's stone.

The first use of the term
"philosopher's stone"

stretches back
to Arabic alchemy.

Really... Probably
around the seventh century

of the Common Era.

And then it becomes commonplace

in both medieval alchemy
and early modern alchemy.

The philosopher's
stone is really

the most important substance
in alchemical literature.

The philosopher's
stone was a substance

that alchemists believe
would give you the ability

to transmute base metals,

like lead or tin,
into gold or silver.

And Isaac Newton was
interested in the process

of making the
philosopher's stone.

Sir Isaac Newton was
trying to create something capable

of transforming a worthless
metal into gold or silver.

And while the
philosopher's stone

sounds like the name
of a magical rock,

according to most
alchemical texts,

this enigmatic substance has
more in common with fairy dust.

Philosopher's stone
kind of evokes, like,

a stone, a precious stone.

But in actuality, usually
the philosopher's stone

appears in writings
as types of powders

or elixirs that can be added in
the course of the experiment.

Theoretically, if you can
create the philosopher's stone,

if you can go through all the
steps and stages correctly,

once you have the
philosopher's stone in your hand...

and again, not a
stone, but a powder...

you can actually change
a base metal into gold.

The philosopher's stone
is just viewed as the ultimate element.

So, to achieve the
philosopher's stone is sort of

unlocking the
secrets of the universe

and being able to control
the secrets of the universe.

And so, we can look at concepts
like the philosopher's stone now

and say, "this is just-just,
you know, a legendary thing."

And yet, we know
Sir Isaac Newton

was absolutely
fascinated in the quest

for the philosopher's stone.

Newton was
fascinated by the idea that

there could be transformative
substance out there

that can change
one thing to another.

We can see through Newton's
manuscripts that he devotes

an enormous part of
his life and his research

to the making of the
philosopher's stone.

On his quest to
invent the philosopher's stone,

Sir Isaac Newton
studied the works

of the great
alchemists in history

and pored over strange texts

said to reveal
its secret recipe.

One of Newton's
favorite individuals

for studying alchemy
was an English alchemist

in the late Middle Ages
named George Ripley.

One of my favorite
alchemical documents

at the Huntington
is our Ripley Scroll.

It's a 16th century
ten-foot-long scroll,

and it tells the story of how to
make the philosopher's stone.

And it just has the most wild
imagery you've ever seen.

There's this bleeding
serpent-like toad.

There's a bird with the
head of a human being.

Green lions and
things like that.

So, this imagery
isn't just there

in order to be
interesting to look at.

It holds keys to what alchemists
were doing in the laboratory.

Was Isaac Newton
able to decode the secrets

of the Ripley Scroll

and ultimately create
the philosopher's stone?

The answer's unclear.

Many of the great thinker's
personal manuscripts

were destroyed after a fire
broke out in his laboratory.

But in 2016, a rare
Newton document

on the philosopher's
stone was unearthed

that may hold some clues to
how successful the genius was

at changing metal to gold.

The manuscript that we have
at the Science History Institute

is, an alchemical recipe for
the making of sophic mercury.

It's part of the process for
making the philosopher's stone.

Now, we don't have any
record of Isaac Newton

actually transmuting
lead to gold,

but did he make the
philosopher's stone?

That's an open question.

We don't know
exactly if Newton thought he had

discovered the
philosopher's stone.

This manuscript helps us
understand that Newton believed

it's entirely possible.

But no, I think it
remains to be revealed.

Did Sir Isaac Newton actually
create the philosopher's stone,

a substance that could

miraculously turn
lead into gold?

It's a tantalizing thought

and a possibility

when you consider
evidence of what some believe

is ancient alchemy

that's standing
right in front of us.

Built in
1889 as an homage

to the industrial
strength of France,

this striking achievement
in metalworks

has held its iconic stance

in the City of Light
for nearly 150 years.

Once the tallest
structure in the world,

the Eiffel Tower
has endured, in part,

due to a fresh coat of paint
that's applied every seven years

to protect the structure
from rust and corrosion.

And 4,000 miles away in India,

on the southern
fringe of New Delhi,

stands another
tall iron monument.

But this soaring column

presents one of the greatest
mysteries in ancient metallurgy.

It's called the
iron pillar of Delhi.

The iron
pillar of Delhi is located

within a religious complex

that was originally constructed

as a Hindu temple
to the god Vishnu.

It's obviously made of iron,

but it has not
corroded in any way,

and yet it has stood
in its current position

for at least 800
years, and before that,

elsewhere for another
several hundred years.

Where it had originally stood

in the Madre Pradesh
region of India,

it would almost seem as if a
new technique was invented

to preserve it from corrosion
for thousands of years.

And so far, it has quite
literally done that job.

So what is the secret?

Why has this iron
not corroded in a way

which iron normally does?

So, this would seem
to be a technology

that was completely lost,
because if it wasn't lost,

we'd have been using it today.

So how did ancient
people invent iron that doesn't rust?

India's humid climate is
supposed to accelerate

the process of corrosion.

And the iron pillar's
cryptic ancient origins

only make this
miraculous invention

even more confounding.

What we have here is a pillar

that was originally
created to be special.

It was put there
in pride of place,

very close to this
huge minaret tower.

The minaret tower
is 238 feet tall,

and the iron pillar

is 23 feet, eight inches,

which is exactly
one-tenth of the tower,

showing that there is some kind
of relationship between the two.

But what it is remains
a true mystery.

We really do not know who this

iron pillar belongs
to or who built it.

There are inscriptions
on the pillar itself.

It is attributed to
King Chandragupta,

and he ruled around
fourth to fifth century CE,

but there is also
controversy about that name

because there is only a
name "Chandra" on the pillar.

It does not say "Chandragupta."

So, it could also
mean another king

called Rama-chandra,
which is a legendary king.

And if it is true,
then that goes back

to some 12,000 BCE.

The true age of the
iron pillar is a matter of debate.

But if it really does
date back to 12,000 BC,

that would mean it
was forged 10,000 years

before iron was even discovered.

And while many believe
the structure's more likely

1,600 years old,

what can explain the
lack of corrosion and rust?

How was this achieved?

In 2003,

scientists from the Indian
Institute of Technology

performed an analysis
on the iron pillar

in an attempt to
find some answers.

Scientists
have analyzed all the elements

that went into
building this iron pillar.

They found it is 98% iron
and one part is phosphorus.

That has produced
what they call "misawite."

And the misawite
is a kind of film

that is coated the pillar,

that is what protects
from corrosion

and rust.

The Delhi iron pillar

is the evidence
of lost technology.

No one has been able to
replicate the same iron pillar.

Rust slowly
starts eating into iron,

and it can destroy anything.

This is how iron and moisture
are normally supposed to behave,

but the iron pillar of India

does something
very, very different.

When moisture comes into
contact with the iron pillar,

it basically converts
that moisture

into a very unique compound,
forming a protective coating,

making it even more
resistant to rusting.

The remarkable theory

that the ancient column
creates its own protective layer

to shield it from the
elements begs the question:

How did the ancient
inventors do it?

Iron is a major

element for bridges
and buildings.

And eventually, you know,
they catch a corrosion,

and they rust, and
eventually they collapse.

And we have seen
a lot of examples,

you know, around the world.

The builders who
built the iron pillar

did not leave the
knowledge behind,

other than the example,
which is still standing,

but it has not been
replicated by anyone else.

The builder knew
the secret formula

to make it corrosion-free,

but the knowledge
is lost forever.

It's fascinating to think about

where modern
metallurgy might be today

if the true secrets
of the iron pillar

had not disappeared
from history.

And the same can be said
for another ancient invention

created by a man so powerful,

he was called "The
King of Poison."

For over 6,500 years,

humans have used a
combination of minerals,

vegetables and herbs

to concoct toxic potions
we know as poison.

History is filled with stories
of how poison was used

to change the course of events

for the likes of emperors,
queens and philosophers.

But perhaps most intriguing

is a remarkable invention
created in the first century BC

by a ruler named
Mithridates the Great,

also known as "The Poison King."

Mithridates was the king
of poison in numerous ways.

And one of them being,

he was truly using
poison as-as a tool of war.

But he was said to have come
up with either a powder or a pill

that he took every day

that would make you
immune to poison,

the universal antidote

that would keep you so that
you couldn't die from poison.

The story goes
that when he was young,

Mithridates found
out or realized

that his mother had
killed his own father

by poisoning him.

And knowing that he
was in line for the throne,

he started to realize

that his mother was
also trying to poison him.

He realized this because,
as he was having his meals,

he would feel incredibly
sick afterwards.

And he thought, almost
certainly correctly,

that she was putting small
amounts of poison in his food.

So, he went into hiding,

and he started working
with poisons and toxins.

And Mithridates,
over a period of years,

was able to
create this antidote,

a cure-all for everything.

And this is something that
Mithridates is famous for,

even referred to as "The
Poison King" for this reason.

Mithridates'
invention of a universal antidote

to all poisons...
known as "mithridate"...

made him a legend
of the ancient world.

But is it possible

that such a miraculous
invention really worked?

Some say the most compelling
evidence can be found

by examining this
great king's own death.

King
Mithridates was vanquished

by the Romans at the
end of three bloody wars.

And he did what most kings
who had been vanquished did,

and that was to kill
himself, to die by suicide.

So, he decided to kill
himself by taking a poison.

But he couldn't die because
he had become immune.

And the idea is
that he was immune

to the most poisonous of poisons

because he had taken an
antidote for a very long time.

So instead, he asked
to be killed by the sword.

So, the story of the death
is actually the best proof

that his antidote worked.

Is it possible

that King Mithridates
invented a universal antidote

capable of
counteracting any poison?

And if so, why hasn't anyone

been able to
duplicate his formula?

King Mithridates'
formula was sought after,

and the Romans
went to great length

to get the formula

and then translate
it into Latin.

And then they developed
all sorts of formulas

that were based on the
formula of Mithridates.

One recipe is very short.

It's four ingredients.

And then we have another
recipe has around 50 ingredients.

But we have many
different mithridatic antidotes

in our sources.

They're always
different, the ingredients,

but they have things in common.

Which one is the real
antidote? We don't know.

I like to call it "a
pharmacological ghost,"

because it's always...
you know, it's around.

We know it's there, but
we can't quite capture it.

These
legends about Mithridates

and his universal antidote
traveled through history.

Poisonings continued
to be very popular

throughout the Roman Empire,
throughout medieval Europe,

even throughout the Renaissance.

So, people were always
looking for that universal antidote.

We don't know if
anyone has ever found it.

The Poison
King's miraculous invention

is lost to history,

but if we ever do
unlock this secret recipe

to neutralize any poison,

it would not only
save countless lives,

it could also change modern
medicine as we know it.

I think an antidote
is certainly an area

where mystery and
medicine certainly collide.

This quest for an antidote
or a universal medicine,

it certainly says something
interesting about humanity

and our desire to
find, cure-alls

and things that
will improve life

and make our existence better.

The year 2000.

Archaeologists unearth
the mummified remains

of a Roman noblewoman
and her 18-year-old son.

There on the woman's
hand is a 2,000-year-old ring

with a remarkably
lifelike portrait

of her beloved son.

This very
unique ring, it's set in gold,

and it's got a crystal.

It's a cabochon crystal,
which means that

instead of being
faceted like you might see

with a gemstone, it's
been polished smooth.

And it has inside a
likeness of her son

that is remarkably like
a modern hologram.

And it really gives that
feeling that this ring is-is magic.

Modern
holograms are advanced

three-dimensional images
created by projecting light,

often by laser beams.

Rudimentary hologram
technology wasn't invented

until 1948 by the Hungarian
physicist Dennis Gabor.

So how was this
holographic ring created

almost 2,000 years ago?

It's often
called a "hologram ring."

It's not a hologram, of course,
but it follows the same idea

that you're actually
seeing a 3D image.

Crystals refract light
in interesting ways,

and the artisanship behind
this was really fabulous,

to be able to put a
reflective face in the back.

This is what gives it its
kind of eerie 3D effect.

And this is the only example
of this that we currently have.

The ring certainly
leads you to wonder:

Was this just one
technology, one person,

and then it was lost?

Someone could probably
try to duplicate it today.

But maybe this was this piece
of technology from someone

who was very
special in their art

and who-who's gone.

We may never know
who created the holographic ring

or how exactly they
created this intricate relic,

but its mere existence is proof

that the inventors
of the ancient world

were capable of far more
than we give them credit for.

It's always
a fascinating moment

in archeology when we realize

how advanced some
of the techniques

and the knowledge were from
some of these ancient civilizations.

I think a big part
of the puzzle is,

we understand where we
get our knowledge from,

but we look back at some
of these amazing inventions,

these displays of knowledge,

and we have a
hard time imagining,

before science,
before universities:

How did these societies build
all of this body of knowledge?

When you think of modern
technology, we say to ourselves,

"Yeah, we invented that.

"Yeah, we're the
ones who pioneered

this breakthrough
in technology."

And then we realized
there were antecedents.

There were other versions
of this very same technology

that the ancients
were toying with.

When you begin to understand
the technology of the ancients,

begin to realize the ancients
had their own wisdom,

a wisdom that is parallel
to the wisdom of today.

Whether it's something
as monumental

as a death ray or
an atomic bomb,

or as mystical as an
elixir or secret antidote,

history is filled with
fascinating stories

of ancient inventions

that challenge our notion
of human innovation.

Could these
incredible technologies

really have been
achieved hundreds

or even thousands of years ago?

It's an intriguing possibility

that, for now, will remain...

unexplained.

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