Is the Dial of Destiny that is the focus of the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones adventures inspired by a real artifact?
In December 2022, Indiana Jones 5 finally revealed its title: The Dial of Destiny! The trailer also revealed the design of this strange artifact, which is central to the new film’s plot. After the Ark of the Alliance, the Stones of Sankara, the Holy Grail or the Crystal Skull, this fifth installment of Indy’s adventures presents us with a new object that will awaken everyone’s desires!
Much like the artifacts from previous installments, the Dial of Destiny takes inspiration from the real world, imbuing it with a supernatural aura. It is also called Antikythera in the film and is said to have been invented by Archimedes himself, since the scientist discovered the famous “Push”.
As we mentioned above, Indy’s intrigues have always been inspired by true legends and beliefs, be it the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, or the Crystal Skull. This Dial of Destiny is also based on a real artifact: the Antikythera machine. Researchers have made several assumptions about the identity of the true designer of this machine.
The most likely hypothesis is therefore Archimedes of Syracuse (287 to 212 BC), the father of static mechanics. A student of the famous physicist could also have been his inventor, such as Hipparchus of Nicaea (-190 to -120), founder of trigonometry, or Posidonius of Rhodes (135 to 51 BC).
Also known as the Antikythera Mechanism, it is believed to be the first ancient analog computer. The object made it possible to calculate astronomical positions. It is a bronze mechanism composed of dozens of gears connected and arranged on several levels. Greek inscriptions can be read on it.
DR The Antikythera Machine
A single example of this machine was discovered in 1901 in a wreck near the Greek island of Antikythera between Kythera and Crete. The wreck of Antikythera was the wreck of a Roman galley, dating to before 87 BC. was dated.
“Observations revealed that the ship was a Roman galley, believed to have sunk in a storm over 2,000 years ago, and had many amphorae, statues, coins and other miscellaneous items on board,” explains Geo magazine.
This machine is the oldest known gear mechanism. Its fragments are kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
The discovery of this mechanism, also called “the first computer”, challenged the historical knowledge of Greek science. The complexity of this machine and the meticulousness of its implementation are unique at this time (87 BC).
Disney The Dial of Destiny
Mechanisms of this type will take almost a thousand years to emerge. In 1905, the German philologist Albert Rehm was the first to recognize that it was an astronomical calculator.
“Our work reveals the Antikythera Mechanism as a magnificent design that translates superb engineering into an ingenious device. It challenges all our preconceptions about the technological capabilities of the ancient Greeks,” wrote a team of researchers from the University College of London (UCL). in the journal Scientific Reports.
Note that this dial also evokes a specific alethiometer, a kind of compass that shows the truth of any question asked. She appears in author Philip Pullman’s Crossroads trilogy.