More than 2,000 years ago a Roman trade ship began its journey from the island of Rhodes to Rome. It carried beautiful bronze and marble statues, amphorae and other luxury items. The trade ship never reached Rome. Something happened during the voyage to Rome and the ship sank taking with it all its cargo. This happened between 80 and 50 B.C.

In 1900 sponge-divers from the Dodecanese were forced by bad weather to anchor close to the coastline of the tiny southern island of Antikythera. They dove (also dived) down into the waters off the coast to find sponges. What they found were the remains of an ancient Roman trade ship. The divers, using diving helmets, went down to between 40 and 60 metres to the sea floor. At first they thought they had found 'a heap of naked women'. With the help of Greek archaeologists the wreck was explored; several fine bronze and marble statues and other objects were recovered.

In September 1901, the underwater site was abandoned because it was too difficult to explore without heavy equipment. Eight months later Valerios Stals, an archaeologist at the National Archaeological Museum, was examining some lumps of corroded bronze found at the site. Suddenly, looking at the lumps of bronze, he found the remains of a clock-like mechanism 2,000 years old. The mechanism now appears to have been a device for calculating the motions of stars and planets.

It is called the Antikythera Mechanism for the place that it was found. Nothing like this instrument has been preserved elsewhere. Nothing comparable to it is known. Now the great marvel of the late 20th century, the computer itself, turns out to have started out in ancient times. What was lost was now found. Today, the Antikythera Mechanism is in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Check that you understand what these words mean in this document
To anchor: to hold in place in the water using a device usually of metal attached to a ship.
To dive: (dove or dived: the past tense of the verb to dive): go head first into water.
A heap of: a pile of things.
To abandon: to leave.
Lump: a piece of solid substance.
To corrode: to slowly damage by rain or chemicals.
Device: an object that is used for a particular purpose.
To preserve: to keep in good condition.
Comparable: something which is similar to something else.
Marvel : something that causes admiration.

For further information visit:
Animation of Antikythera Mechanism
History of the Computer