Poem: "The Artifacts of Antiquity"
Aug. 8th, 2019 06:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the August 6, 2019 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from redsixwing and alexseanchai. It also fills the "hazy" square in my 8-2-19 card for the End of Summer Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by redsixwing. It belongs to the Time Towers series, which you can find via the Serial Poetry page.
"The Artifacts of Antiquity"
There are so many things
that people once knew
how to make but have
been forgotten since.
Egyptian blue captured
the color of the gods.
Both China and Greece
produced ancient androids
that could work wonders.
The ancients also had batteries,
like the famous Baghdad Battery.
The Mirror of Archimedes
harnessed the power of the Sun,
setting fire to enemy ships.
Roman concrete drew
its strength from seawater,
getting stronger rather than
weaker over time.
Greek fire rained hell on
the enemies of Byzantium.
All of these secrets were
lost in the hazy past,
dismissed as magic
or outright myth.
So when time travel
was discovered, people
went back to figure out
how they really worked.
It's amazing how many of them
turned out to be invented by women.
* * *
Notes:
Egyptian blue was an ancient pigment with exceptional artistic qualities.
Ancient androids appeared in multiple cultures including Greece and China. They were animated in various ways.
The Baghdad Battery used iron, copper, and an acidic liquid to generate weak electricity. It may have been used for medical or artistic purposes. However, a series of such batteries linked together would have produced enough energy to animate small machines.
The Mirror of Archimedes was described as a set of mirrors that could light ships on fire. So far, all the hypotheses I've seen amount to some sort of mirror-telescope or magnifying glass. Nobody seems to have considered that he might have invented a laser ... somehow. But it sure acted like one.
Roman concrete capitalized on the elements in seawater to make itself stronger. Some of it is still standing and functional even today. That's about 2000 years. Modern concrete falls apart in 5-10, less if it includes iron infrastructure.
Greek Fire was an incendiary material that could not be put out with water. It was delivered by pumps or flung shells. I have always suspected that the empire fell, not because nobody remembered how to make Greek fire, but because the last person that did was a woman who said, "Y'know, fuck it. If I'm not getting credit, let the barbarians have 'em." After all, nobody would ever have suspected her of knowing it.
redsixwing and alexseanchai. It also fills the "hazy" square in my 8-2-19 card for the End of Summer Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by redsixwing. It belongs to the Time Towers series, which you can find via the Serial Poetry page."The Artifacts of Antiquity"
There are so many things
that people once knew
how to make but have
been forgotten since.
Egyptian blue captured
the color of the gods.
Both China and Greece
produced ancient androids
that could work wonders.
The ancients also had batteries,
like the famous Baghdad Battery.
The Mirror of Archimedes
harnessed the power of the Sun,
setting fire to enemy ships.
Roman concrete drew
its strength from seawater,
getting stronger rather than
weaker over time.
Greek fire rained hell on
the enemies of Byzantium.
All of these secrets were
lost in the hazy past,
dismissed as magic
or outright myth.
So when time travel
was discovered, people
went back to figure out
how they really worked.
It's amazing how many of them
turned out to be invented by women.
* * *
Notes:
Egyptian blue was an ancient pigment with exceptional artistic qualities.
Ancient androids appeared in multiple cultures including Greece and China. They were animated in various ways.
The Baghdad Battery used iron, copper, and an acidic liquid to generate weak electricity. It may have been used for medical or artistic purposes. However, a series of such batteries linked together would have produced enough energy to animate small machines.
The Mirror of Archimedes was described as a set of mirrors that could light ships on fire. So far, all the hypotheses I've seen amount to some sort of mirror-telescope or magnifying glass. Nobody seems to have considered that he might have invented a laser ... somehow. But it sure acted like one.
Roman concrete capitalized on the elements in seawater to make itself stronger. Some of it is still standing and functional even today. That's about 2000 years. Modern concrete falls apart in 5-10, less if it includes iron infrastructure.
Greek Fire was an incendiary material that could not be put out with water. It was delivered by pumps or flung shells. I have always suspected that the empire fell, not because nobody remembered how to make Greek fire, but because the last person that did was a woman who said, "Y'know, fuck it. If I'm not getting credit, let the barbarians have 'em." After all, nobody would ever have suspected her of knowing it.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-08-08 04:39 pm (UTC)Coat cheap stuff with gold and sell it. Preferably nowhere near home, cause when the gold wears off...
Yes ...
Date: 2019-08-08 07:15 pm (UTC)* Check to see the "earliest known" case of people electroplating things, then compare that to the time and location of the battery.
* Check for outliers that nobody believed, e.g. seemed to be produced in another time and place but were thought to be the result of hoax or error.
* Search the area around where the battery was found, paying particular attention to precious metal artifacts, to see if any were actually electroplated.
* Also look for other things that might confirm different theories, e.g. medical tools or automata.
* Map the location of the battery onto a trade map of its period. Trace the lines to the nearest several trading hubs. Check finds from those places and/or do some new digs looking for electroplated items that had been sold away from home.
* Browse records from the time period to see if anyone had made a passing reference to faked gold items, a new medical treatment, self-mobile devices, or a jar full of lightning.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2019-08-09 12:09 am (UTC)* Check to see the "earliest known" case of people electroplating things, then compare that to the time and location of the battery.<<
"Earliest known" would be late 1700s/early 1800s. So not useful.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2019-08-09 01:39 am (UTC)A grad student could have so much fun with this project. In the Time Towers, that's probably what got someone to go back and look for the original.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-08-08 07:29 pm (UTC)Merci, madame
Date: 2019-08-09 01:39 am (UTC)