Did Computers exist in the Ancient World?

The short answer is Yes, computers existed a long time ago.
In fact, the first computer that we know about was created by ancient Greeks more than 2 thousand years ago. To understand what I am talking about - let's dive deeper into the topic and define what computers are. You’re probably imagining something with a screen, keyboard, and mouse. This is a digital computer - it uses zeros and ones to process information. On the other hand, there are analog computers that mostly use mechanical principles and are usually designed to do specific tasks. This type existed before digital computers were invented. And the oldest analog computer that has been found so far - the Antikythera mechanism. It was created by ancient Greeks approximately in the late second or the early first century BC.

In 1901, the shipwreck was discovered near the island of Antikythera in Greece. Among bronze statues, glassware, and jewelry, divers also found a mysterious mechanism. It contained gears, but scientists for a long time couldn’t understand what this mechanism did. After X-ray technology appeared, the item was scanned and it turned out that the device was a model of the solar system. The mechanism tracked a movement cycle of objects in space and could show in what position the sun, moon, and planets would be. Scientists were able to identify 82 parts of the mechanism, 37 of which were bronze gears of different diameters. The user could scroll the main lever, which was responsible for the movement of time, and see the exact position of all space objects known by ancient Greeks. Сreating such a thing was a very difficult job that required exceptional skill in the production of gears as well as serious knowledge of astronomy. Mechanisms with similar capabilities were not invented again until the 14th century. The main purpose of the device is still unclear - it could have been used to confirm theories about space or to keep track of some important events, such as the Olympic Games.