5 Ancient Inventions That Were WAY Ahead Of Their Time | Answers With Joe
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From napalm flamethrowers to an analog computer, the ancient world was far more clever and technologically advanced than we think it was. Here are 5 ancient inventions that were way ahead of their time.
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LINKS LINKS LINKS:
More on the Greek Fire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VNP50Cdkqs
All about the Antikythera mechanism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpLcnAIpVRA
How to build a Hero’s Engine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKKCBzD7EQs
http://allthatsinteresting.com/greek-fire
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Hero of Alexandria built a steam engine 2,000 years before the industrial revolution.
The Byzantines in Constantinople developed a napalm flamethrower they called Greek Fire.
Muslim armies in the crusades fought with a steel alloy that wouldn’t be reproduced for 1000 years called Damascus Steel.
A clay pot called the Baghdad Battery discovered in modern day Iraq could possibly have been a galvanic cell electric battery.
And the famed Antikythera Mechanism was an analog computer featuring technology that wouldn’t be seen again for 1500 years.
@Phil_From_Canukistan
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
i built a aeolipile in university for my grad project in marine egineering lol
@lord_flashheart
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
12:56 Now we have AI slop.
The end is near.
And if we had computers in 300 AD there would have been around seven nuclear apocalypses.
@arianamaria_
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
No way you hit us with “bi-zentine” and “oo-me-ad” 💀
@advanced_beginner
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
The technological advancement happening when it did instead of in the ancient time only means that the self annihilation was delayed couple of millennia.
@Wing0Alchemist
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Just saying, the Damascus steel is not as mysterious or mystical as this video makes it out. We know how to make it and have for years. And there's nothing about it we can't do better now.
@JeffScholl-b2e
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
“You will observe with concern how long a useful truth is known and exist before it is generally accepted and acted upon.” Ben Franklin after his attempt to have lead be acknowledged as dangerous to life.
@baggywaters8948
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
@Cyclynn
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
I saw a study saying most people think the world was better off 50 years ago. "beware of false prophets" was referring to technology. We absolutely have to return to a pre internet world if the human race has any hope of survival.
@animeloveer97
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
i really think a large part in why these things didnt catch on until much later is that the priority of the human race was very much diffrent back then and they didnt have time to entertain "silly things" (at the time people saw it this way) like steam power and electricity because there was no practical use for them yet , and no large scale experiments to prove it was worth the investment. or simply the creators just thought it was a neat thing they made on accident and didnt see the potential
@MrSillyBillyGoose
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Napalm is a special sort of evil. Same with regards to the people who used it.
@tylercooper1551
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Woot…z
@richardanderson-ze3sk
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Stay sharp, stay smart, shop S-Mart.
@SpartacusSPQ
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
12:00 How does progress and technology come to a screeching halt? Well, there were morons like Trump in the past, too.
@StephenFinski-en5pz
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Roman concrete formula was discovered it was just adding volcanic ash which we already knew so idk why they couldn’t figure it out.
@StephenFinski-en5pz
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Baghdad battery I thought they cracked that. I think they found some plated metal jewelry and that’s wat they used for
@JavaJohnVideo
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
They did not call it a Doo hickey, Joe!
But I’ll tell you what when my grandfather Other was inducted to a baseball Hall of Fame in Pennsylvania, his dedication was to the world’s greatest de hickey! That was his favorite phrase. Thanks.
@TheShattenjager
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Damascus steel is well known and done today! It’s folded and folded and carbon added repeatedly during this process. The carbon atoms aligned more and more making a geometric strengthening like graphene. Am I wrong? I’ve seen smiths making this stuff in our current time.
@richardhowell7040
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
A-O-lee-pile
@matthewmckever2312
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
What about that ancient crazy Chinese sword which is chrome plated and still sharp ?????
Whaaaaa me no speakyyyy confusion….
@larapaulyn1488
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
it's as if someone pressed the reset button and everything that's AD is like a newly formatted computer. surely they did not made those machines and advancement thinking salt can cure wounds or any shit they do in the Victorian Era.
@AshesAshes44
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Okay, but the ancient Egyptians used animal dung for fuel. Not many trees, but plenty o' poop. It's still not a practical fuel for anything that needs to move, for a long time.
@nathanbrownell1036
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
The answer is England
@anjachan
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
"… in humans species". on this channel I would expect correct words.
I could be mean but I keep my thought to myself.
@jerrysdashingagain
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
I’ve also heard that the bagdad battery could’ve possibly been used for electroplating
@scottybrugmann8257
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Little known fact…if you strap a piece of buttered toast ( butter side up) to a cat's back it becomes an energy source. Buttered toast alway land butter side down and cats always land on their feet…the two will spin above the floor and generate enrgy, lol.
🤣🤣
@Lily_Pad_Master
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
The clay pot looks like a bomb, with a tube for a fuse and a fast-burning fuel source that would strengthen because of the asphalt plug in the top. An internal chamber could be filled with shrapnel, and the lack of another example could be because these were “artisanal bombs” meant to be used, not saved.😊
@KeKe-bv8qv
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
If anyone wants to learn more about the Baghdad battery then I recommend looking up videos here on youtube made by professional archeologists.
Personally I recommend the two videos by Miniminuteman, otherwise known as Milo Rossi.
You'll see why in the second video.
Or the video by Dr. Brad Hafford, an expert among archaeologists on the subject.
@xandra4555
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
the baghdad battery being on here kinda irks me. if this is supposed to be an educational channel like it advertises, is pushing pseudo science really beneficial? its a clay jar. it is not a battery.
@nathanpfirman625
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Yeah that "steam engine" was disproven to be ever usable as a steam engine. It's far too finicky and they had no way to even utilize it.
@shaurmiath6719
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
To kind of give people an appreciation of that "where would we be today?"question near the end, to match the timeline he'd given, it would have been the Ancient Romans or the Han Dynasty that landed on the Moon. The Fall of Rome might have never come – Rome's greatest problem was that it became too big to govern effectively – there just wasn't an easy way for people to organize and communicate over such distances. Imagine if they'd had C-130s and Cell Phones.
@davidhyman1855
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Why did,this technology disappear for thousands of years? The rise of the Catholic Church.
@TheRilluma
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
you know, we all know, that that looting was orchestrated, and the items including skeletons of abnormally large humanoids, are in
SMITSHONIAN !!!!!! damn je*s…
@TheRilluma
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
4:11 and 28 batteries for Apollo Spacecraft. Or a calculator.
@reneeyounk9663
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Crusadie? Still love you and your stuff! Your sense of humor resonates in me. Jeeze… Too much? Naw. Keep it up. I love the way you share your info.
@Pennybrookeify
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Religion played a big part in the suppression of progress, invention, and science.
@Paulius01
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
"Baizentiens" "Cicehro"
@ruariniall7463
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Napalmn was actually invented by Mike England, the line chief if a P-47 squadron and was airplane fuel mixed with ivory soap flake and contained inside a disposle drop tank, fitted with a detinater.
@robmsmithdumbhandle
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
If you'd like to know more about Damascus steel, and the folding and history of steel blades, I would highly recommend a book called By the Sword, author's last name: Cohen. An amazing book I discovered while researching swords and fencing. You might be amazed to learn that Voltaire was an accomplished fencer. BUT, when he was exiled from France for speaking out against the aristocracy, he was taken in by a friend and lover who was an ingenious inventor (in fact some of her research and inventions were historically said to have aided Einstein in his formulation of relativity) and she was an even BETTER fencer who would often dress as a man and go to parties and challenge men to duels (for the aim of sleeping with their girlfriends–and many times succeeding) and she would cut their pants off and embarrass the hell out of them. For that amazing woman's name, read the book or run a duckduckgo search.
@TheGreatDreamer1937
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
8:20 “fuck around and find out.
@diogonavarro3145
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
the baghdad battery could be a device to produce fire, through a spark produced by bringing the two poles together
@chrisj683
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Been a subscriber for a couple years, and especially when I watch the older videos…man can Joe read? Like, everything is chugging along and then he whips out some crazy pronunciation. I blame Texas.
@andrewhammel8218
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
"Byzantine" is pronounced "biz" (like 'business'). Not "by" as in "bye bye". Jeeze!
@Giggles56
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Where would we be? In worse situation then we already are.
@sandeesandwich2180
September 12, 2026 at 7:14 pm
So, in part 5 of this video, Joe Scott moves like Jagged…….
Comments are closed.