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Does this 2,500-year-old Egyptian sculpture depict a young girl holding a modern-day laptop computer?

2,500-year-old Egyptian sculpture depicts young girl holding modern-day laptop computer

New photographs of the sculpture taken from different angles appeared online recently which prompted many to suggest the obvious – it’s a modern-day laptop. Clearly defined cable ports on the side of the computing device seal their conclusion.

2,500-year-old Egyptian sculpture depicts young girl holding modern-day laptop computerWe’ve seen several instances before that hint at ancient civilizations possessing knowledge or access to advanced technologies beyond their means – technical knowledge and devices that would not have been invented for tens of thousands of years. Another interesting case popped up this week related to an ancient Greek funerary relief sculpture dated to about 100 BC which shows a young attendant girl holding an object which looks remarkably like a modern-day laptop – complete with flip-up screen and connection ports.

It’s long been proposed that ancient civilizations possessed technology beyond their means. In such cases, it is theorized that the objects made their way to the ancients via time travelers or possibly extraterrestrial civilizations providing technology to help struggling civilizations move forward. One prominent supporter of such theories is Erich von Daniken, a Swiss author who penned several books suggesting early civilizations were visited and aided by advanced aliens from another dimension or a different world. Daniken even suggests such technology helped the Egyptians build the Great Pyramids.

Differnt angle - 2,500-year-old Egyptian sculpture depicts young girl holding modern-day laptop computerThe sculpture is housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California. Originally the object in the little girl’s hands (she holds it at a right angle for a distinguished-looking woman to view) was described as a “shallow chest”. Detractors, however, point out that the box is much too shallow for a traditional jewelry chest. Then researchers proposed the object was a wax tablet, an ancient device coated in wax with which a stylus was used to write on. Detractors again stepped in and pointed out that the object was too thick to be a traditional wax tablet. In addition, neither the woman nor the girl are holding the required stylus.

At least one researcher who examined the sculpture agrees with Daniken’s assessment.

“I am not saying that this relief is depicting an ancient laptop computer, but when I look at the sculpture and think about Greek tales about the Oracle of Delphe, which was supposed to allow the priests to connect with the gods and retrieve advanced information of various aspects, I can’t help but thinking that Erich von Däniken has been right all this time and that most of these myths of magical artefacts given by the gods to a very restricted group of individuals in ancient civilizations were high-tech devices similar to what we have today.”

Skeptical?  Check out the picture below which shows a segment of an ancient Egyptian engraving that clearly depicts a helicopter, modern boat, and jet airplane.

Ancient Egyptian engraving which clearly depicts a helicopter, modern boat, and jet airplane

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