I don't see how religious zealotry had anything to do with it. I presume you'r referring to Christianity.
This device originated some time in the second or first century BC, half a millennium before the ascendancy of Christianity, so we can't blame the lack of evidence of any successor devices during that period on religion.
The next time we see similarly sophisticated devices in Europe is the early 14th century, in the form of astronomical clocks such as those made by Richard of Wallingford in the 1330s. That's at the height of the ascendency of the Catholic church, and several hundred years before the reformation got under way.
You make solid points. I was thinking of the destruction of the library of Alexandria which I came to learn just recently was more a centuries long decline rather than a tear down by angry religious fanatics.
Or cultural prejudice and ignorance - the skills and ideas were likely retained in the middle east and used to build many of the mechanisms that were made to grace Mosques and palaces there - later to be ignored by scholars and historians alike.
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A frightening reminder of what dogmatic religious zealotry can erase.
How many times has humanity thrown away wonderful knowledge due to a violent mob emotionally manipulated by those seeking power?
I don't see how religious zealotry had anything to do with it. I presume you'r referring to Christianity.
This device originated some time in the second or first century BC, half a millennium before the ascendancy of Christianity, so we can't blame the lack of evidence of any successor devices during that period on religion.
The next time we see similarly sophisticated devices in Europe is the early 14th century, in the form of astronomical clocks such as those made by Richard of Wallingford in the 1330s. That's at the height of the ascendency of the Catholic church, and several hundred years before the reformation got under way.
You make solid points. I was thinking of the destruction of the library of Alexandria which I came to learn just recently was more a centuries long decline rather than a tear down by angry religious fanatics.
Or cultural prejudice and ignorance - the skills and ideas were likely retained in the middle east and used to build many of the mechanisms that were made to grace Mosques and palaces there - later to be ignored by scholars and historians alike.