Washington, Turkish archaeologists have discovered a
1,200-year-old wooden object which they claim is an ancient equivalent of a
tablet computer.
The device was found within the remains of one of the 37 ships unearthed in the
Yenikapi area of Istanbul, the Turkish capital. Also
known as Theodosius Port, it was built in the late 4th century during the reign
of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I and become the city's most important
commercial port.
The wooden object, whose cover is finely carved with decorations, is the size
of a modern seven-inch tablet, but much thicker, and probably belonged to the
ship's captain. It
consists of a set of five overlaid rectangular panels carved with frames and
covered with wax. Notes could be taken on those panels, as shown by writing in
Greek which is still visible on the wax.
A primitive "app" is hidden on the bottom panel: a sliding lid
revealing a hidden plate with carved spaces, 'Discovery News' reported. "When you draw the
sliding part, there are small weights used as an assay balance," Ufuk
Kocabas,, director of Istanbul University's department of marine archeology and
the Yenikapi Shipwrecks Project, was quoted as saying by the 'Hurriyet Daily
News'. The
sunken ship upon which the device was found, has been dated to around the 9th
century AD. The
containers it had been carrying suggest the vessel sailed the Black Sea,
transporting goods from Crimea to Kersonesos.
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