In our relentless march towards progress, humanity often views its advancements as entirely novel, triumphs of contemporary intellect.
Yet, what if the very innovations we celebrate today are merely echoes of a forbidden past, forgotten knowledge resurfacing in a cyclical pattern of civilization’s rise and fall?
Beyond the Bat-Signal | The Real Batman and Ancient Deities
When we hear “Batman,” our minds conjure images of Gotham’s dark knight, a comic book icon. Yet, the concept of a bat-like vigilante predates DC Comics by decades, even millennia.
Around 1870, an Englishman named Bill Smith immigrated to New York City. Working in a butcher’s shop, Smith became increasingly aware of the dangers lurking in the city’s underbelly. Repeated shoplifter raids and attacks on passers-by spurred him to action. With courage as his cape, Bill began to protect the defenseless.
He was later joined by a younger associate named Robin. Four years into his vigilante career, Bill donned a legendary head mask, crafted to resemble a bat, to conceal his true identity. In this guise, he patrolled the nights, seeking out criminals. This real Batman, as he was known, operated long before his comic book counterpart, who first appeared in Detective Comics No. 27 in May 1939.
Even more astounding is the ancient lineage of the bat-god. In Mayan mythology, Camazotz (also spelled Kama-Zots, Soc, Zots) was a terrifying bat-god embodying night, death, and sacrifice. His name, derived from the K’iche words “kame” (death) and “sotz'” (bat), literally means “death-bat.” The Maya-Quiché epic Popol Vuh describes Camazotz as the overseer of one of Xibalba’s (the Mayan underworld) five “houses of trials” – the dreaded “House of the Bat.” A sculpture of Camazotz, now displayed at the Museo Popol Vuh, chillingly illustrates this ancient, powerful deity. The similarities between a modern fictional hero and an ancient, fearsome bat-god suggest a deeply ingrained archetype within the human psyche, transcending eras and cultures.
The Smile That Spans Millennia | Ancient Emoticons
The smiley face, a ubiquitous symbol of happiness in our digital age, feels inherently modern. Yet, its origins stretch back over 4,000 years, revealing a fascinating commonality in human expression across vast chronological divides.
In 2017, during excavations in southern Turkey, archaeologist Nicolo Marchetti from the University of Bologna unearthed a ceramic jug from the ancient Hittite civilization. This seemingly ordinary container, used for drinking sherbet, bore an extraordinary etching | a curved line for a smile and dotted eyes. Dated to approximately 1700 B.C., this artifact represents the world’s oldest smiley face, predating the modern icon by millennia. It’s a poignant testament to how universally human minds from different eras grasp the same fundamental associations – that two dots and a curved line convey a smile.
Fast forward to the 20th century. In 1963, Harvey Ball, director of marketing at State Mutual Assurance Company, was tasked with creating a morale-boosting symbol for employees. In just ten minutes, he sketched the now-famous smiling face within a bright yellow circle. He chose yellow for its “sunny look” and striking visibility. Despite its initial popularity, this yellow face remained unnamed until 1972. It was then that Frenchman Franklin Loufrani began using it to mark positive news in his newspaper, France Soir. Loufrani christened the symbol “Smiley” (from “smiley face”), successfully registered it as his trademark in over a hundred countries, and founded the Smiley Company, which began mass-producing merchandise.
The digital evolution of the smiley, the familiar 🙂 emoticon, also has a precise origin. On September 19, 1982, scientist and programmer Scott Fahlman from Carnegie Mellon University first used this textual symbol via the university messaging system. While today emoticons are synonymous with online communication, their initial popularity exploded in the late 1990s, particularly in Japan with the rise of SMS. The transition from physical badges to ubiquitous digital shorthand demonstrates a natural progression, yet the core expressive desire, as shown by the Hittite jug, has remained constant.
Fashion Forward or Ancient Echoes? The Horse in a Coat
Fashion trends are often perceived as fleeting products of specific cultural moments. But imagine a garment so ahead of its time that it exists in ancient artifacts.
Two intriguing figurines from the Tang Dynasty period (618-907 A.D.) in China reveal a peculiar fashion statement. Discovered in an ancient burial in Henan Province, one depicts a horse in a coat. It’s speculated that the deceased, born in the Year of the Horse, might have had this faience version accompany him to the afterlife.
This unique statuette is now part of the collection at the Eskenazi Gallery in London. Another figurine, a snake with traces of coloring, resides in the Art Institute in Minneapolis. The existence of a horse in a coat over a thousand years ago challenges our notions of sartorial innovation, suggesting that even seemingly modern concepts of animal attire have ancient roots.
Microchips in Ancient Skulls | The Unsettling Truth of Sac Actun
The idea of implantable microchips controlling human functions is a cutting-edge, often controversial, frontier of modern technology. Yet, archaeological findings suggest this concept might be far older than we dare to imagine.
In 2021, archaeologist Guillermo de Ande participated in an expedition to Sac Actun, the world’s largest underwater cave system. During a press conference, de Ande reported the recovery of over 150 skulls from the flooded cave. Among these, several specimens contained astonishing anomalies | microcircuits embedded within their bone tissue. Naturally, such a claim was met with immediate skepticism, with de Ande facing accusations of falsification. However, Jorge Sancho, the head of Mexican archaeologists, publicly defended de Ande, informing the global archaeological elite of the indisputable evidence. Dating revealed the finds to be approximately 9,500 years old, pushing the timeline of advanced technology in human physiology back by millennia.
This discovery resonates chillingly with contemporary developments. In May 2023, Elon Musk’s Neuralink received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct clinical trials of brain-implanted chips in humans. While initial trials on monkeys demonstrated the technology’s functionality, regulators had previously expressed concerns about potential complications, particularly during chip removal. Neuralink’s ambitious goals include controlling electronics, restoring limb mobility, combating depression, regulating hormones, restoring hearing, and even enhancing brain efficiency. The startling parallels between Neuralink’s futuristic aspirations and the ancient microcircuits found in Sac Actun raise profound questions about the true history of technology and human potential.
Ancient Brain Surgery or Astute Metaphor? The Stone of Stupidity
Medical advancements are often seen as a clear indicator of linear progress. However, a popular subject in 15th-17th century Dutch paintings offers a humorous, yet insightful, look at ancient perceptions of mental ailment and “cure.”
“The Removal of the Stone of Stupidity” (also known as “Operation of Stupidity”) depicts a “surgeon” ostensibly curing a patient of foolishness by extracting a metaphorical “stone” from their head. Artists like Hieronymus Bosch, Jan van Hemessen, Lucas van Leyden, and even Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn explored this theme. In Dutch, the idiom “to carve a stone” means “to deceive,” suggesting that these paintings portray not genuine surgery, but rather charlatanism.
While modern medicine has evolved far beyond such literal interpretations of mental illness, the underlying concept of “extracting” a problem from the mind, or the societal perception of “folly” being a tangible entity, links us to our distant ancestors. These artworks, while satirical, reflect a human desire to understand and “cure” mental afflictions, even if the methods were symbolic or deceptive. The continuous effort to improve mental well-being, though vastly different in execution, forms a timeless thread connecting us to these historical depictions.
Holograms Through Time | Ancient Illusions and Modern Projections
Holography, the method of recording and reproducing three-dimensional images using wave interference, is widely credited to Hungarian physicist Dennis Gabor in 1947, with widespread use only emerging after the laser’s invention in the 1960s. Yet, evidence suggests the mastery of light and illusion might be an older art.
In 2021, Italian archaeologists discovered an amazing ring with a hologram effect in an unlooted 2nd-century tomb near Rome. The tomb contained two richly decorated marble sarcophagi, revealing the burials of a young man, Titus Carvilius (who died at 18), and his mother, Ebucia. To eternalize her son’s memory, Ebucia commissioned this extraordinary ring. The jeweler, though unknown, demonstrated immense skill and ingenuity.
Using only ancient techniques, the master created an effect of “presence” that profoundly amazed modern researchers, achieving an amazing ring with a hologram effect centuries before Gabor’s theoretical work. This find challenges our assumptions about the limitations of ancient technology and their understanding of light manipulation. It suggests that complex optical illusions, if not true holography, were certainly within the grasp of exceptionally skilled artisans, blurring the lines between ancient craft and modern science.
Stainless Steel | A Thousand-Year-Old Secret
The invention of stainless steel, a chromium-alloyed steel that resists corrosion, is largely attributed to early 20th-century metallurgy, building on 19th-century discoveries about chromium’s properties. It was considered a major technological breakthrough. However, recent archaeological findings demonstrate that this “modern” innovation was known a millennium ago.
In 11th-century Persia, the addition of the mineral chromite to crucible steel was no secret. The manuscript al-Jamahir fi Marifa al-Jawahir meticulously details this process. When archaeologists searched for the Chahak monument in southern Iran, a significant steel production center from the 12th to the 19th century, they found evidence of crucible steel making. Tests on the unearthed samples yielded astonishing results | the presence of 1-2% chromium steel. This means the production of chromium steel predates its “modern” invention by ten centuries. This incredible discovery forces us to reconsider the linearity of technological development and acknowledge the sophisticated metallurgical knowledge held by ancient civilizations.
The Cyclical Nature of Innovation
These examples – from ancient Batmen to prehistoric microchips, ancient smileys to thousand-year-old stainless steel – paint a compelling picture. They challenge the linear narrative of human progress, suggesting instead a cyclical pattern of invention, loss, and rediscovery.
Perhaps the “forbidden past” isn’t forbidden because it was actively suppressed, but because knowledge, like civilizations, rises, flourishes, and sometimes fades, only to re-emerge when humanity reaches a new stage of development or simply re-stumbles upon forgotten truths. The current moment is indeed a past re-emerging, a powerful reminder that while technology evolves, the human mind’s capacity for ingenuity and innovation is a timeless, recurring force.
