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.
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.