Did you know the MacGuffin in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny actually existed in real life? That’s right, the Archimedes Dial both Indy and Mads Mikkelsen’s former nazi antagonist Jürgen Voller are after, in the fifth installment of the popular archeological adventure franchise, is based on the Antikythera — an artifact from Ancient Greece that is known for being the first version of an analog computer.
What does the Dial of Archimedes do?
In Indiana Jones 5, the purpose and functionalities of the Antikythera are fantasized and dramatized, as expected. Jürgen Voller wants it because he thinks he can use it to travel back in time. The mythology around the artifact also involves time and its control, but, factually, it was used to track astronomical phenomena and predict them years in advance.
Its meshing bronze gears (over 30) allowed the Antikythera — named after the island in whose waters it was found — to monitor the movements of the Sun and the Moon based on the 12 Zodiac signs. The orrery was found among ship wreckage in 1901, but experts disagree on when it might have been built. Opinions range between 87 BCE and 205 BCE. It’s rumored Ancient Greek physicist Archimedes might have contributed to its creation.
Speaking on the choice to make the Antikythera his film’s MacGuffin, Dial of Destiny director James Mangold has said, in the film’s production notes, that it reflected the movie’s theme perfectly. Because of its advanced technology, which wouldn’t be matched again until the 14th century, there are tales about the Antikythera being from the future. The characters in the new Indiana Jones film, and especially the protagonist, who is now 70 years old, are grappling with the passage of time.
“The moment I knew the movie was about time, opportunities missed, opportunities lost, choices made, irrevocable mistakes, then the question [became], What would be the only thing that would allow me to fix time itself? The research that I found about the Antikythera, rumored to be an invention by Archimedes, has been speculated to be a kind of time compass.”
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny comes to theaters on June 30, 2023.
