The Past is Alive in Time Capsules

Posted by Queuebot in Travel & Places on July 16, 2009 at 1:33 pm


Time capsules have been used for centuries in one form or another – to hide the tombs of Egyptian Kings and to keep histories past living on.

One of the most celebrated time capsules is the Crypt of Civilization at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia:

For centuries, civilizations have found ways to leave clues into their past. One such example is the Crypt of Civilization, which was a sealed airtight chamber located at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Thornwell Jacobs (1877–1956), referred to as “the father of the modern time capsule,” was inspired to construct the crypt after the openings of the Egyptian Pyramids and tombs in 1920. “He was struck by the scarcity of historical information available from these ancient civilizations and imagined having a “running story” of the customs of human life from beginning to the 1930’s modern culture. Jacobs noted that 6,177 years had passed between when the Egyptian calendar was established in 4241 BC and the present year (1936 AD). This figure served as the rationale for setting the opening of the crypt for 8113.”

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lannaxe96.


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4 comments to "The Past is Alive in Time Capsules"

  1. cstonecipher
    July 16th, 2009 at 1:33 pm

    I found this fascinating too!

  2. Johnny Cat
    July 16th, 2009 at 6:37 pm

    Maybe the screenwriters for "Knowing" mistakenly used the 8113 year as the time when that final cataclysm would occur, then just went ahead and decided to do the time capsule opening in 2009 to save money.

  3. ted
    July 16th, 2009 at 10:12 pm

    Egyptian tombs were not created as time capsules. Poorly worded.

  4. lannaxe96
    July 17th, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    I going to have to disagree with you strongly Ted on the wording. Egyption tombs have been referred to as "Time Capsules" for centuries.

    In fact, "There were other time capsules 5,000 years ago as vaults of artifacts hidden inside the walls of Mesopotamian cities, along with Egyptian and other ancient tombs, which are effectively time capsules as well."~The Book of Record

    Tombs hold the artifacts of past cultures, they are a living museum all within the confines of a capsule or cache. If you asked any Archaeologist or Historian, they would agree with me I'm sure.


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