Saqqara Bird (Ancient Model Plane?)

Written by  on March 13, 2016 

The Saqqara Bird is a bird shaped artifact made of sycamore wood, discovered during the 1898 excavation of the Pa-di-Imen tomb in Saqqara, Egypt. It is dates to about 200 BC. It’s current home is in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo.

The Saqqara Bird has a wingspan of 180 mm (7.1 in) and weighs 39.12 g (1.380 oz). Its function is not understood because of a lack of period documentation.

The anomalous problem is that the structure of the wooden bird has elements very similar to modern aircraft. It is very aerodynamic, the wings have curvatures allowing lift dynamic, and the tail in particular is vertical, and definitely not similar to bird’s tail. The tail resembles the tail rudder of modern airplanes. Also there is evidence that the tail is missing a horizontal piece, making it even more similar to modern planes.


(Image ownership: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Photo_1-plane_front_view1.jpg)

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saqqara_Bird

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