ATHENS (Bloomberg) — A 2,000-year-old box of bronze gears created by ancient Greeks to track the heavens was the world’s first analogue computer, scientists wrote in the journal Nature.The device, called the Antikythera Mechanism, took the most popular astronomical theories of the day and put them to work in a complex arrangement of 30 hand-cut gears, researchers wrote. Scientists with the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project used high-resolution x-ray tomography and surface imaging techniques to decode the gear mechanism and inscriptions on the device’s wooden case.

The machine has intrigued scientists and inspired debate about its function since its 1901 discovery in a shipwreck. It is more sophisticated than any known device built in the next 1,000 years, the scientists wrote in the November 30 issue.

“The Antikythera Mechanism shows great economy and ingenuity of design,” wrote Michael Edmunds, the lead author and a professor at Cardiff University in the UK. “It stands as a witness to the extraordinary technological potential of Ancient Greece.”

Newly deciphered inscriptions add evidence of the device’s use in predicting eclipses and planetary motion, scientists said.