The Overlooked Pioneers of the Ancient World

World history has celebrated well-known ancient pioneers for centuries, yet many overlooked figures have had their remarkable deeds forgotten.

Although forgotten, these remarkable luminaries have significantly contributed to humanity and their era. Many have contributed immensely to their civilizations or fields but are overshadowed by more popular figures. Making it into the history books is a competitive business. Even the most incredible inventions aren’t enough for history to remember someone.

Overlooked pioneers of the ancient world

Many historical figures fade from memory, but some names are worth recalling.

Praxagoras of Kos

Praxagoras of Kos (340 BC) was a physician and anatomist from ancient Greece whose discoveries helped fundamentally advance medicine. He was the one who discovered the differentiation in arteries and veins, noting their functional and structural differences. Praxgoras also connected the pulse and the heart, a revolutionary find leading to significant advances in later discoveries surrounding the heart.

However, he was wrong about some things too. While he did notice the arteries and veins had different functions, he incorrectly believed arteries carried pneuma, or the spirit, rather than blood. Ultimately, Hippocrates overshadowed him and he has few surviving works.

Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia, often overlooked, is a key figure of the Eastern Roman Empire. Born around 350–370 AD, she was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt.

A lack of her original ancient texts and defamation from male authors is to blame for her relative anonymity. But those who know of her feats celebrate her as someone who sought to build on classical knowledge. She died tragically, brutally murdered by a mob, the result of the tense political environment she lived in as she was around for the peak of the clash between Polytheism and Christianity.

Her major contributions include the design of the astrolabe, significant contributions to Ptolemy’s Almagest, and the advocacy for a philosophy of rational inquiry to integrate reasoning and scientific understanding. According to many historical texts, she was an excellent teacher, and Christians and Polytheists would attend her lectures.

Enheduanna

The daughter of Sargon of Akkad, Enheduanna (born 2334 BC) was the high priestess of the Akkadian moon god Nanna in Ur, an ancient city located in southern Mesopotamia. She is the first author to sign her works. Her work is often attributed to the broader Sumerian-Akkadian tradition instead of recognizing her individually, leading to her being overlooked.

Enheduanna wrote many Akkadian hymns and prayers, providing insight into their religion. She was pivotal in merging the Akkadian and Sumerian religions, unifying them under her father’s empire, including merging the Sumerian goddess Inanna and the Akkadian goddess Ishtar. Some of her remaining writings venture into politics, enforcing her father’s authority and his place as a divine ruler.

Artemisia I of Caria

Artemisia was the queen of the ancient Greek city-state Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey) and was an influential ally of the Persian king Xerxes I in the second Persian invasion of Greece. In addition to her responsibilities as a ruler, she served as a naval commander renowned for her strategic acumen. She led five ships in the Persian fleet in the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), a decisive battle between the Persians and the Greek city-states.

Artemisia advised Xerxes against engaging the Greek fleet in the narrow straits of Salamis, predicting that the terrain favored the more agile Greek ships. Xerxes ignored her advice. He should have listened, as he lost the battle for precisely that reason. Despite the loss, Artemisia managed to outmaneuver the quicker Greek fleet, which earned Xerxes’ praise.

She is largely forgotten because we know about her through Herodotus, who admired her as a fellow citizen of Halicarnassus but framed her in the context of defeat alongside Xerxes I. This depiction blanketed her prominence under the weight of Greek victory, putting her on the wrong side of history.

Zhang Heng

The polymath of ancient China, Zhang Heng (78–139 AD)made incredible contributions to astronomy, mathematics, engineering, and literature during the Han Dynasty. He created one of humanity’s greatest inventions with the first-ever seismoscope, enabling the detection of earthquakes.

Other notable achievements from Heng include refining Pi’s value, expanding upon the astronomical knowledge of his time through his constellation charts, describing the concept of Earth as a sphere, marking the solar year with incredible accuracy at 365.25 days, and developing celestial theory with an early understanding of the retrograde movement of planets.

Many overlook his significant accomplishments, especially compared to China’s Renaissance-era polymaths like Shen Kuo. Moreover, the scarcity of his surviving original works complicates understanding his contributions.