Sir Robert Marx Explores Diving’s History in Free Lecture Feb. 20

Underwater Exploration is
Thousands of Years Old    

MELBOURNE, FLA. — Famed underwater explorer Sir Robert Marx will take a deep dive into deep diving when he presents the free public lecture “Man’s Underwater Explorations of the Sea” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20 at Gleason Performing Arts Center on the campus of Florida Institute of Technology.

Using color illustrations and his vast knowledge of the topic, Marx will take attendees around the world as he presents aquatic tales off adventure, bravery and danger.

Marx will start with some of the earliest known examples of diving, which based on shells discovered in Mesopotamia that may have come from the sea floor, probably occurred around 4500 B.C.

There is a gap in the history of diving of more than a thousand years, with the next confirmed proof indicating such activity in the Theban VI Dynasty of Egypt, around 3200 B.C. The vast number of carved mother-of-pearl ornaments discovered at many of the archaeological sites there indicates that diving was widespread.

The Cretans, who flourished around 2500 B.C., worshiped the sea god Glaucus (who today serves as the patron saint of Greek fishermen, sailors and divers). The early Greek divers reached depths of over 100 feet holding their breath, staying below the surface for as long as five minutes.

The Cretan divers were considered the most courageous men of their time and helped provide our first knowledge of the undersea world.

While these men brought up sponges, and the divers of India and Ceylon around 550 B.C. often sought pearls, there were plenty of other uses for divers, as Marx will discuss.

For more information on the lecture, please call 321-674-8096.

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