Möbius strips before Möbius: topological hints in ancient representations (Q317018)

The article under review discusses the occurrences of Möbius strips in works of Roman mosaics and mechanical engineers before the works of Möbius or Listing. The authors present a careful study and discuss (with illustrations), among other things, the Sentinum mosaic (now displayed at the Glyptothek Museum, Munich) and its depiction of a Möbius strip, as early as 200--250 CE. The possible origins of the strip in such work is discussed briefly as well. Towards the second half of the article, the authors discuss the occurrence of Möbius strips in the work of American engineers, however, this does not pre-date Möbius, and the authors raise the question whether this was an implication of Möbius' work or a result of the ingenuity of the engineers. There is also evidence of an engineering mechanism displaying the Möbius strip topology in the work of al-Jazari, an Islamic engineer, which the authors describe briefly towards the end. The article raises interesting questions about the possible explanations of such occurrences, as well as whether Möbius or Listing had seen the Sentinum mosaic in Munich?