BAGHDAD – Did humans discover electricity long before the history books tell us? That is the implication of the mysterious Baghdad Battery.
‘Baghdad Battery’ is a name given to a group of items excavated in Khujut Rabu, Iraq in 1936. But it wasn’t until 1940, when William Konig, director of the National Museum of Iraq, published a paper on the objects that they were revealed to the modern world.
The objects are five-inch tall terracotta jars, that contain a copper cylinder, which itself contains an iron rod. When the jar is filled with water that contains a common acidic agent like lemon juice or vinegar, it would surround the iron rod as well. Konig’s hypothesis was that given that copper and iron form an electrochemical pair, the acidic agent could help produce an electric current.
While that may not sound very exciting, the implications are astounding. Archaeologists are unclear on when they were created, but the jars could date back as far as 250 BC. This means that humans may have known how to use electricity almost 2,000 years before Benjamin Franklin “discovered” it!
What could the Batteries have been used for? It is generally agreed that the items would have been inefficient as actual batteries, but could have been used in any number of other ways. Scientists believe it could have been anything from electroplating statues to producing a religious experience through the electrical sensation.
The hypothesis that ancient Iraq had access to electricity further fuels the belief that the ancient Egyptians understood it as well. This is usually supported by what is called the “Dendera light”, a stone relief in the Hathor temple. While most interpret the image as a snake within a lotus flower, others believe it is an electric lamp.
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I think they used it but not in our fashion, but then again what did they use it for?
That "what did they use it for?" question is probably why they forgot about it for over 2000 years.
Surprising that there weren't any reports on when they found a 2000 year old working (not electronic) computer too. But I guess a lot of knowledge was supposed to have been lost sometime between 0A.D. and 1500A.D.
i no what happen then and now! you will be stun'd to here what i hav to say! but unfortuniatly humanity is not ready for the answer! can cause problems throughout society! But when close u will here from me!
Superior post. How lengthy have you been blogging for? It makes me realise that I need to enhance mine quite a bit! Strolling Holidays in Europe
Right on Drezzie…I think the evidence is often lost or overlooked, and the more the scientific community looks, the more they discover about just how advanced the ancients were.
Don't know if you saw the show where a 'book enginner' and a practical engineer were pitted against one another on PBS to move and erect a Saracen stone from the Welsh hills to the Salisbury plain, but, as suspected the practical engineer showed just how really simply it could be done, primarily with levers, manpower, and simple engineering.
Read 2nd – this is the res of my below msg
…The 'book engineer' was not to be outdone and rechallenged the practical engineer to a new duel in the form of moving and erecting a small pyramid in the sandy conditions of Egypt near the river Nile. Again, his methods were totally debunked compared to the practical engineer that studied hieroglyphs and used, again, simple levers, manpower, and simple engineering to create his pyramid (I think it was a 1/100th scale or something) and in record time vs. the 'book engineer'.
It's nice to have theories, but in the end, you're right, necessity is the mother of invention, and the practical usually wins out over the whimsical, but let us never lose whimsy or imagination as they're the foundation for great ideas
Carry on