The Baghdad Battery : Did it Really Generate Electricity? | Ancient Architects

The Baghdad Battery, also known as the Batteries of Babylon, is something many people have heard of and although some will have looked into the subject in detail, others will be like I used to be and will have just blindly accepted the hypothesis that this is an ancient battery, because of a popular hypothesis, some convincing arguments and clear diagrams. But is it true?

I’d never doubted that the Baghdad Battery wasn’t an electrical device, but this was until I researched it over a year ago and found that there are a number of problems with the idea that researchers fail to explain. Since then I have been on the fence but have been swayed more towards the idea that this isn’t an ancient battery.

The story starts with archaeologist Wilhelm Konig who excavated a Parthian site in Iraq at Khujut Rubu’a in 1938. This is where he discovered the first Baghdad battery.

It was during this excavation where he discovered a 15cm high ceramic vessel. From the outside it was ordinary – nothing special – but he saw that it contained a cylinder of sheet copper, soldered with a lead-tin alloy of a ratio of 60:40. The vessel was capped with a crimped-in copper shape disk and it was sealed with bitumen or asphalt, with another insulating layer of asphalt on top. This held in place an iron rod, which was suspended in the centre of the cylinder and showed signs of acid corrosion.

So, from this description, you can certainly see how the battery hypothesis came about. Konig, the archaeologist, identified it as an ancient electrical battery and replicas were made that showed it was capable of providing a charge of about one volt using vinegar or lemon juice as an electrolyte.

But was it really a battery, or was it something else? Watch this video to find out! Please subscribe to Ancient Architects, like the video and leave a comment.

All images are taken from Google Images for educational purposes only.