So, a well-known fact: work with electric current began with experiments on frogs by the Italian Alexander Volta, who in 1800 assembled the first "Voltaic pillar", a galvanic cell that became the prototype of modern electric batteries. The scientist's merits are reflected in the name of the unit for measuring electrical voltage - correctly, Volt.
However, it turns out that things are not so simple. In 1936, workers who were preparing an earthen site for laying a railway near Baghdad, in the place of Kujut Rabu, found an unusual find, which somehow ended up in the storage of the National Museum of Iraq.
Reconstruction of a battery from Kujut Rabu.
The workers' find was a low (thirteen cm high) rounded jug made of bright yellow clay. Its neck was filled with bitumen, from which an iron rod protruded. Inside the jug, a folded sheet of copper was found. Traces of oxides and corrosion indicated that earlier there was also a liquid inside - presumably wine, or vinegar.
Three parts of the Baghdad battery.
The unusual object, perhaps, would have remained in oblivion among the dust if in 1938 it had not accidentally stumbled upon the German Wilhelm Koenig, who was engaged in archaeological research in Iran. After researching and analyzing the find, Koening came to a startling conclusion that the object from Kujut Rabu is nothing more than a galvanic cell created in the Parthian period (between 250 BC and 250 AD). Since the Parthians cost their kingdom by seizing the territories of other peoples, the Baghdad battery could belong to any of these peoples.
Diagram of the Baghdad battery.
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In 1940, Koening published an article in which he expressed his assumptions. Also, the future director of the National Museum of Iran put forward a version that the electricity obtained with the help of such batteries was used by ancient peoples for galvanization (applying a thin layer of gold to figures made of copper and silver). And to increase power, the batteries were connected together using wire.
Or maybe these bulbs were powered by Baghdad batteries? This is a relief from the temple of the goddess Hathor in Dendera, created in 50 BC. It depicts an Egyptian priest holding in his hands something resembling an electric lamp bulb, inside a spiral serpent.
After that, many tried to recreate the Baghdat battery. Willard Gray of the Massachusetts Laboratory in 1947 received a voltage of one and a half volts by filling a jug with grape juice and vinegar. In 1999, Marjorie Seneschal and his students also achieved the functioning of the "battery", giving out a little more than one volt. The experiment was repeated even by the famous "Myth Busters"!
Myth Busters, 29th edition.
However, speculation is speculation, but no "consumers" who would use the electricity of ancient batteries have not yet been found. And the coating with a thin layer of gold is possible not only by electroplating, but also by the amalgamation process. But the fact that this is not a galvanic element, but an ordinary vessel for storing scrolls (like several more similar ones found with scrolls inside) is also impossible to say for sure.
Perhaps the unknown genius of antiquity really got electricity, without fully understanding the importance of his discovery.
Unfortunately, this remarkable artifact was lost. Like thousands of other valuable and rare finds from the National Museum, the Baghdad Battery disappeared in 2003, during the hostilities in Iran. Where she is now is unknown.
