Did the ancient Egyptians tame electricity?
Egyptologist Arne Egebrecht, examining the tombs of the pharaohs, discovered a bronze statuette of the god Osiris, made more than two and a half millennia ago. The product was covered with the thinnest layer of gold, which could only be applied using electroplating.
Science on the banks of the Nile
Electroplating, or electroplating, is the process of obtaining metal layers on the surface of an article from solutions of their salts under the influence of a direct electric current. The essence of the method is to immerse the coated products in an aqueous electrolyte solution, the main component of which is salts or other soluble compounds of the metal coating.
However, this process is not possible without a source of electricity. This means that the ancient masters had devices that generate current.
Once archaeologists, removing another cultural layer, found strange clay vessels, inside which there were copper cylinders with sealed iron rods. The cylinders were held together with a mixture of tin and zinc and acid pitted on the outside. In their chemical and physical parameters, these artifacts closely resemble modern electric batteries.
Scientists took similar vessels and poured a solution of copper sulfate into them. And they got a current with a voltage of up to 0.6 volts. Consequently, the ancients were able to generate electrical current, albeit by primitive means. And by connecting 10-15 "batteries" in series, they could well achieve the required voltage to obtain the effect of electroplating.
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Successful experiment
To confirm the theory, Egyptologist Egebrecht made a copy of the ancient figurine and immersed it in a bath of gold saline. Then I connected ten earthenware jars and connected this power source to the bath. A few hours later, an even layer of gold settled on the statuette.
This experiment once again proved the correctness of the words of ancient historians who wrote about Cleopatra's amazing jewelry, covered with the thinnest layer of gold and silver.
In this case, you can believe Plutarch, who described the invisible sources of light in Egyptian temples. And legends about the shining stone in the forehead of the statue of the goddess, which illuminated the entire temple at night; lamps that burn for several hundred years and do not require maintenance and which cannot be extinguished by wind or water, prove that the Egyptians used electricity.
So many centuries have passed, and Egypt continues to ask us one riddle after another. Interest in him does not fade away. Maybe, having solved the next puzzle offered to us by the ancient civilization, we will be able to approach some knowledge that is still too difficult for us and which will open us a new understanding of the universe.
Unpatented discoveries
During excavations of the tomb of the Chinese emperor Zhou Zhu, who lived in the 3rd century AD, archaeologists noticed a strange metal ornament that adorned its walls. Spectral analysis of the ornament turned out to be made of an alloy of copper, magnesium and aluminum. Moreover, 85% of the alloy accounted for aluminum.
Meanwhile, aluminum was obtained by electrolysis only in 1808 - naturally, AD, and this method remains the only one for its production today. Consequently, more than 1600 years ago, Chinese metallurgists owned electrolysis and with its help they obtained aluminum, and jewelers from alloys, where the basis was aluminum, made the finest ornaments. In 1937, an ancient electric battery was found in Baghdad, which is more than 2000 years old! Another similar find was found in the ancient Persian city of Seleucia. The clay vessels contained copper cylinders with iron cores and bits of bitumen. The vessels were soldered in the modern proportion of lead and tin. Surprisingly, this technology is widely used in the manufacture of technical devices today. As it appears,as an electrolyte, not such strong compounds as copper sulfate were used, but citric and acetic acids, which give much less voltage. Scientists conducted an experiment - they filled the space with copper sulfate and, as a result, received a current. So this skill of the ancients is confirmed by experience.
Magazine: Mysteries of History No. 14, Irina Pronskaya