What is the Baghdad Battery?

The Baghdad Battery is the name given to a set of three artifacts which were found together: a ceramic pot, a tube of copper, and a rod of iron.

Was there a battery in Iraq?

In March 2012, Professor Elizabeth Stone of Stony Brook University, an expert on Iraqi archaeology, returning from the first archaeological expedition in Iraq after 20 years, stated that she does not know a single archaeologist who believed that these were batteries.

Did the Baghdad Batteries produce electricity?

Even though there are very few documented experiments with the Baghdad Batteries, in 1978, Dr. Arne Eggebrecht from the Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim conducted a few experiments with Baghdad Battery models (replica) using grape juice as an acidic liquid and thin layers of silver, which supposedly resulted in the production of electricity.

Was the Baghdad Battery an ancient electrical experiment?

While its true purpose remains a subject of debate, the discovery of the Baghdad Battery hints at the possibility of ancient electrical experimentation far ahead of its time. Discovered in the ruins of Khujut Rabu, near Baghdad, Iraq, in the 1930s, the Baghdad Battery has puzzled researchers ever since.

Who discovered the ancient batteries in Iraq?

The ancient batteries were discovered by chance in 1936 in the ancient village of Khuhut Rabu, near today’s Iraqi capital. Two years later, German archaeologist Wilhelm Koenig studied and described them. He was the first to come to the surprising conclusion that it was a type of ancient battery.

When was the Baghdad Battery discovered?

The debate continues, as does the quest to unlock the secrets of our electrochemical past. The Baghdad Battery was discovered in 1936 at Khujut Rabu, near Baghdad, Iraq, not far from the historical metropolis of Ctesiphon, the capital city during both the Parthian (150 BC – 223 AD) and Sasanian (224–650 AD) empires.