Building a "Baghdad Battery"

Step 10 On other published accounts

All I have seen are low resolution photos, crude hand drawings, and written summaries of the artifacts. In one case, I think the investigator was blatantly fraudulent in his claims, as I have been unable to reproduce his results. Various accounts of the artifacts:

• Wikipedia - Baghdad Battery
• Mythbusters did a show on this battery but I am unaware of a URL pointing to the video footage - it was shown in episode #29, March 23, 2005. Wikipedia summary of the show: "Ten hand-made terracotta jars were fitted to act as batteries. Lemon juice was chosen as the electrolyte to activate the electrochemical reaction between the copper and iron. (Oddly enough, it was discovered that a single lemon produced more voltage than one of the batteries). When all of the batteries were linked together in series, they produced upwards of 4 volts. Then, the major question was, What were these ancient batteries used for? The show's research staff discovered three possible reasons: electroplating, medical pain relief (through acupuncture), and religious experience. It was discovered that the linked batteries indeed had sufficient power to electroplate a small token. For acupuncture, the batteries produced a random pulse that could be felt through the needles; however, it began to produce a painful burning sensation when the batteries were grounded to two needles at once. For the religious experience aspect of the batteries, a replica of the Ark of the Covenant was constructed, complete with two cherubim. Instead of linking the cherubim's golden wings to the low power batteries, an electric fence generator was connected. When touched, the wings produced a strong feeling of tightness in the chest. Although the batteries themselves had not been used, it was surmised that, due to the apparent lack of knowledge of electricity, any form of electrical sensation from them could equate to the 'divine presence' in the eyes of ancient people. In the end, the Baghdad battery myth was found 'plausible' on all three accounts."
• "Discovery Channel: The Baghdad battery" video excerpt posted to YouTube (from the 90's?), starts 5 minutes into the video. This cell appears to be a fraudulent replica - the presenter demonstrates a 4.2V cell, but I do not believe these claims. I used a similar experiment setup, and was not able to replicate the results. I found it on this site and they state the following about the presenter: "In this video Jason Martell founder of Godtube and CEO of BooyaMedia performs an on-camera experiment for the Discovery Channel where he is able to consistently generate a positive full 4 volts using a replica he made of the Baghdad battery."
• An Arthur C. Clarke video with Dr. Arne Eggebrecht - this video has imagery of the actual artifacts and shows Arne electroplating gold to a silver statuette, the replicas produced in this video seem to be the most accurate relative to the others listed, including mine since I did not have access to the pottery, and did not include the copper disc at the bottom (to simplify construction)
• A History Channel review (?) through a show called "Ancient Technologies"
• Smith College Replica: I was not able to get the 1.1 Volts they indicate though
• Writeup summarizing several sources - I included this reference to show how much conjecture there is in the claims one can find on the web when researching this topic Indicates that Willard Grey produced a 2 Volt cell with grape juice, again, I was not able to reproduce this. The BBC numbers indicate Mr. Grey's experiments yielded 0.5V but with Copper Sulfate, and this seems more accurate.
• BBC article or here Indicates that Dr. Arne Eggebrecht used the cells to electroplate gold in 1978, although the article indicates some have disputed the accuracy of these claims and been unable to reproduce them. Article indicates Arne's cell was 0.87V with fresh grape juice, which is actually not far off from my numbers. Also indicates that Willard F.M. Gray produced a 0.5V cell in 1940 using Copper Sulfate. A notable quote: "The vessel showed signs of corrosion, and early tests revealed that an acidic agent, such as vinegar or wine had been present." but I was unable to find which tests were applied to test the veracity of the claim. Also, Dr Marjorie Senechal, professor of the history of science and technology, Smith College, US states that replicas have been produced that range from 0.8 to 2 Volts, but I am unsure of what electrolyte she is using to make this claim. My own experiments have not generated such high voltages.
• A recent research paper on the subject Title: "The Baghdad Battery: Myth or reality?" Author: VON HANDORF D. E. states: "unglazed ceramic vessels"
• Some references to how the history of the battery is currently recorded 1, 2
• Just as I was about to publish this instructable I did one last set of Google searches and discovered the most comprehensive summary I have seen on the artifacts - I almost decided to start my write up from scratch, and perhaps I should - it can be found here: I wish I had found this sooner, as the account told in this paper also loosely supports several of my assumptions. According to the listed chronology, artifacts have been found at multiple digs and evidence of bronze and iron wire objects were present at the sites. some notable excerpts: "To answer the first question, one needs to remember that thin wire-like bronze or iron rods were found next to the urns, as reported by the archaeologists. As a point of departure, one may assume that Parthian goldsmiths might have used them as connecting means between the iron rod and the copper cylinder. " Or, as the conductor for a simple homopolar motor? I'd really like to see photos of the artifacts, so if anyone is aware of any, please let me know. "Given the fact that acetic acid and citric acid were known to the Parthians, one may assume that they probably made use of them as electrolytes." In a 1950 dig "excavators had also found copper discs, short thin metal wires, and pieces " "The vase was, the report stated, 12 cm high and contained a copper cylinder of 7 cm height." "They postulated that in the case of the real battery, the entire clay jar was filled with electrolyte, and its porous walls would allow oxygen to diffuse into the cell leading to a continuous flow of current." Or, perhaps electrolyte would seep out and complete a circuit? "One serious flaw with Konigs gold plating hypothesis is the lack of gold-plated items stemming from the excavation site at Khujut Rabbou"
• Another source I recently found: claims the BBC article as their source, although several bits of information in their article either are not found in the BBC account, or are different, so I am unsure where some of the statements are derived, nevertheless the author makes some interesting claims "Konig also found copper vases plated with silver in the Baghdad Museum, excavated from Sumerian sites in southern Iraq, dating back to at least 2500 BCE. When the vases were lightly tapped, a blue patina or film separated from the surface, which is characteristic of silver electroplated onto copper base. It would appear then that the Parthians inherited their batteries from one of the earliest known civilizations." this would be very interesting, but I'd like to know the source "It also seems that the use of similar batteries can be safely placed into ancient Egypt, where several objects with traces of electroplated precious metals have been found at different locations" again, very interesting, but I'd like to know the source - but then, later in the article there is this statement "One serious flaw with the electroplating hypothesis is the lack of items from this place and time that have been treated in this way." so, I'm confused - they also cite different timelines than I have seen elsewhere "Parthian occupation between 248 BCE and 226 CE"

Comments

[weslendottir]

 Hello,
I am a student researching this battery, but my teacher says that I must have some good book sources for this rather implausible battery. I have seen the online book you mentioned and one other book (The Puzzle of Ancient Man) that mention the battery, but could you possibly give me another book?
Thanks, 
Weslendottir

P.S.
If this is a public post, anyone who has the info I requested, please feel free to answer.

[Zues.gods]

Hi,

Here is where I bought the book:

The Parthian Battery
Electric Current 2,000 Years Ago?
The History of Surface Finishing

Von Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. habil. Nasser Kanani.
Erste Auflage 2004.
95 Seiten in englischer Sprache.

411Leon

[kelseymh]

The Wikipedia article provides references to two other printed/published sources: Welfare and Fairley's Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World; and a peer-reviewed journal article, Von Handorf, D E., "The Baghdad battery - myth or reality?" Plating and Surface Finishing (USA). Vol. 89, no. 5, pp. 84–87. May 2002.

The latter is likely to be hard to find outside of a university research (or engineering department) library. If you are in the U.S., then once you locate (e.g., using online catalogs) a nearby library which does have it, your own local librarian can request it through the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) program. Outside of the U.S. (Iceland?), I don't know whether similar programs exist.