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.

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.

Did Konig find Baghdad Batteries?

Though Wilhelm Konig, the German archaeologist who was the director of the National Museum of Iraq, is widely believed to discover the Baghdad Batteries in the museum’s collections in 1938, it is uncertain whether Konig dug it up himself or found it archived in the museum.

What if Iraqi artifacts were used as batteries?

If these Iraqi artifacts were used as batteries, they would predate Alessandro Volta’s electrochemical cell by a millennium.

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.

Did the Baghdad Batteries have wires or conductors?

No wires or any conductors have been found or associated with the Baghdad Batteries. Several other artifacts resemble the Baghdad Batteries found throughout ancient Mesopotamia, mainly used to store papyrus. Research suggests that rotted papyrus scrolls placed inside these vessels might have caused acidic organic residue.