Baghdad Battery

What is the Baghdad Battery?

The Baghdad Battery, or rather, a collection of excavated artifacts imagined as puzzle pieces to form a battery, is argued by some as being an ancient power source. The clay container, a bright yellowish color, had a height of about 15 cm and a removed neck (Eggert). The vase-like structure was found containing two interior pieces. The first, a tube of sheet copper about 9 cm high with a closed bottom approximately 26 mm in diameter. Second, a completely oxidized rod of iron 75 mm in length with a point at the bottom end (Eggert). A collar of bitumen around the top of the iron rod connected it to the inside of the copper tube, creating an assembled piece. Additional bitumen was found covering the base of the copper cylindrical portion of the battery. The conjoined artifacts existed within the clay vase at excavation (Mills). Similar finds were excavated from Seleucia and Ctesiphon. From Seleucia, bronze cylinders with papyrus relics inside were identified, while from Ctesiphon rolled bronze sheets were among the finds (Eggert).

The clay pot, copper cylinder, and iron rod that make up the Baghdad Battery.

Excavation

June 14th, 1936, construction operations on the Baghdad-Bakuba line carried out by Iraq State Railways, near Khuyut Rabbou’a on the outskirts of Baghdad, lead to the exposure of a stone slab covering an ancient burial. Upon this discovery, excavations of the site were then carried out by the Iraq Antiquities Department (Mills). Over 600 artifacts and fragmented pieces were recovered from the site. It was believed the artifacts came from the Parthian period, which was around 248 B.C.- 226 A.D, when the Parthians occupied that land (Sethi). Some of the finds included clay figurines, pottery and glass pieces, engraved bricks, and the group of pieces named collectively as ‘the Baghdad Battery’. After collection, the artifacts were sent to the Iraq Museum where they were examined by Wilhelm Konig. Wilhelm Konig, the director of Antiquities at the Iraq Museum of Baghdad at the time, determined that the vessel was a kind of galvanic cell (Handorf).

Pseudoarchaeological Narrative

Konig was the first to identify the collection of artifacts as a ‘battery’ or a likewise power source. It was believed that the batteries, assuming that there were more, were used to electroplate items such as layering different kinds of metals. This method is still used in Iraq today, so it is believed that the existence of the ‘Baghdad Battery’ marks the origin of the technique (Downs and Meyerhoff). To make the artifacts behave collectively as a battery, Konig argued that there must be an addition of a dilute acidic electrolyte (mills). Tests show that when filled with vinegar or any other electrolytic solution, the single jar produces 1.1 volts (Downs and Meyerhoff). This amount of electricity is not sufficient to produce the believed functions of the container, so Konig argued that there must have been many similar cells that were used in conjunction to produce the necessary power(mills).

Deconstruction of the narrative

Konig’s construction of the vessel put forth various issues regarding practicality and functioning. Due to the weakness of electricity produced, it is apparent that a singular vessel, composed of the pieces found in the excavation, could not harness enough energy to carry out any valuable functions, nor handle a large enough current for a sufficient amount of time (Eggert). Konig discovered similar artifacts (to those found at the Baghdad excavation) at Tel’ Umar, or Seleucia, and Ctesiphon. (Mills). At seleucia, archaeological finds included bronze cylinders with papyrus relics inside, while at Ctesiphon, rolled bronze sheets were recovered (Eggert). Both seleucia and Ctesiphon were ancient cities located on the tigris during the parthian period, same as that of the Baghdad Battery (Kroger). Koing suggests that these findings are evidence of the past existence of more ‘Baghdad Batteries’, that when used in unison, could produce a current strong enough to carry out the electroplating process (Eggert).

Chemistry of batteries

In order to form a good power source, a strong electric current must flow for an extended amount of time (Eggert). For the Baghdad battery (or the mentioned similar findings combined with the Baghdad battery) to serve as a power source, there are components that must be met. To draw a current from the apparatus (iron rod), an outer electrical circuit must be closed so that the electrons can flow through to the copper cylinder (Eggert).

On top of this, the battery’s existence had difficulties. The vessel has no documentation or references to its existence, purpose, or construction throughout the Parthian or any other cultures (mills). If the artifacts formed a significant technology, like that proposed by Konig, it would be described and found in documented records and its methods carried on through generations into cultures today. Although electroplating is still used in Iraq culture today(downes and meyerhoff), it is done in technique much different than the assumed use of the’ Baghdad battery’.