
The Baghdad Battery - neom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery
======
okket
"The Discovery Channel program MythBusters built replicas of the jars to see
if it was indeed possible for them to have been used for electroplating or
electrostimulation. On MythBusters' 29th episode (March 23, 2005), 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. Connected in series, the batteries produced 4 volts of electricity.
When linked in series, the cells had sufficient power to electroplate a small
token and deliver a minor electric shock to MythBusters co-host Adam Savage.
Archaeologist Ken Feder commented on the show noting that no archaeological
evidence has been found either for connections between the jars (which were
necessary to produce the required voltage) or for their use for
electroplating."

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userbinator
4V is not enough for any sort of "electric shock", much less be perceptible.

~~~
ChrisClark
What is the cutoff between 4V and 9V then? Because a fully charged 9V battery
on the tongue is most definitely perceptible!

Why is it imperceptible when you drop down to 4 volts?

~~~
colejohnson66
It has to do with the resistance between the two terminals. Every person is
different, so the cutoff will be different between every person

~~~
close04
It also depends on the sensitivity of the tissue. Take the tongue for example
where 4V is enough to feel a bite.

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martinpw
Unfortunately it looks like the battery was looted from the Baghdad museum
during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and remains missing (according to a small
snippet at the bottom of this article).

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red-indian
Also of interest, Moche electroplating.

[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-
antiquity/a...](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-
antiquity/article/new-perspectives-on-moche-metallurgy-techniques-of-gilding-
copper-at-loma-negra-northern-peru/D42108E9C7410A877EAA9BD737A197A4)

[http://resources.conservation-us.org/osg-
postprints/postprin...](http://resources.conservation-us.org/osg-
postprints/postprints/v03/scott/)

[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moche](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moche)

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m_sahaf
This reminds me of a mean prank the cast of Mythbusters pulled on Adam
Savage[0]. According to Adam, the team was forced into doing this by someone
who wasn't with the show anymore (2015)[1].

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0SEBFGGEcI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0SEBFGGEcI)

[1]
[https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3cfqzf/i_am_adam_sava...](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3cfqzf/i_am_adam_savage_cohost_of_mythbusters_ama/csv9sh7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x)

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ncmncm
It's all very well to prove they would not have been useful as cells in a
battery for electroplating, but it gets us no closer to what they really were
meant for. You don't need a copper jacket or iron rod to store a scroll in a
sealed jar: you just need to seal the jar.

~~~
peteretep
> You don't need a copper jacket or iron rod to store a scroll in a sealed jar

This is not a strong argument, on the basis that there's apparently no limit
to the desire of humans to be superstitious about shit they don't understand,
and want to decorate stuff.

You may not think you need a copper jacket and iron rod to store a scroll in a
sealed jar, but Uncle Nasim the Ctesiphonian may have had some trenchant
beliefs on both the aesthetics of document storage, and how to keep the Djin
away.

~~~
thatoneuser
...and maybe these actually were batteries used for a lot of things. Your
argument amounts to "people might have done it for superstition", which isn't
a strong argument either which was ops original gripe.

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thomasmarriott
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Song)

~~~
fauria
More generally, out-of-place artifacts:

 _An out-of-place artifact (OOPArt) is an artifact of historical,
archaeological, or paleontological interest found in an unusual context, that
challenges conventional historical chronology by being "too advanced" for the
level of civilization that existed at the time, or showing "human presence"
before humans were known to exist_.

From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-
place_artifact](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-place_artifact)

~~~
new_guy
Not as out of place as popular media would have you believe. Ancient
civilizations had analog computers, automatons, steam engines etc the Romans
were responsible for destroying most of it, they were only interested in
weapons tech, set us back at least two thousand years.

Further reading:
[https://press.princeton.edu/titles/14162.html](https://press.princeton.edu/titles/14162.html)

~~~
mc32
Your reference only says that their myths proposed some advanced ideas not
that they executed or realized those ideas.

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thekevan
tldr: The physical construction makes it pretty much impossible to use as a
battery, it _might_ have been used for electroplating but it seems more likely
that it held scrolls.

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GnarfGnarf
Erik von Daniken had a field day with this in his "Chariots of the Gods" hoax
back in the 70's.

