Ancient Energy Devices: Science's Unsolved Mystery

Modern science remains divided over one of the most intriguing artifacts of ancient archaeology: the so-called Baghdad Battery. Almost ninety years after its discovery, a new experimental study reignited the debate by proposing that this object, dated between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, was not a simple rudimentary electrochemical cell, but rather a device with two cells connected in series, capable of generating more than 1.4 volts — a power much higher than that previously attributed to it. However, for many experts, the electrical explanation remains unconvincing.

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The object was discovered in 1936 during excavations in Khujut Rabu, a few kilometers from Baghdad, in layers dating back to the Parthian period. According to the descriptions, it consisted of an unglazed ceramic vessel containing a copper cylinder sealed with asphalt, inside which there was an iron rod suspended without touching the metal walls. The shape of the object led the then director of the Iraq Museum, Wilhelm König, to suggest in 1938 that it could be a “galvanic element”, a hypothesis that has since oscillated between scientific fascination and academic skepticism.

One of the most influential critics of this idea was the German chemist Gerhard Eggert, who analyzed the device from a historical and electrochemical perspective. In his study, Eggert argued that although it is possible to generate a potential difference by immersing two different metals in an electrolyte, the design of the object would not allow for a stable or useful current for a reasonable period of time.

According to his analysis, organic acids available in ancient times — such as fermented juices or naturally acidic liquids — would have been too weak to sustain significant reactions, and the sealed construction of the copper cylinder would have prevented oxygen from entering, quickly reducing the current to negligible levels. For Eggert, the most likely explanation is that it was a ritual or magical container, possibly intended to store texts, blessings or spells written on organic materials.

‘Baghdad Battery’ is surrounded by mysteries that science has not yet been able to unravel — Photo: Courtesy of Alexander Bazes

This interpretation directly contradicts the study published in January 2026 in the journal Sino-Platonic Papers by independent researcher Alexander Bazes. After a detailed reconstruction of the artifact, Bazes claims to have identified a key element that had been overlooked in previous experiments: the active role of the ceramic vessel.

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According to the proposal, the device would work like two batteries in one. The “internal” cell would be composed of the iron rod and the copper container with an acidic electrolyte, while the “external” cell would take advantage of the porosity of the ceramic and the presence of tin-based solder to create a metal-air battery, in which atmospheric oxygen would act as the cathode.

In this configuration, both cells would be connected in series, allowing a voltage greater than 1.4 volts to be reached. According to the experiments described, this energy would be sufficient to produce visible and “useful” effects, such as the electrolysis of water, the formation of gas bubbles, the corrosion of metal surfaces or electrocorrosion processes. Bazes argues that this result constitutes the strongest evidence to date that a practical—though not theoretical—knowledge of electrochemistry may have existed in the ancient Near East, nearly two millennia before Alessandro Volta’s experiments.

The proposal, however, is far from resolving the debate. In an analysis published by Chemistry World, Bazes himself acknowledges that his interpretation does not convince all experts. Some archaeologists point out that the absence of other electrical devices, documented technological applications, or written references to electrochemical processes in antiquity weakens the battery hypothesis. They believe the object could have served symbolic or ritual purposes.

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William Hafford, an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania and curator at the Penn Museum, studied fragments of the artifact — now missing after remaining in an Iraqi museum until 2003 — and is skeptical about the idea that it was a working battery. Hafford points out that similar finds in the region, including containers with multiple encased copper cylinders, suggest more likely magical devices. In this context, the procedure would involve inserting a prayer or curse written on paper, sealing the container with bitumen, and burying it as part of a ritual addressed to underworld deities.

Interestingly, Bazes himself does not completely rule out a ritual function. Although his study demonstrates that the object could have functioned effectively as a battery, he proposes that this energetic capacity could have been used to “ritually corrode” a prayer wrapped around the iron rod, offering visual evidence that an invisible force had acted upon it.

Thus, far from solving the enigma, the new experiments deepened the controversy. The Baghdad Battery continues to oscillate between two worlds: that of a possible electrochemical technology ahead of its time and that of a ritual object whose form, interpreted through modern eyes, fuels one of the most persistent debates between archaeology, chemistry and the history of science.