Page 172 - A Historical Lie: The Stone Age

In 1938, the German archaeologist Wilhelm König discov-
ered a vase-like object now known as the "Baghdad Battery." But
how was it concluded that this object, some 2,000 years old, was
used as a battery? If it actually was used as a battery—which the re-
search carried out certainly indicates—then all theories to the effect
that civilization always progresses and that societies in the past lived
under primitive conditions, will be totally demolished. This earthen-
ware pot, sealed with asphalt or bitumen, contains a cylinder of cop-
per. The bottom of this cylinder is covered with a copper disk. The
asphalt stopper holds in place an iron rod, suspended down into the
cylinder, without making any contact with it.
If the pot is filled with an electrolyte, a current-producing bat-
tery is the result. This phenomenon is known as an electrochemical
reaction, and is not far different
from the way that present-day
batteries work. During experi-
ments, between 1.5 and 2 volts of
electricity was generated by some
reconstructions based on the
Baghdad Battery.
This raises a very important
question: What was a battery

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