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The Riddle of Baghdad's Battery

Posted by michael on from the three-bars-on-baghdad's-cell-phone dept.

Jodrell writes "The BBC has an interesting article about a 2,200 year old battery discovered in Iraq in 1938. It is basically a clay pot containing a copper/iron core immersed in an electrolye solution (probably acidic vinegar). The article talks about how this priceless artifact as well as many others, from the same civilisation that invented writing and the wheel, could be threatened by the impending war."

15 of 943 comments (clear)

  1. No! by leviramsey · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not a battery! It's a chemical weapon! Call Hans Blix!

    1. Re:No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      George: "Tony, Tony, hurry, we found one"
      Tony: "Yes georgie, I have my thumb already on the button"
      George: "Shouldn't we first ring our friends and allies"
      Tony: "Huh, do we have some?"

      Sorry, but I'm just so fed up with those two...

    2. Re:No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Perhaps it should be...

  2. battery??? by betamaxV2.1 · · Score: 0, Funny

    i just have one question. how can you call this a battery? correct me if i am wrong but it wasnt until the 1700's that humans discovered electricity and began trying to control it and use it.

    this priceless artifact sounds more like someone droped a spoon or fork into a bottle of vinegar and forgot to take it out until a couple of mellinia later.

    1. Re:battery??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      how can you call this a battery?

      Because it is a battery.

      correct me if i am wrong but it wasnt until the 1700's that humans discovered electricity

      You're wrong. Clearly, electricity was being generated by man made means before the 1700's. Even if the people generating it didn't know what it was. Consider yourself corrected.

      this priceless artifact sounds more like someone droped a spoon or fork into a bottle of vinegar

      Yeah. Especially if the spoon happened to be a rod of iron surrounded by a cylinder of copper. And the person who dropped this oddly designed spoon in the jar then sealed it in with asphalt. Exactly like you describe, incredible!

      In future, try clicking on those green bits of text with the line drawn under them. They're called links. Then read the words on the page. Thats called the article.

  3. The real find... by Goody · · Score: 4, Funny

    was the big stone-carved vibrator that went with it...

    --
    Tired of being "punished" by the Slashdot $rtbl since 2002. I'm now over at http://soylentnews.org/ .
  4. I can see the headlines now by grimsweep · · Score: 5, Funny
    WASHINGTON, D.C.- President Bush has made the announcement today of an addition to the collection of evidence to make war with Iraq. "It's clear that this battery was used to power some sort of destructive device, and we're certain Sadaam's ancestors were a part of it," stated the commander-in-chief in a press conference yesterday.

    Subsequently, the defense department has changed Homeland Security status to Condition Copper, indicating a potentially shocking situation.

  5. Quick - Call Jennifer Garner!! by vizualizr · · Score: 2, Funny

    It can't be!! It is!!

    Its a precious Rimbaldi artifact. Its part of a weapon! Send in Jennifer Garner and the CIA goon squad. A little spandex, a red wig, and it will be ours!

    --
    anything i tell you will cloud your opinion.
  6. Unless That Battery Is Powering A Root Name Server by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Let it go.....

  7. Predictions by Otter · · Score: 0, Funny

    1) This artifact and the rest of the Museum of Baghdad will be completely untouched by any US miltary action. (What Saddam does is another matter.)

    2) We will never hear another word on this subject from the BBC or anyone else.

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  8. Whiners by tsa · · Score: 2, Funny

    Come on! Batteries are meant to be thrown away. And if it's so oldd it's bound to be leaking and useless, so chuck it out please!

    --

    -- Cheers!

  9. So, um... by redNuht · · Score: 2, Funny

    Apprentice - "Look, master, I have invented what I shall call THE BATTERY"
    Master - "And what is that battery of yours, young apprentice?"
    Apprentice - "It produces electricity, master!"
    Master - "And what does this electricity you talk about do?"
    Apprentice - "Well, um... nothing really right now, but I'm sure that in a few centuries..."
    Master - "You know, I think that wheel thing you came up with last week might be slightly more useful right now... and stop wasting our precious vinegar!"

  10. Does paper last that long by oniony · · Score: 2, Funny

    The BBC has an interesting article about a 2,200 year old battery discovered in Iraq in 1938
    I can't believe an article from 2,200 years ago is still readable now, and surely the BBC should hand it over to a museum ;))
    --

    Powered by onion juice.

  11. War Giveth, War Taketh Away by objekt · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Most sources date the batteries to around 200 BC - in the Parthian era, circa 250 BC to AD 225. Skilled warriors, the Parthians were not noted for their scientific achievements."

    Warriors made it, huh? How ironic.

    --
    -- Boycott Shell
  12. Re:RTFA: Did they throw away 11 others too? by geekoid · · Score: 2, Funny

    also, some believe they could use it for gold plating. which makes certian curators rather nervous. ;)

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