The entity, estimated to have existed in Baghdad/Egypt around 250BC, was discovered by workers excavating earth for a modern train track in the region of Khujut Rabu. In 1938, German archaeologist Wilhelm Konig, at the time director of the Baghdad Museum Research lab, stumbled upon the peculiar looking item, in a container in the museum cellar.

Baghdad Partian Battery

The battery consists of a 14cm in height egg shaped clay vase with an asphalt bung. Poking between the asphalt is an iron rod enveloped by a copper cylinder. When the vessel is filled with acetum or any other electrolytic mixture the vase omits around 1.5 to 2.0 volts of electricity. The initial theory was that the battery had been used for electroplating gold onto silver objects although it was later suppositioned that the battery may have held medicinal applications considering the bronze and iron spikes unearthed adjacent to the battery. The principal issue with the hypothesis of medical usage was in relation to the extremely low voltage the battery manufactures, which to some non believers would have not had any evident influence on anything other than very insignificant pain.

In spite of the frequent experiments with replicas of the Baghdad batteries, cynics dispute that there is no evidence that they ever operated as electric batteries. They conceive that an asphalt seal such as that on the Baghdad battery, whilst not remarkably realistic for a Galvanic cell, would be ideal as a airtight seal for storage over an protracted time. The problem now remains if the Baghdad Battery was an isolated discovery given the lack of similar finds to date. Disastrously however in 2003, in the course of the war in Iraq, the Baghdad Battery was plundered from the National Museum, together with thousands of additional incalculable ancient artefacts. A supported substitute interpretation of those sceptical of the electrical battery hypothesis, is that the vessel acted as a repository for religious scrolls, conceivably comprising of rituals of some kind inscribed on natural textiles such as parchment or Cyperus papyrus.

Despite our understandings of the usage of this device and whether or not it truly was a piece of lost ancient technology remains a mystery given the limited evidence retrieved from the excavation site. The fact that the items were discovered next to each other and when combined form a primitive battery we would be foolish to ignore the intelligence of our ancients, especially considering other ancient technologies which we are confident of their function and purpose.

Antikythera Computer Mechanism

This precious ancient relic is one of the principal fragments of evidence to indicate that many individuals from an early era actually conceived that all planets revolved around the sun, refuting the previous concepts of philosophers like Aristotle and is titled following its locality of discovery, where Greek divers, investigating a Roman shipwreck at a depth of 136 feet in 1901, happended upon 82 strange bronze-colored pieces. It has been assessed that the antihysteric mechanism was created around 87 BC, and importantly it was the first recognized geared machinery to use a differential gear, which was subsequently to be employed within early analogue computers.

Once recovered and washed, the Antikythera mechanism was viewed for what it was, a complicated structure of gears gathered into a bronze contraption resembling a clocklike structure. The differential gears are composed of over 30 individual bronze gears with teeth fashioned by way of equilateral triangles which were used to add or deduct angular momenta. The device appeared to have a variety of engaging gears and a small hand lever to provide a rotating movement to the geared machine, in addition to a display that displayed data about the lunar month, sun and major planets in contrast to a background of stars. The intricacy of the gears discovered within the Antikythera Mechanism bewildered researchers, given that this form of “lost technology” was not considered to have existed until approximately 1575.

A fresh examination of the Antikythera Mechanism, has now disclosed that aside from forecasting solar evolutions the device was additionally used to chart Olympic games. Tony Freeth, a associate of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Program, revealed he was “astounded” at the revelation. His astonishment stemmed from the fact that the Olympic Games sequence was a extremely uncomplicated, 4 year cycle which you would contemplate would not need such a intricate tool to work out. However, given the Games were of such cultural and ethnic significance to the Greek population it is now considered that it is not unusual for them to have included it within the mechanism. Utilising new advanced three dimensional surveying techniques the group discovered the words “Olympia”, “Pythia”, “Nemea” and “Isthmia” which was part of the forerunner events to the principal Panhellenic championship engraved onto one of the gears.

Regardless of what this amazing machine was designed to accomplish it continues to be one of the most astounding ancient discoveries and confirmation of ‘lost technology’ of forgotten times which does raise some interesting questions and potentially impacts our understanding of other mystifying anomolies of the world, ones we shall be covering in the months and years to come. See below video of a reconstruction of the Antikythera device in action probably not much dissimular to the original design of around 87BC, truly staggering….