The Baghdad Battery

Record summary

The so-called Baghdad Battery is a ceramic vessel containing a copper cylinder and iron rod, reported from a site near Baghdad and often assigned to the Parthian or Sasanian era. Experiments show that a similar arrangement can produce a small electrical potential when filled with an acidic liquid, prompting claims that it was an ancient battery. Archaeologists have not established that this was its purpose, and comparable objects may have had other functions. The lead is useful for examining experimental archaeology and retrospective technological interpretation. AI-recalled, not evidence of ancient electricity.