The mystery of the 5000-year-old crystal knife and the 2000-year-old battery

In the past, we have told a lot of stories about prehistoric civilizations, such as humans walking with dinosaurs , human footprints 200 million years ago, everyone feels quite new…

But some of you also say that this is so fantastical, hundreds of millions of years old – it sounds like a fairy tale. So today we're going to talk about artifacts that are closer to our modern society: the crystal knife five thousand years ago, and the battery two thousand years ago.

The crystal knife five thousand years ago

This beautiful dagger was found in an ancient tomb in Valencina de la Concepción – a small town in southwestern Spain, with a history dating back 5,000 years. It is crystal clear, very refined, combined with a delicate ivory handle. It doesn't seem like a weapon, but more like a work of art.

Five thousand years ago, China was in the period of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, which historians consider to be the Neolithic Age. Europe at the time was similar, and common people still used stone tools. The hardness of crystal is very high, in the natural world, the hardness of crystal is second only to such precious stones as diamond, corundum and topaz. Crystal has a very brittle texture, it only takes a little impact to break, and it is extremely difficult to grind. The thickest part of this dagger is only 1.3 cm; Not only is it perfectly shaped, the sides are evenly proportioned, but it's also polished, and even the ivory handle is carefully crafted, not sloppy. There are other crystal weapons in the tomb as well, and they are also very well crafted. Is it really hard to imagine how prehistoric humans created it with primitive stone tools?…

This dagger, in terms of technology and art, has reached a very high level of processing, surprising archaeologists. After researching, they believe that in the upper society at that time, there must be a few people who have mastered the extraordinary and sublime crystal technology, and they have spent a lot of time and effort to create created these crystal items, because they believed that the crystals contained mystical energy, which could be used to communicate with ancestors and the Gods.

This makes people think of the legendary ancient civilization of Atlantis in legend, because Atlantis is also a civilization that worships crystals. But it is said that Atlantis at the time was so advanced in science and technology that they could sit on a spaceship and go at will, causing the Atlantean people to gradually cultivate an arrogant mind, feeling that there is nothing they can't do. , and no longer worshiping God – this leads to rapid moral decline. According to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, their behavior angered the Angels, so God sent earthquakes and floods, causing the entire continent of Atlantis to be submerged overnight. That time is about 10,000 years BC.

However, some people survived, and then they wandered all over the world. It is said that behind the ancient civilizations in the Mediterranean, there is more or less the shadow of Atlantis. Is this exquisite crystal dagger a masterpiece of the descendants of Atlantis? This is not impossible.

Baghdad Battery

The next thing I want to introduce to you is the famous Baghdad Battery. The battery was unearthed in an ancient tomb on the outskirts of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. The historical period in which the ancient tomb existed can be traced back to around 250 BC – that is, 2,200 years ago, at the end of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization.

Mesopotamian civilization is considered the earliest human civilization, referring to the ancient civilization on the Mesopotamian plain between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the Middle East, roughly located in present-day Iraq. This area began to be settled 10,000 years ago, many prosperous cultures began to appear 9,000 years ago, and civilization flourished 6,000 years ago, after which it continued. flourished until it was superseded by the Greek civilization in the second century BC. This ancient civilization had its own writing, achieved many high achievements in various fields such as literature, art, architecture, astronomy, calendar and medicine. The legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built during the heyday of the Mesopotamian civilization.

Archaeologists have unearthed a wide-mouth ceramic jar about 13cm high, looks like a vase, beige color, inside is a copper tube made of thin copper, in the copper tube there is a small iron rod. The iron rod and the copper tube are separated by a rubber stopper, that is, they are separated from each other. At the time, people could not imagine what this small ceramic jar was for, but nonetheless it is considered a cultural relic that should be included in the National Museum of Iraq.

However, the strange device in the belly of this small ceramic jar caught the attention of German archaeologist Wilhelm König, who was working in the museum at the time. After some research, he believes that this ceramic jar is an ancient battery, the iron rod is the negative electrode and the copper tube is the positive electrode, an electric current can be generated when a liquid is poured into it. acid or alkaline. What is it used for? It was probably used for gilding. Why does he think so? Since he observed that many silver items unearthed in Iraq were coated with an extremely thin layer of gold leaf, he suspected that the ancients used the electricity generated from this type of battery for electroplating. He then included the results of his research in the book "Nine Years in Iraq" (Neun Jahre Iraq) published in 1940.

After the book was published, it caused a stir not only in archeology but also in society as a whole. Why? Because the modern battery was only invented in 1800 by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. Ancient people two thousand years ago knew about electricity, battery production as well as electroplating technology? Simply unbelievable.

Reliable battery test and endorsement media:

So 'powerful heroes' from all over came to find out the truth. The most famous of these was the experiment conducted publicly by two media.

The first is the British TV show "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World", which specializes in uncovering unsolved mysteries in the world, such as pre-civilization. History, UFOs, etc. In the episode that aired on September 18, 1980, the host Arthur invited German archaeologist Dr. Arne Eggebrecht, he was curator of the Hildesheim City Museum in Germany. . 

That day, Mr. Eggebrecht brought with him a copy of the "Baghdad battery" ceramic jar. First he connected the two ends of the copper tube and the iron rod to a clamp-on voltmeter. Then, he took out a bunch of fresh grapes from his bag, pureed them on the spot, and poured grape juice into a ceramic jar. The moment of witnessing the miracle has come, the voltmeter's needle slowly turns to indicate 0.5 volts. This ceramic pot can indeed generate electricity!

The next experiment was even more shocking. Mr. Eggebrecht took another small silver chain from his pocket and hung it on an iron wire, the ends of which were clamped by two clamps. This forms an electrical circuit. Then soak the bottom of the pendant in a clear solution. He explained that the solution contained gold cyanide, which was used for gold plating. A few minutes later, the curator picked up the pendant, now only the bottom part soaked in a solution was plated with a brilliant layer of gold. It's like doing magic.

The name of this volume is "Ancient Wisdom". If you want to watch it, you can search for the complete video on Google. The whole show is about 27 minutes, and the Baghdad battery section starts at 17 minutes and 30 seconds.

Then another program is the famous science program "MythBusters" of the Discovery Channel, which everyone knows at first glance, this is a program specializing in anti-counterfeiting. In the program on March 5, 2005, they selected Baghdad batteries for identification. The experimenters were very serious, they made 10 clay pots with their own hands, stuffed copper pipes and iron rods inside, smeared asphalt on them and made 10 Baghdad batteries. After pouring lemon juice into the flask and connecting it in series, they measured a potential difference of 4 volts. They then tested the legendary electroplating function and successfully galvanized a copper coin. Not only that, they have also successfully demonstrated another use of the Baghdad battery, which is that it can also be used to treat diseases, and the effects of acupuncture can be enhanced by electrotherapy.

The final evaluation results of the program concluded that: the ceramic jar is a battery.

You can also search for the complete video of this episode on Google. Just use MythBusters 2005 and 'ancient battery' as keywords.

However, although the performance of the Baghdad battery has been proven time and time again, there are always those who doubt it is pseudoscience. Because one of the most difficult questions to answer is, if batteries were invented a long time ago, why didn't ancient Mesopotamia develop into a high-tech society like we are now? You see, it's only been 200 years since Mr. Volta invented the battery, so many changes have taken place in this society, simply shaking the earth.

This question is actually not difficult to answer. Think of it this way. Although Mr. Volta is a scientist, he is also a devout Catholic and has maintained his faith throughout his life. Even when others doubted his beliefs, he made a particular excuse, saying:

“I swore an oath in the name of God, I have never shaken my faith before. In this creed, I recognize God's supernatural grace, a pure gift."

If Volta knew that the door to modern technology was opened by his little invention, in the last 200 years it would have evolved to the appearance of nuclear weapons, with more than fifteen thousand nuclear bombs in reserve. , enough to destroy all humans on Earth; If he knew that humanity, with the support of science, had come to the point of abandoning belief in God, defying moral codes, would he be willing to make his invention public?

In ancient times, when the Mesopotamian civilization was just beginning to sprout, not too far from the Atlantean civilization disappeared, leaving behind teachings that have been passed down from generation to generation in various forms of tradition. theory. Is that why people at that time did not dare to go on the high-tech path? Take history as an example.

That's all for today's story. The roots of civilizations in our human history are like "lilies of the highlands, the first years of life are dry and glorious" (Meaning: grass grows layer by layer, each time it is born and then dies). . We are certainly not the first civilization to appear on this Earth, will it be the last? This also depends on the righteous faith, morality, and attitude of mankind.