Pub. 4 2014 Issue 2

9 MINING FOCUS been found, and as a result it is called the Baghdad or Parthian battery; despite the name, it could also have been made by the Sassanids. Who exactly are the Parthians (250 B.C. to 225 A.D.) and the Sassanids (225 A.D. to 640 A.D.)? They were two Persian dynasties that were dominant in the Fertile Crescent area around the time the battery was made. If the batteries were made about 200 B.C., that places them in the Parthian era, but they could have been made later. Why would an illiterate and nomadic people need a working battery? According to Dr. Konig, and also today’s experts, the primary theory is that the Parthians probably used one or more batteries made from jars to put a thin layer of gold over artifacts made of silver. This process is called electroplating, and is still used today. Two different people have tested Dr. Konig’s theories. In 1940, William F.M. Gray, a G.E. engineer in Massachusetts, built a replica of the Baghdad battery and successfully made about half a volt of electricity. In the 1970s, a German Egyptologist named Arne Eggebrecht made his own replica and electroplated a silver statuette with gold. Another possibility is medicinal; for example, the Greeks used electric eels to soothe pain located on the sole of the foot, and maybe these batteries made from jars could serve the same purpose. Dr. Craddock has suggested, somewhat cynically, that batteries connected in parallel could also have been used by temple priests. If placed inside an idol, a priest could deliver a small shock or burst of warmth to someone touching the idol, perhaps as a means of giving an answer to a question and also convincing people that the idol truly did represent a pagan god. The invention of the telegraph marks the first time that electricity was put into widespread use to communicate ideas across long distances. The underlying principle for the telegraph was discovered in 1747 by Sir William Watson in England. Next, a Scottish man came up with a signaling machine in 1753 that used one insulated wire to represent every letter of the alphabet. Before long, the telegraph became a standard part of the age. People embraced the idea of the telegraph wholeheartedly, and the new technology even began to affect writing style. Being as brief as possible (even to the point of using code books that could reduce a large message to a small one) was a logical next step for a means of communication that involved paying someone more money if you sent a long message instead of a short one. But the telegraph did not rule for long. It was replaced first by the telephone, and is being replaced now by smart phones that only need cords if someone wants to charge their batteries, yet can do everything from calling friends to searching the Internet and connecting the owner to work, music, books, information, and the location of the closest deli. One interesting thing about cell phones, laptops, and tablets is the importance of the batteries inside them. Having a battery that can last for a long time without the need to be recharged is an important selling point for modern devices. It is no wonder that ancient people could not get enough of metal. When they had metal they could make money, jewelry, household goods, weapons, and even batteries. People today still can’t get enough of all of the above, although the underlying principles certainly are understood better than they used to be. For most people, though, the many uses of metal are still somewhat magical, especially when that metal is put to work in the service of conducting or storing electricity. Most people would not know how to build a phone, tablet, or computer from scratch; put them in front of a mine, shovel in hand, and the road to these finished products would be extremely long and complicated, especially because so much specialized knowledge is required before you can even begin to make something useful. And yet these devices do get made, starting with miners; moving to the designer, engineers, and manufacturers; and finally arriving in the marketplace. The good news is Utah is rich in metals. For example, the two metals used in the Baghdad battery, iron and copper, are both plentiful here. Iron County, Utah got its name from iron; three years after Mormon settlers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young sent 50 men south to start the iron industry. (Along the way, the path they took later became I-15.) Most are familiar with the copper being mined from Utah’s Oquirrh mountains, but did you know copper is mined in other parts of the state, as well? We are a long time removed from the Persian dynasties that made the ancient batteries we’ve found, but I believe they would understand our continuing fascination. X One interesting thing about cell phones, laptops, and tablets is the importance of the batteries inside them. Having a battery that can last for a long time without the need to be recharged is an important selling point for any modern devices that use batteries.