In 1936, in Khuyut near Baghdad an unusual object was unearthed. In an archaeological unearthing a mysterious pot or vase was found, estimated to date from a period between a few hundred years before Christ to some hundreds of years after Christ. The Baghdad Battery is about 15 cm high with a lid of asphalt and an oxidised iron rod in the middle, surrounded by a 9 cm copper cylinder with a diameter of about 26 mm. When the vase is filled with an electrolyte, such as lemon juice or vinegar, it is able to deliver an electrical charge of approximately 1 volt. It is however too small to provide any reasonable power. Dozens of these batteries would have to be connected. 

The similarity with the first batteries, such as those invented by the Frenchman George Lechanché in 1867, is striking. These also consisted of a pot with a negative (carbon) and positive (zinc) electrode, separated by an electrolytic fluid. This Bagdad Battery was housed in the National museum in Baghdad, but it is doubtful whether that it is still there after the loot in 2003.