Did the ancients know electricity?


Many people believe that extinct ancient civilizations were much more advanced than we think. For example, the fact that the ancient Egyptians knew electricity is considered clear evidence of this. According to them, surviving frescoes in ancient temples, for example, depict something very similar to today\’s light bulbs, which proves this.

Another, more convincing evidence is the absence of soot on the walls and ceiling. If so, there must have been some other “clean” source of light. One possibility is electricity, which is closely related to the frescoes mentioned above.

egyptské pyramidy

And then there is the fact that ancient artifacts have been found that essentially function as modern batteries. In light of this evidence, can we still doubt that ancient peoples manipulated electricity?Yes. And for good reason. Because, looking more closely at the above, the situation is not as clear-cut as it first appears.As for the aforementioned fresco, the inscription on it clearly tells us that it is a representation of the world creation myth. Thus, it is not a representation of any device, extant or not.

uvnitř egyptského chrámu

Even the absence of any trace of fire is relatively easy to explain, and electricity is not required. Still, oil lamps were used for lighting. Oil lamps have the property that they produce very little smoke when used. The main reason for their use was that they made the air less smoky and easier to work with, but as a side effect, they left almost no visible smoke trails.

As for the alleged batteries, not only is there no evidence that they were used in this way, but the current they could generate would have been too low to be practically useless. It is now speculated that it was most likely a special wine container.While there is no doubt that the ancients were very clever, the invention of electricity cannot be attributed to them.