Original subtitles

could this relic from the Ancient Near

East actually generate electricity

1,700 years before they were even invented

why is this 3000 year old

Egyptian mummy screaming

it fits is this person was

denied the afterlife this was

a big deal

and who owned this medieval

iron prosthesis

remote trainer for To the untrained eye

it looks like a piece of armor but it

is much more than that and it can also do

more

[Music]

fascinating mysterious objects

[Music]

long hidden in museums, laboratories and

archives

[Music]

we can use the most modern technology to

reveal their secrets

you can recreate

disassemble

and enlarge

and thus

reveal the forgotten hidden and bizarre

these are the strangest things in the world

[music]

[music]

this 2000 year old artifact is

the only one of its kind in the world

since its excavation in Baghdad in 1936,

the vessel has been considered one of the

most enigmatic Finds of all time for

almost 70 years it was kept in an

Iraqi museum now

it has disappeared

in 2003 during the Iraq War the

National Museum in Baghdad was looted

since then it has been lost

based on the available data we have

reconstructed it

[music]

with a height of just 14

centimeters, at first glance it looks

like an ancient, dusty

clay jug inside, but something

fascinating comes to light: a

copper pipe and an iron town

[music]

the archaeologist who once found the object,

this combination reminded the archaeologist who once found the object of

something not ancient but something very

modern,

the best thing It could be some kind of

battery

sounds pretty crazy when you

consider that the thing is 2000 years old.

After all, the history books say

that the battery was invented in 1800,

1700 years before they were even invented.

No other vessel of this type is

ever found.

What is the purpose of it? served and could it

really have been an electrical storage device

how does an archaeologist even come up with

the idea that it could be a battery

when we interpret the past

we tend to apply our

own frame of reference to age

ordinary construction reminds someone of

a battery

[music]

others Experts, on the other hand, have

questioned the idea. As an archaeologist,

I would check whether this view

holds up and, if necessary, reject it

[music]

the first question is: could the

jug even function as a battery?

a battery consists of

three main components two electrodes made

of metal anode and cathode and the

substance in between the electrolytes

this substance allows

charged particles to move back and forth

between the electrodes a battery

usually contains acidic liquid

the copper and iron in the ancient

vessel look

amazingly similar to modern electrodes there is not the only

parallel

containing solution and that the

electrodes are rusted exactly That's what

we would expect inside a battery

[music]

so all the necessary components are

there but can this clay jar

actually generate electricity?

Scientists are doing the test

a reconstruction

of its composition automatically

becomes a battery. That's really cool. So it

actually seems to be an

ancient battery to act but should

it ever generate electricity or was it

just a coincidence in the end

in the third century the region of

Mesopotamia is rich in Sassanids,

the culture of which is very progressive to everyone,

the capital of is a huge

metropolis with up to half a

million inhabitants

from the The old gtsyphon is also where the

big arch at the gates of Bagger comes from. The

Sascha Nieden were a highly developed

society with clever engineers.

If someone can develop a battery in this era,

then the Nieten

University built one of the first

universities, an ancient school

that learned from India, from Rome and from

the Greek world

have created the mysterious object

what it was good for a theory says

that the electrical charge

was used to coat metal

you metal objects that you want to coat with a

precious material in

a vat with chemicals that

contain gold for example

[music]

if electricity As the solution flows through this solution,

the gold atoms stick to the

metal objects. In the end you have

a thin layer of gold on the

surface

with gold-coated objects. There were

enough gold-coated objects at that time,

which was often done with objects made of

silver or other metals.

Gold was valuable, sought after and expensive, and

were coated with it they

seemed more noble than they actually were,

unfortunately this theory has a catch

for the gold coating, a

whole series of batteries would have been needed but

only one was found

and there is something else that speaks against the

satanids. There was a

well-known and much

simpler process that

could be used for fire gilding

Coat metal objects just as well. You make an

alloy of gold and mercury,

apply the dough-like mass to the

metal surface and heat it,

the mercury evaporates in the air

and the gold remains on the surface, an

extremely dangerous and

harmful process, but that

was back then probably not known

the gold coating theory is

therefore ruled out but there are other

assumptions: the ancient battery could have been

used for obstetrics

someone suggested that the device was

used in a type of electrotherapy

the electric shocks were supposed to help

relieve the pain during childbirth

this technique is used today

Surprisingly, this use

of electricity was not a new idea back then.

Greek texts already mention that

electricity generated by animals

can be used to treat pain.

So it could have been a kind of pioneer for

such a battery There is no

shortage of painkillers in the world.

Almost 2000 years before the jar

was created, the

use of painkillers was already discussed in documents.

They were probably comparable to opium or

cannabis. The medicinal

use of plants had long been common practice in this part of

the world,

so the jar was probably not there Miracle

painkillers still remains the magic

perhaps the thing was used in religious

magic tricks it

may have reacted to touch and

then delivered a blow to someone

something like that made an impression and was

not uncommon in the ancient world the engine

was widespread at the time there were

several religions in the Various

gods were worshiped in the region.

The followers of

Zoroastrianism, for example, have fire and

smoke. It is

quite possible that they used the device

to produce fire and smoke.

Unfortunately, there are archaeological

finds and records that

confirm or refute this assumption, as

can the other battery theories

These are not really convincing,

the mysterious jug in the end is

not a battery at all,

the shape of the battery is not

unusual, a completely normal, simply

decorated vessel in such

vases or jugs, scrolls were often permanently

stored,

but if there were only scrolls in them,

where did the acid residue come from,

why the copper pipe and the iron rod

a plausible theory must explain the function

of all four key elements

inside there was a liquid

around it was the outer shell and there

was the rod and the cylinder made of

iron and copper you need an

explanation that brings it all together

now there is one new approach that

could solve the mystery

a new exciting theory about the

battery says that it could have been used for brewing beer

when

fermenting yeast, hydrogen sulfide is released, among other things,

a

disgusting smelling substance

in modern beer production,

copper barrels are used to remove smell and

impurities from the beer to

remove the Baghdad battery could have

worked similarly

the hydrogen sulfide can be

removed from the beer by generating

electrical voltage via a copper electrode

the hydrogen sulfide reacts

with the copper becomes solid and sinks to the

bottom from where it can be easily

removed

was used

but was beer as Beverage

widespread enough among the satanids

here was very popular and has been for

a long time. We know that beer was brewed in what is now Iraq

at least from 3500 BC

[music] had been

widespread in this part of the world for a long time perhaps it was even the

people's favorite drink but It was

also full of impurities

would have been a useful innovation there are

still a good 80 years of

controversy so finally an explanation

for the strange object

the Baghdad battery was actually in

a brewery now beer is acidic that

would explain the electrolytes the

connection between copper and Iron creates

enough voltage to remove the

hydrogen sulphide from the beer

and rust is an

electrode so yes it could have

worked

but like all previous theories

this one also has a catch

the problem with the brewery theory is

that the bagdad battery is very small

if It was used to brown it must have been

the first craft animal in the world.

Nothing can be proven at the moment

because the battery has still

disappeared as long as it doesn't

show up again the new theory cannot

be tested,

so the battery remains

one of the ones until further notice One of the most mysterious

artifacts in the world

in a museum in Cairo lies one of the

strangest Egyptian mummies in

history,

in contrast to thousands of other mummies

that appear calm and peaceful, seem to be

suffering this agony of death.

Now the remains have been meticulously

reconstructed.

This is the screaming mummy,

even the golden earrings that follow which

was lost from the mummy were

digitally recreated they are definitely

not the jewelry of a farmer the

body tells a similar story

[music]

his hair was braided he

applied henna to it that indicates a

higher-ranking man extremely

body, however, bears little resemblance

to other high-ranking mummies

were wrapped high in linen that had

a symbolic meaning

different

hands and feet look like they were

tied why was this Egyptian

buried in such a disturbing way

who is the man and why is he screaming

new scientific analyzes

not only reveal his identity

but bring The truth behind

his demise also comes to light

the screaming mummy is discovered at the end of the 19th

century

near Egypt's legendary Valley

of the Kings and she is not alone

there was a burial chamber with around 40

sarcophagi

suggesting that the mummies were there for a very

specific reason

For example, they were safe from

grave robbers.

The original grave sites of the

pharaohs were widely known, not

least because many people had worked on them.

There may have been priests who

at some point thought it would be safest to

hide the sarcophagi somewhere else and

some of the mummies were real greats

of their time famous historical figures

from ancient Egypt

ruled for more than 60 years and

is considered one of the greatest pharaohs of

ancient Egypt

so not insignificant people but

some of the most important names of their

time

but in one of the concerns archaeologists make

an astonishing Discovery

When they opened the lid of the bag

they were surprised to find the corpse of a young

man with a face distorted in pain. There

is no clue to his

identity. The

archaeologists describe him as an unknown man.

How did he end up in such fun

company?

Forensic analysis leaves the whole thing

at first

The person who is now this mummy appears even more mysterious,

had no calluses, very nice

earrings, the hair was beautifully

prepared and the person was in

good health, so we are

dealing with someone who

comes from a higher class, so not a

man who is responsible for his He had to work for a living,

together with the place where he was found, this suggests

that he belonged to the ruling elite,

but there remains a contradiction.

His wooden day is much simpler than the

other

higher-ranking individuals. He is

not particularly special. The fact

that the name of the dead person is missing is

unusual in aristocratic circles

For the ancient Egyptians, this was no

small matter -

the name was inextricably linked to the body. In the

afterlife, the body had to be intact

and a legible name was just as important. Ancient

Egyptian burials are

designed to facilitate the transition to the realm of the dead,

so the idea at the time was that they could

reach the afterlife in so-called Realms

of rushes comparable to our

heaven or paradise

the nameless sarcophagus sends a

clear message the implication of

ancient Egyptian theology that

it was a big deal if someone

was buried anonymously because that person was

denied the afterlife for all eternity

the other requirement

To successfully travel to the afterlife, mummification

was an extremely complex process.

First, the brain and internal

organs were removed, then the body was

washed and cleaned with salt.

Examination of the corpse apparently

shows something shocking. You can still see that the

brain is still in the mummy's skull is present and

you can't see any scar so that the

heart obviously wasn't removed either -

that's something very unfortunate for a person who once

had a high social status and who was very,

very important -

the material in which the corpse

is oiled falls out of the

ordinary

variant great symbolic meaning

now it is all the more astonishing that

this mummy was not wrapped in linen

but in a sheepskin

that was considered ritually unclean

and completely unsuitable for a

burial

with which one wanted to enter the afterlife.

I already have many mummies But I have

n't seen one that

was wrapped in sheep skin, especially if you know

that sheep are kept as unclean animals,

then that's a serious

insult to that person

Man

deliberately wanted to deny the chance of a

continued life in the afterlife

Chance

a member of the elite buried in a

royal

the body treated disrespectfully the

soul condemned to eternal nothingness who is

this man

[music]

the identity of the unknown man e

remains for almost 130 years a mystery

until 21st century forensics

were applied to the corpse.

In the late 2000s, the

Egyptologist Seihaha commissioned a series of

DNA analyzes. The result of the

unknown was the son of one of the

greatest Egyptian pharaohs

in ancient Egyptian history.

He played an important role fought a series of

wars and commissioned important buildings.

For some Egyptologists, he is the

last of the great pharaohs.

If the screaming mummy was the son of a

god king, what did he do to

deserve this terrible fate?

An ancient document preserved 3000 kilometers

away in northern Italy

could provide the answer it is

known as the Turin

court papyrused documents the

trial of a number of high-ranking

nobles accused of a conspiracy

against Ramses the third.

In ancient Egypt, pharaohs could

marry as many women as they wanted.

Among the women there was a hierarchy

of concubines lower end of the

scale and their children had fewer

rights

if they wanted to rise in the rankings

they had to do something about it

the court papyrus mentions a

concubine called Team she had

succeeded in getting a large number of courtiers

[music]

[music] to

conspire in life around her

To make son king this son

will be in the scriptures

an ancient document that tells a dark

story of conspiracy and murder

it could finally bring the identity of the screaming

mummy to light

as we know from the DNA test that he is

a son of ramsystem third party

must act and since we have

also documented this dishonorable burial

there is still a

solution - this is the son

of ramsystem Third Prince

[music]

there is only one catch except on the

papyrus the name pentavirit does not appear

anywhere in ancient Egypt

Penta wasn't his real name at all

but a kind of pseudonym they

used it so that they did

n't have to pronounce his real name, that

would have meant giving life to him.

The screaming mummy could have been at the center of

a treacherous plot,

which seems to have become

Ramses the third

to open the trial and

to preside over it, however, he is referred to as the great

god, a title that is actually reserved

for the deceased, so there is

no clear answer to this

the shocking result he

was murdered

when a CT was done, a

computer tumorography of the

racist's neck, the third one saw that there

was a deep wound under the bandage,

so a deep neck cut that

went down to the spine because you

can't survive that because left and right yes

then being severed and then no

more oxygen can be transported to the brain

means that he

died immediately of this

most dashing man in ancient Egypt he

was undoubtedly closely guarded to kill

someone like his son that the

explanation for Penta would now be eternal

damnation

the most heinous

crime of all that

the conspirators were found guilty

and sentenced to harsh punishments

from cutting off the nose and ears

to execution some members

of the royal family were ordered to commit

suicide

is also the fate of the

screaming mummy

the corpse contains a final

clue to the You can see indentations on the wrists,

which is of course something

very unusual and especially because

pieces of leather

were found in the coffin or in the grave,

we have to assume that the person

was tied up. The

tied hands indicate that it was

more of an

assisted suicide.

We can know his name and his

fate

but a question remains

why is he screaming

as it turns out he is by

no means alone

[music]

there are screaming mummies all over the world

who stare at people with fearful eyes and

open mouths in

Italy in Central and South America

but is that what it is a scream when

you die, gravity simply pulls

the lower jaw down, the

muscles, the muscle tension relaxes

before rigor mortis

sets in and that's why

almost everyone who dies has an open mouth

that looks like they're screaming

or something else If you wanted to say that if

you look at an Egyptian mummy of

a person who actually had a very

high social status and

see that the lower jaw

hangs down like that, then someone did

n't make any effort at all with the

mummification because you would

only need to remove part of the bandaging

to guide the skull and then the

lower jaw would already be held in such a way

that this apparent scream cannot even

arise.

Scream or not scream, the answer

is also in the eye of the beholder.

Our brain is

hard-wired, so to speak. We have to immediately understand the

feelings and intentions of others

Recognizing people so that we

can react appropriately and correctly,

we see a face with the mouth wide open

and thrown backwards in our head,

our brain immediately compares it with

what we know

Penta would be the expression, thus resembling

a scream

[music]

even if the mummy is there not really

screaming, the face appears deeply

disturbing,

frozen forever in an expression of

the worst torment.

In a glass showcase in

Jagsthausen Castle, not far from Heilbronn, lies

an incredible object

that apparently to the untrained eye

looks like part of a suit of armor,

but it is much more than that and it

can also be more

meticulously reconstructed using

the latest computer technology to

reveal the hidden details

[music]

a 500 year old medieval

masterpiece

a mechanical iron hand with an 18 cm

long cuff the only one of its kind in the world

the fingers are fully movable and

a complex mechanism works inside made

of gears and springs

[music]

the owner is the Franconian knight

Götz von Berlichingen in his

autobiography Götz von

Berlichingen describes that he can ride horses,

can carry weapons, can hold glasses

so that's absolute madness for

the time

it sounds fantastic and maybe it is

After all, God is said by many to have

a penchant for desert exaggeration,

this story with his hand and

his arm can really be true, that

everything really worked so well,

why was this construction built,

what was it really so clever and who

was the man with the iron hand

[Music]

Germany in the 15th century a

brutal, rough place

the Holy Roman Empire of the German

Nation consisted of many small states

some of them were ruled by princes

others by dukes or counts

and everyone was at each other's throats

everyone wanted the biggest piece from the

cake there was pure chaos

Bing and the political situation had

changed it was difficult to

keep track an important

factor was mercenaries the small

states couldn't

set up large armies so they hired troops

that's the world of Götz von

Berlichingen

was born in 1480 and at the age of 17 was

already a knight, but one who

also robbed and killed Götz

von Berlichingen may have the knighthood

but in reality he is a

notorious mercenary. At the age of 20

he became self-employed with

one today one would say with a

gang and was able to hire this group and

then these mercenaries worked for the one who

paid

[music]

at the age of 24 von

Berlichingen suffers a serious injury

in 1504 Götz von Berlichingen is

working for a Bavarian prince from hit by a cannonball

and part of his arm and

hand are lost are gone

without antibiotics such wounds

usually end fatally

but von Berlichingen is lucky he

survived but he loses his right

forearm and his hand it seems that

his days as a knight in battle are over

[ Applause]

Götz and Berlichingen is now sick

and of course he could give up, but he does

n't. Instead, he thought about

how he can continue to fight, how he

can continue to hold weapons and also kill,

so he designs himself a new hand. He

's not the first to come up with the idea

to build a prosthesis

[music]

most people believe that

prostheses haven't been around that long,

but in fact there were first forerunners

in ancient Egypt to

follow the movement of the foot and

a nice leather strap, probably

for a comfortable one.

The Romans were also inventive. The

elder described a man who he thought was

incredibly heroic. His name

was Markus Sergio Silos. He was more famous

for having his arm

cut off in battle But he refused

to get off the horse. Later he wore

an iron prosthesis so that he could

hold up the shield and continue fighting.

He often sat on the horse and

fought in many more battles.

However, he wore a more complex prosthesis

[music]

Götz then went to a blacksmith

and Instead of just asking for a

hook or perhaps some kind of

wooden construction, he

instead asks for a properly

functioning hand. Two years after

losing his hand, von

Berlichingen returns to the battlefield with a metal prosthesis,

but he is not satisfied with the

prototype.

The first version was still there Quite simple,

she could hardly do more than

open and close her fingers.

The second, on the other hand, was remarkable. The

solution was a sophisticated, movable

iron hand.

The order he

must have given his blacksmith was pretty

incredible. Every single limb should

be fully movable. He wanted to

hold his sword and therefore do it correctly to be

able to fight for the 16th century, these were

pretty peppery requirements,

gives a lot of show off

but does the prosthesis actually work?

new research can answer this question

[music]

the challenge in building a

hand prosthesis is to make the handle

movable and flexible on the one hand,

but also strong enough if on the other hand

For example, Götz wanted to hold a sword

or the reins of his horse.

He needed a firm grip.

To understand how the prosthesis

works, you have to look at the inside of it

[music]. What

is crucial is the so-called

ratchet mechanism, which

has a row of

teeth that fall with every rotation

Pawl in a recess, the shape

of the teeth prevents the pawl and

thus the joint from slipping unless you

loosen it.

It is a mechanism like the one you

find in handcuffs today. In the

iron hand, each finger contains three of

these systems, so every

ankle joint can be fixed With his

good hand, Götz pushes his

metal fingers around an object

until the grip is tight enough. The

pawls hold the position.

Pressing a small button on the

side of the hand unlocks the whole thing.

The mechanisms loosen and the hand

can be opened again

Button on the back

allows the prosthesis to be angled at the wrist.

Berlichingen tells everyone how

fantastic his iron hand is. He

himself has said that his prosthesis

has served him better in battle than

his hand and arm made of flesh and

blood ever did before

Von Berlichingen is

known for being notoriously sparing with the truth and

has always made sure that he is

presented in a good light. He did that in

his autobiography, as

many people probably do, but of course I

know that I can't be

so sure anymore

The story with his hand and his

arm can really be true that

everything really worked so well.

Götz von Berlichingen could

actually hold a glass, grab the reins of

his horse and swing a sword

as he claimed

in the last 500 years.

Many people have doubted this

Research can now clarify the question once and

for all.

The University of Offenburg

examined the structure of the hand.

The scientists started with the

simpler first prosthesis

on a 3D printer. They recreated the design and

showed the maximum performance that the hand

could achieve from strong grips

during of combat to

fine motor applications such as

holding a pen

the first prosthesis already contains many of

the key technologies that

are optimized in the second version

the research shows that von

Berlichingen has not exaggerated the

mechanical hand actually works

we know this is a 500 year old almost

full functional mechanical

prosthetic hand made of iron the best proof

of their abilities is the life that

berlichen led he continued to

fight drank plundered murdered

played his hand worked very well

Götz von Berlichingen becomes a

literary hero, but only 200

years after his death Götz and

Berlichingen probably would

n't be so well known if Goethe, our

German national poet,

hadn't included it in one of his plays.

In this piece, Götz says something like he

'll lick my ass, so today

you'd say it in English,

but actually it's a

very dirty expression The

iron hand was a fully

functional medieval

prosthesis.

Since then, modern prosthetics have

developed significantly.

Millions of electrical prostheses connect

directly to the nerves, muscles and

bones of the user.

Through the use of electrodes,

the wearer is even able to control the prosthesis

with their thoughts

[Music ]

Berlichingen's iron hand,

on the other hand, seems like a relic of the past.

Some researchers, however, see it

differently. They believe that the model can

still be useful for many people around the world.

Similar prostheses are still relevant today If you

can't afford prostheses,

such simple systems can

still help.

Seen like this, Götz von Berlichingen's

invention could have been helpful for many people around the

world

[music]

he would certainly have mentioned it in his

autobiography, the main thing is

[music]