eygptian light

[monsterman]

i seen a documentary of ancient eygpt and one thing they had was a light on a rod that when put into the water from a boat would light up. the person duplicated it and it worked. does anyone remember such a device?

[Aaron]

Egyptian lights

Hi Monsterman,

Was this on Discovery or History channel or something similar?
Sounds very interesting. Do you recall any part of the name of the documentary?

[monsterman]

Hi Monsterman,

Was this on Discovery or History channel or something similar?
Sounds very interesting. Do you recall any part of the name of the documentary?

i think it was cbc in canada. was a long time ago. He seen the light in a wall picture made by the ancient egyptians. it showed a boat with people in it, and 1 person was holding a light on a (stick kinda) the bottom part was in the water and the top was a light. he made such an item and it did work

[monsterman]

possible lights

[ANTIQUER]

Egyptian lights

Hi Monsterman,

Was this on Discovery or History channel or something similar?
Sounds very interesting. Do you recall any part of the name of the documentary?

Hi Aaron.

I saw that same program, so it must have been on Nova, etc. Here's an article on the lights and someone who pretty much discredits the idea.

Lights of the Pharaohs: the Electric Lights in Egypt? Guest article by Frank Dörnenburg

Al

[monsterman]

Hi Aaron.

I saw that same program, so it must have been on Nova, etc. Here's an article on the lights and someone who pretty much discredits the idea.

Lights of the Pharaohs: the Electric Lights in Egypt? Guest article by Frank Dörnenburg

Al

i got the pictures from that site but the program i seen was many years ago in canada

[roxaz]

Hmmm quite possible i guess. Rod may contain an earth battery to produce electricity, the only question is what material could possibly shine using that little power.

[ANTIQUER]

i got the pictures from that site but the program i seen was many years ago in canada

Hey Monsterman.

Since I saw it in the U.S.A. several years ago and you saw it in Canada they probably showed it in both countries around the same time.

As to pictures check out the top one here;

Ancient Egyptian Science, Alchemy

As there are plenty of hieroglyphics on the wall in this scene I think a qualified Eqyptologist could tell us what was going on here as was done in the last part of the article I posted previously.

Al

[rickoff]

reply to monsterman:

i seen a documentary of ancient eygpt and one thing they had was a light on a rod that when put into the water from a boat would light up.

I didn't see the documentary, but may have an explanation of sorts. Potassium can react violently with water to evolve Hydrogen, and is likely to ignite the Hydrogen. You can't extinguish such a flame by dousing it with more water, because that's just like adding gasoline to a fire. That's why potassium has to be stored very carefully, away from any combustibles, and is usually stored under mineral oil, in an airtight container, for a limit of 3 months. Any longer than that and it is likely to explode when uncovered. Anyways, potassium could be wrapped around any wooden or metal rod, and dipped into water to start the reaction. So this could very possibly be the method that you saw demonstrated.

Best regards, Rick

[dambit]

I don't think even the "qualified" egyptologists know what they are talking about half the time. Just look at there ideas about the pyramids.

I remember reading about similar type of lights or light poles being found in the remote jungles of South America. Some of them were reportedly still working. I'll try and find the book and re-read what it says.

Hi rick, the rod could be hollow and the gas could be fed through a bubbler/flash protector and then lit. Only question is weather or not the hydrogen would burn too quickly. I think it might.

[rickoff]

Hi rick, the rod could be hollow and the gas could be fed through a bubbler/flash protector and then lit. Only question is weather or not the hydrogen would burn too quickly. I think it might.

Yes, that would burn too fast unless you had some way to control it, such as a very small orifice and/or limited air exposure. It's interesting to note that hydrogen lamps were available pre 1800. See the Volta Hydrogen lamp of 1777 here: Misc. Science
See also the following link for a description of Volta's ingenious method of lighting and burning the Hydrogen.
IMSS - Multimedia Catalogue - Animations - Volta's lamp-lighter
Regards,

Rick