# Tomb Light Source?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 17, 2002, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777 "2002-03-17T21:39:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2002, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777/1 "2002-03-17T21:39:05Z")
Hey All,
My wacky electronics professor is claiming that the archeologists did not find any carbon residue from burning oil or any flamable substance on the cielings of the tombs with painted walls. He suggests that they may have had crude batteries and electric light sources.
I think he’s full of it, but I haven’t been able to find supporting evidence one way or they other.
Do you know if it’s true that there has not been any carbon deposits found on the ceilings of the tombs with painted walls?
Thanks,
Sandwriter
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### Author:  [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2002, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777/2 "2002-03-17T22:31:34Z")
Which tombs? Egypt? Roman catacombs? The REALLY old cave paintings? How does he think archaeologists could tell one carbon residue from another (i.e. the walls are, um, painted, right?)? He is clearly full of it, but in what specific ways remains to be worked out. What a strange thing to say, but I’ve heard of these “primitive battery” believers.
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777/3 "2002-03-17T22:47:48Z")
From:
[http://www.waseda.ac.jp/projects/egypt/sites/TT-E.html](http://www.waseda.ac.jp/projects/egypt/sites/TT-E.html)
> [@](#):
>
> The ceiling is covered with soot and it is hard to see the paintings clearly.
From:
[http://www.cofc.edu/~piccione/t2p2/1991report.html](http://www.cofc.edu/~piccione/t2p2/1991report.html)
> [@](#):
>
> These texts were difficult to copy and required much time to do so, since the walls here are covered with a very thick black soot, apparently the result of burning and smoking in medieval times.
(yes, I know, not quite what you want…)
From:
[http://members.aol.com/hebsed/walz.htm](http://members.aol.com/hebsed/walz.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> All the walls which have become blackened by soot from oil lanterns over hundreds of years are being cleaned. An Italian team headed by Dr. Paolo Mora, who directed the conservation efforts in the tomb of Nefertari, for the Getty Institute, has completed the cleaning this year, and are beginning the necessary restoration work.
From:
[http://catalunatics.com/atour/luxor.htm](http://catalunatics.com/atour/luxor.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> There had been an attempt to clean the dirt and soot off of the walls and ceilings that had eroded some of the brilliant paints.
From:
[http://members.tripod.com/Karsbo/catacombs.html](http://members.tripod.com/Karsbo/catacombs.html)
> [@](#):
>
> Very frequently, one can notice many small niches cut in the side walls. These were used to hold an oil lamp to light the whereabouts. Many niches still bear soot marks.
And so on. Try Google, with “tomb soot ceiling”.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777/4 "2002-03-18T00:12:07Z")
It’s your prof’s statement, so he has to prove it, not you. Ask him for cites.
The so-called “Baghdad battery” is probably what has given rise to these speculations. The object would have made a really poor battery. There was an article about it in the May/June 1996 issue of _Skeptical Inquirer_.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777/5 "2002-03-18T00:15:27Z")
I meant to say “It’s your prof’s statement, so he has to prove it. You are not obligated to disprove it.”
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777/6 "2002-03-18T01:49:03Z")
There was an article in, I think, _Science Digest_ many years ago back when it was a real magazine, and there’s been at least one History Channel program (I think), where they proved that it would have been possible to illuminate the insides of Egyptian tombs using nothing more than mirrors.
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### Author:  [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777/7 "2002-03-18T02:05:24Z")
[Tomb lighting, mirrors AND the Baghdad battery, all in one convenient cite!](http://www.catchpenny.org/light.html)
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### Author:  [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomb-light-source/98777/8 "2002-03-18T03:02:04Z")
Unless these are recent finds, tthe people who **discovered** the tombs used torces, so there’d be carbon residue from them.