Archaeologists keep re-excavating this 4000-year-old brick | Curator's Corner S9 Ep6

This is the story of a very unassuming Sumerian brick. Sure, it bears the names of mighty gods, powerful kings and contains 'the most powerful statement written anywhere in the world', but it's also quite a common brick to come across (if you're digging at Tello, Iraq). In fact, just how easy it is to find one of these bricks is exactly what makes this specific one so unique. Because this one specific example of the 'Gudea foundation brick' has been excavated and then re-excavated by archaeologists on 3 separate occasions: the third time was in 2016, the second in the 1880s, and it was originally excavated around 323 BC (that's 2,300-years-ago).
Join Sébastien Rey, curator of ancient Mesopotamia as he walks you through the discovery of the Sumerian civilization in the 1880s and how it took archaeologists another 100 years of excavating to realise that they had been excavating through the work of a previous archaeologist. The archaeologist? Adad-nadin-akhe. His commissioner? Alexander the Great.
CONTENT WARNING:
We will find French undies in an ancient Sumerian city. Or should it be we found? After editing this video I'm not exactly sure I can think in linear time anymore.
Heavily features the archaeology of archaeology. Linear time will mean nothing. You will eat your own tail. Bring tea.
Find out more about the work of the Girsu Project here: www.britishmus...
00:30 The most OTT intro yet
00:43 Ancient Girsu explainer
01:22 Yes archaeologists are up there with heroes and kings
01:30 A history of ancient Girsu Tello
02:05 Ernest de Sarzec's excavations at Tello ancient Girsu
03:15 Get your painkillers ready
03:23 Overview of British Museum excavations at Tello Ancient Girsu
03:49 Rescuing the Bridge of Girsu
04:24 How we re-excavated the 2 bricks
05:03 Fun fact: Irving rang Sébastien asking him to flip over bricks in case there was a board game on the underside of one of them. Sébastien found one 2 days later
05:10 yeah, we genuinely found French undies in an ancient Sumerian city
05:35 And now, bricks
05:50 Foundation inscription of King Gudea translation
7:27 House of the 50 Powers, Temple of the White Thunderbird translation
8:55 The most powerful statement in the world!
9:05 To make things function as they should.
9:30 Full translation of Gudea foundation inscription
9:49 Foundation brick of Adad-nadin-akhe
11:11 Temple of Alexander the Great in Iraq
12:12 What was the building Sarzec excavated?
12:26 Adad-nadin-akhe first archaeologist of Iraq
13:19 Meaning of name Adad-nadin-akhe
13:46 Coin of Alexander found in Girsu shrine
14:10 New meaning of Adad-nadin-akhe
14:28 The meaning of the Twin Temple of Herakles/Ningirsu and Alexander the Great
14:52 Recap of exactly how we ended up excavating the same brick 3 times
15:56 Next Episode Taster
#CuratorsCorner #mesopotamia #MakeThingsFunctionAsTheyShould

[@britishmuseum]

Sébastien will be in the live chat and answering your questions from 16:00 BST, Thursday 29 August. If you want a notification before the premiere starts just reply to this comment. We'll reply back to each of you 20 mins before we start the Q+A with Seb and you should get a push notification from that (this seemed to work well last time). You can also use the "Notify Me" feature on your screen, but some of you have told us it isn't that reliable a feature. So do that, comment here, whatever you feel like. See you at 4pm tomorrow! The video itself will start playing at 16:30 BST, Thursday 29 August.

[@ouse3591]

Yes please!

[@britishmuseum]

@@ouse3591 this is your warning

[@JJONNYREPP]

The 4000-year-old brick that archaeologists keep re-excavating | Curator's Corner S9 Ep6 1637pm 29.8.24 obviously the question remains: imperial or metric measure?

[@curiousbystander9193]

this is where it gets interesting....kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJe6c5lmfdKop6M Why? just a few hundred years after construction? People don;t just abandon things they and their ancestors put a bunch of work into.... yah know! Is this the related to the great flood, or one of them? Why is their other data suggesting a reset, so to speak, around this era, 2000bc-17000bc....... what really was reset?

[@JJONNYREPP]

@@curiousbystander9193 The 4000-year-old brick that archaeologists keep re-excavating | Curator's Corner S9 Ep6 2225pm 29.8.24 just go to italy or greece. their own ruins testament to some form of abandonment. not necessarily due to a massive flood....maybe generations of folk just ended up wondering who owned them, daring not to appropriate the temple or the arena...? manners might do for us all... ironic, that. the plague could have run riot.

[@dagnolia6004]

people throw the words 'fascinating' and 'mystery' around; but Rarely deliver. this WAS a fascinating mystery! 👍👍👍

[@saintbart7408]

True, true 👌🏽

[@hashimalzarooni9179]

Britain is full of thieves, taking artifacts through their museums and archives, then offering their own distorted versions of history. The truth is simple: the civilizations of the Middle East and Arabia were Arab, not Jewish, Hebrew, or Aramaic. These labels twist the facts, and it’s time the real narrative is heard. Thanks.

[@truemarklander]

As an archaeologist myself and as someone who teaches university courses in the subject, I think this one of the very best videos I have ever seen that clearly explains how we can reconstruct the cultural chronology of a site. Using effective visuals and imagery and Sébastien's clear and concise narration, the story of this site and the process of archaeology in this specific context, is beautifully conveyed. Thank you for this!! I'm going to assign this video to my intro class. Excellent!!

[@britishmuseum]

Hey there, this is Nick (I shot, edited and animated this video). If you're willing, would you be open to having a chat about this? This specific videos was a very concerted effort to try to make archaeological techniques and concepts more accessible to the general public, and I'm starting to draft up a proposal to try and do a joint research project on how to do this best through video? If you're up for it, could you email me at [e-mail]? I will respond from my personal email from there (just to avoid either of our details being readily available on comments). Thanks so much for taking the time to write your comment, you've made my day. Best, Nick

[@hashimalzarooni9179]

Britain is full of thieves, taking artifacts through their museums and archives, then offering their own distorted versions of history. The truth is simple: the civilizations of the Middle East and Arabia were Arab, not Jewish, Hebrew, or Aramaic. These labels twist the facts, and it’s time the real narrative is heard. Thanks.

[@hashimalzarooni9179]

British Museum, they are just thieves, taking artifacts from other nations and then giving their own versions of history. But the truth is simple: the civilizations of the Middle East and Arabia were Arab, not Jewish, Hebrew, or Aramaic. These other labels distort the facts, and it’s time the real narrative is heard. Thanks

[@hashimalzarooni9179]

British Museum, they are just thieves, taking artifacts from other nations and then giving their own versions of history. But the truth is simple: the civilizations of the Middle East and Arabia were Arab, not Jewish, Hebrew, or Aramaic. These other labels distort the facts, and it’s time the real narrative is heard. Thanks

[@hashimalzarooni9179]

British Museum, they are just thieves, taking artifacts from other nations and then giving their own versions of history. But the truth is simple: the civilizations of the Middle East and Arabia were Arab, not Jewish, Hebrew, or Aramaic. These other labels distort the facts, and it’s time the real narrative is heard. Thanks

[@TheAlchaemist]

So.... a Sumerian worker 4100 years ago not properly aligning the seal with the mud brick before letting it in the sun to bake, is triggering my OCD... great...

[@censusgary]

Try to relax, my friend. Even with this flaw, that brick is in nearly perfect condition after 2300 years.

[@piccalillipit9211]

HAHAHAHA

[@Pickle1762]

I'm sure it was like that: - Narep, come home quickly, your dinner is ready and is getting cold! - But honey, I've still got these 1000 bricks to stamp! I must stay obertime... - You better be home NOW, or I swear no Ningirsu will save you from my flying flip-flop!

[@francesconicoletti2547]

The worker would not have and might have not seen a right angle marker. Wood was expensive and metal was even more expensive,nothing else was going to take a straight edge, a brick stamper would be doing their job by eye. Presumably the presentation bricks would be just awesome the rest of the temple would have to do with a human worker doing human stuff.

[@Xynic48]

To be fair, if you were the tasked to make thousands of those bricks, by the time you reach 100, you'd probably stop caring about small details as well

[@Dayanto]

It's crazy that the original temple was almost as old to Alexander the Great as he is to us.

[@britishmuseum]

That's a really good point.

[@Poetry4Us]

its like when i think about cleopatra of egypt , and i think about how long ago that was , but in reality ancient Egypt is another 3000 years on top of that making cleopatra ancient

[@didntknoicouldchangethis]

You think like me, friend

[@TheKubelman]

In 1958, at 9 years old i read a book called "They Wrote On Clay" from 1939. Hooked and fascinated ever since. THANK YOU for this video.

[@bethbartlett5692]

1958? ... I arrived in December that year. 😁 11 days before 1959 🏹

[@Limastudent]

I owned that book as well and was fascinated

[@hashimalzarooni9179]

Britain is full of thieves, taking artifacts through their museums and archives, then offering their own distorted versions of history. The truth is simple: the civilizations of the Middle East and Arabia were Arab, not Jewish, Hebrew, or Aramaic. These labels twist the facts, and it’s time the real narrative is heard. Thanks.

[@ignagalindo]

This video is a perfect demonstration of the rich palimpsestic quality of the history of civilizations and the delicate work of archaeology (and museums!) to unravel it without fragmenting it. Thank you for such rigorous and stimulating content!

[@britishmuseum]

That is bang on. Cheers for your nuanced appreciation. Hope you have a great day

[@hashimalzarooni9179]

Britain is full of thieves, taking artifacts through their museums and archives, then offering their own distorted versions of history. The truth is simple: the civilizations of the Middle East and Arabia were Arab, not Jewish, Hebrew, or Aramaic. These labels twist the facts, and it’s time the real narrative is heard. Thanks.

[@GnomaPhobic]

Man that's a cool story! It's easy to forget just how old human civilization in Mesopotamia really is.

[@glenthemann]

I mean it's really not

[@aegresen]

@@glenthemann Sure, what's 5000 years of human development for Glen?

[@bozomori2287]

​@@aegresen Its was just yesterday. People didnt change much. The mesopotamian goatherder mindset is still going strong.

[@qrco163]

@@aegresenmore like 10.000 the Ancient Greek were in their 6000 and it was 2500 years ago

[@thealmightyaku-4153]

"It involves a number of heroes, and gods, and kings, and archaeologists - but I repeat myself"

[@erictaylor5462]

I like thinking about the workers and craftsmen who made these artifacts, and how they might respond if told, "That thing you just made, it will be very important to telling people thousands of years from now for learning about your society. Also, I find it interesting that one man considers an artifact worthless trash, then later ot is found to be something of great value.

[@Rain-Dirt]

It never crossed my mind an artifact could have been re-excavated/rediscovered multiple times. I love this new knowledge!

[@MGf-y3u]

هلاو دكتور سبستيان العراق عراقك واهلا وسهلا بيك وكل أعضاء البعثه احسنت علا هذا العمل الممتاز وشكرا علا هذا العمل الممتاز الذي أبهر لا وأولهم بلدنا العراق Hello Dr. Sebastian, Iraq is your Iraq and welcome to you and all the members of the mission. Well done for this excellent work and thank you for this excellent work that has amazed the whole world. From Nasiriyah, our hearts are with you ❤️

[@Anubis30224]

It's amazing how long it's been around to be excavated three separate times. Whenever I find a Native American artefact I figure I'm the first person to see it in centuries or millenia. But now I'm not so sure.

[@britishmuseum]

Humans are, and always will be, interested in humans. Most of us are interested in history too, so it's not so weird to think of our ancestors digging up theirs.

[@Anubis30224]

@@britishmuseum until there is no one left to dig, I shall be content with this. ... Afterwards I shall become a zombie and keep digging

[@britishmuseum]

Until you're 6ft under?

[@Anubis30224]

@@britishmuseum hopefully well into the future when I need excavating, myself, haha

[@panzerlieb]

An interesting story I came across one time was about missionaries first venturing deep into the Amazon jungle. The indigenous people they met were using stone tools. When they asked these people how they made these stone tools, their answer was curious and surprising. The indigenous people said they didn’t make them. They simply found them laying of the jungle floor, picked them up and reused them. This story always reminds me that the things you find may have been found before you (perhaps more than once). And, like these bricks, may have been reused multiple times.

[@andiemorgan961]

Fascinating video. Thank you. It never ceases to amaze me how these cuneiforms and other ancient writings are deciphered!

[@chassmith6778]

In your repairs, when you added new bricks, did they include a note in cuneform explaining what you were doing?

[@britishmuseum]

This is genuinely brilliant, and not something we considered at all. But the work is ongoing. If we do it, we'll let you know. However, it's not our site, so we need to be respectful and make sure this is something that our Iraqi colleagues are happy with and can contribute to. It is theirs after all.

[@magicmurderbag7581]

This could be genuinely important for archeologists in the distant future. I had not thought of that - which shows you how prescient the sumerians, etc. were.

[@chassmith6778]

@@britishmuseum, if I could recommend: if you do choose to propose this, suggest that it be bilingual, in Arabic and Sumerian (Akkadian?, Aramaic?, whichever language using cuneiform best fits the site). That, I think, would be most respectful to your hosts.

[@sauercrowder]

​@@magicmurderbag7581 we don't think of it because of hubris, we don't believe our civilization will ever fall.

[@Vokabre]

Great video! For me personally it's always impressive to see parallels between ancient Mesopotamian cultures, and Jewish culture, and here there are two things that immediately caught my attention. 7:40 "for the Sumerians there are no distinctions between the house and the temple" and similarly in Hebrew the Jewish Temple is literally "House Sanctuary" or "House Holy". 9:09: "to make things function as they should" also immediately made me think of a Jewish concept of "repairing of the world" "Tikkun olam". 07:59 "50 is a sacred symbolic number for the Sumerians" and in Jewish tradition a mystical meaning is attached to the number 60, i.e. "sleep is 1/60 of death", "dreams is 1/60 of prophecy".

[@Egilhelmson]

Given that the Hebrews claimed to be descendants of sheep herders who lived in the vicinity of Ur Of The Chaldeans, an Akkadian city originally a Sumerian one, one should expect some exchange.

[@kagyu1]

And also incorporated ancient myths like the Tale of Gilgamesh which became the Story of Moses.

[@bozomori2287]

Jewish culture is a branch that entirely descends from a tiny household of two civilized mesopotamian immigrants among canaanite society: mr. Aberaham & mrs. Sarah That branch of the household stayed tiny but gathered everything it needed from around the worlds it came in contact with.

[@bozomori2287]

​@@Egilhelmsonexchange? No it is more like total dependance and belonging, with dgrees of indpendence acheived organically through time and its events.

[@alexanderalexander7404]

This was brilliant thinking. It is marvelously complex and stunningly brilliant. Wow! Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me.

[@meh3247]

Maybe stop burying it?

[@britishmuseum]

We didn't! Promise!

[@Vokabre]

Were the new bricks for foundation reinforcement square with a square inscription in Arabic and English?

[@meh3247]

@@britishmuseum Hehehe... ;-)

[@christophersmith108]

@@VokabreI can just imagine archaeologists in the 36th century, wrestling with the “mystery of QR codes”

[@kayleighllyn8253]

😂😂😂

[@mobitouchiha]

I have a strong feeling that no one checked this before release, cause if by bad luck Prof. Finkel had, we’d all enjoy our evening in bed without supper. In col. 1 you make the effort to translate hero under ur-sag and mighty under kalag-ga as if to suggest, that you want to convey the meaning of the signs in the order they are written. Why then, do you abandon that idea as soon as you talk about col. 2? Line 1 you translate: to make things function as they should. This is not what it said literary. It reads: níg-ul-e pa mu-na-è -> the thing-immemorial for him it appear he made -> the thing immemorial he made appear for him, would be the literary meaning. Line 2 you translate: House of 50, anzu, white bird, bird of thunder. The line reads: é-ninnu-d/anzu/muszen-bábbar-ra-nè. muszen=bird. Bábbar(ud.ud)=white. If you want to read the muszen as a noun rather than a determinative and the two ud independently, by your own syntax from col. 1 it would read: bird white white, not white bird bird. Also: what happened to the possessive a-né? Why do you write thunder under it? Line 3 you translate: He this place built. It reads: mu-na-dù. Mu does not mean he, it is a Ventiv. Na refers to an indirect object, not to a Locative, so to Ningirsu. Lit. Translation: For him it build he did -> he build it for him. Line 4 you translate: place proper he this place restored. It reads: ki-bé mu-na-gi4. Ki-bé = its place; mu-na-gi4 for him it return he did -> he returned it for him. To sum up col. 2 reads: 1 níg-ul-e pa mu-na-è 2 é-ninnu-d/anzu/muszen-bábbar-ra-nè 3 mu-na-dù 4 ki-bé mu-na-gi4

[@MattRu-k6j]

So isses

[@riccardodinora8320]

❤Hass ist keine Meinung😘

[@phsenus]

🧐

[@AntoineLeydier-h4b]

Philology > Archeology

[@jensh.5039]

Die Wahrheit braucht ein schnelles Pferd 🐴

[@asztapaszta9]

Amazing story and video production! I can't believe we can watch this for free, thank you for sharing!

[@549RR]

Love the Finkle Fun Fact and all the timestamps in general

[@britishmuseum]

Love it when people dive in to the description. I never know if it's worth putting the effort in to make, let's face it, dad-level jokes there. But it's fun regardless.

[@missawady9693]

Although I was born in the same region as the temples, I had never heard of them before. I'm grateful for this interesting video.

[@britishmuseum]

Can't wait for the video to start? Here's a playlist of all our previous videos from Girsu: kzbin.info/aero/PL0LQM0SAx600JT-PHraOAwBo2pG1PzGXM Yes we are setting you prep-work!

[@preservethings]

I genuinely recommend watching the videos in the playlist ahead of time if you're really interested in Mesopotamian archaeology (and not just to get more views 🤪). This is one of the most interesting stories I've ever had the pleasure to edit, BUT it is without a doubt the hardest, and most dense thing I've ever had to edit. The other videos we've made should be an easier way into the subject content, should that be your thing.

[@iandonnelly6684]

when will The museum return all of its looted treasures?

[@mustafa.2024]

As a Iraqi citizen I want to thank the British museum for all those information, please make more videos about Mesopotamia

[@GardaOrban]

you welcome British museum

[@janinemarsh108]

Hi guys! It's Janine (from Education). Can't wait to hear all about this new info. Watching from a cottage in the Welsh Peninsular! Bring it on Seb!

[@britishmuseum]

Hey Janine (no need for an introduction, but yes from Education)! Come back soon, but not too soon (Wales is lovely).

[@JJONNYREPP]

The 4000-year-old brick that archaeologists keep re-excavating | Curator's Corner S9 Ep6 1644pm 29.8.24 did they add a quirk to the building... an off kilter brick or plinth re: their acknowledging they, the builders, are not as high and mighty as their particular godhead? bricklayer's, even now, still implement that train of thought in their contemporary endeavours... i was watching them build anew aldi's in bacup...you can all laugh about this. the inner wall had such a quirk which they seem to have removed. they're kindda buggering about with liberal intent... such is life. old liberal clubs in UK and their affiliated pubs still have evidence of this. look up - ie: when you enter through the door....

[@lanhua810]

Very exciting stream! Wonderful story connecting gods and ancient heroes with us all!

[@feffe4036]

Fascinating. This is what i love with archeology and history

[@chrisguest5251]

Just think how many generations prior to even get to the sumarian level of sophistication and organisation. Then what Alexander's army must have thought of these already centuries old abandoned mega structures. Mind blowing.

[@walker1812]

Millenia old. The pyramids were older to the Romans than the Romans are to us.

[@jboutame9113]

Your point is interesting and it is mind blowing. So, yes, do think! But focus on how humanity reached this level of sophistication without progressive development. The temples appeared suddenly, and there are no precursor civilizations with a fraction of this sophistication.

[@sauercrowder]

The oldest story we know is that of Gilgamesh. The opening lines, "In those days, in those distant days In those nights, in those ancient nights In those years, in those distant years"

[@ljc6181]

Could it not be - he restored the building to it it’s function. He repaired it!

[@britishmuseum]

He might have found it's proper place!

[@stevedrane2364]

What a job . . . 👍👍 Brilliant work great video. . Thank you .

[@britishmuseum]

Have a question about excavating at Girsu for Sébastien? Respond with it here to get the ball rolling before the live chat begins.

[@JJONNYREPP]

The 4000-year-old brick that archaeologists keep re-excavating | Curator's Corner S9 Ep6 1638pm 29.8.24 yeah... how come, all of a sudden, the various continents proffering the oldest brick or the oldest known scrawl as to the furtherance of civilisation?

[@starlightskyes]

What kind of rituals did they do in these temples? Would be curious to hear about daily life and special occasions.

[@SpringNotes]

5:37 I mistakenly thought the brick on the left, with the latter 1500 yrs old inscription was the older writing. Why ? Because it looked so primitive. It just reveals to me, the level of skill and artistry involved writing in cuneiform 4000 yrs ago. And looking at it closer, obviously they must've used the best people. Sébastien, do you sometimes stop and admire the cuneiform itself, like how we admire calligraphy or beautiful cursive handwriting ? And can you tell, if another brick/tablet was written by the same person ? Thank you in advance !

[@SamCyanide]

This is an awesome video. This man should be a role model for scholars. He explained everything clearly. Even though my exposure to archaeology is extremely limited, i didn't have to look up any terms or dates because everything was well contained within the video. Bravo.

[@MrHichammohsen1]

To be honest, this is the most interesting archeology story i have ever heard in my life!

[@SpringNotes]

Love the overall producing and editing of this video ! #Houseofthe50Powers #90YrsOldFrenchUndies #ToMakeThingsFunctionAsTheyShould #LinearTimeIsMeaningless

[@britishmuseum]

Cheers for taking the time to write this. Hardest thing I've ever edited, and I'm still not fully confident in the final product. So this comment meant more than I think you'd be able to realise.

[@SpringNotes]

​@@britishmuseumTake heart - you've done a wonderful job ! 🎉 What is your name ? You should be credited for your work. Whoever is in charge of video production @britishmuseum - PLEASE credit all the people involved - in the KZbin description box ! Thank you 😊

[@kidmohair8151]

fascinating! keep these coming, please. ps: that's quite a big corner you've got there Mr Rey. more of a field. of rubble.

[@britishmuseum]

Hey now. Technically, _technically_ there's a corner cut into the spoil heap behind Sébastien. 😝

[@Merry-i3y]

Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.

[@jeffnolan2021]

This is FASCINATING

[@suecox2308]

That was fascinating--genuinely enthralling.

[@KCODacey]

Just… blown… away. Thank you, archeologists, everywhere!

[@olejohn6311]

What’s really impressive is that they managed to keep their brick-making norms the same over at least 1500 years

[@censusgary]

Even now, bricks are made in much the same way they were made in ancient Mesopotamia.

[@GilesGilbert]

The fog was so dense even a laser decided it wasn't worth the effort.

[@KF-bj3ce]

The mysteries of the past to be unraveled by out of the box thinking so very interesting so see the past's imprint.

[@paulatreides6779]

What a fascinating story, thank you!

[@CynthiaPereira-g1d]

Just mind blowing! Amazing archaeological detective work, although my brain hurt trying to keep up with the twists and turns.

[@britishmuseum]

You and me both (this is Nick who shot and edited it) - genuinely the hardest thing I've ever edited. It's an amazing story, but so much of it relies on having the context first. And the context is only a humble 4000 years of history.

[@CynthiaPereira-g1d]

@@britishmuseum incredible to think it's 4000 years! And yet people haven't changed a bit, rulers as ever out to signal their power and prestige

[@diegogfl]

I am happy to have discovered this channel. It is not easy to find good and interesting material about archeology. Congratulations!!!

[@joe2mercs]

Good to see that in Hellenistic times they were recycling materials. Any builder does the same today so if they have to take down a wall and block up a doorway on the same site they will reuse the bricks as the quickest and cheapest option.

[@TheLifeOfKane]

"This is the Magic of Archaeology... Anyway, let's rebury this thing, and keep that magic going!"

[@tomarnd8724]

Always appreciate a fellow Frenchman who speaks English properly

[@kristiangustafson4130]

Fascinating layering of history & traditions. That Alexander, what a card.

[@BlueBaron3339]

A round-about way of explaining it all, but worth it!

[@walker1812]

The difference between giving your maths teacher the answer and showing your work to get the answer.

[@BlueBaron3339]

@@walker1812 Excellent point!

[@ClockworkChainsaw]

How would you explain this in a way that /wasnt'/ roundabout? XD

[@preservethings]

​@@ClockworkChainsawI tried. Multiple times to find a less round about way to edit this. This isn't even the order it was delivered in. There is no way (at least that I could muster) to linearize the story. It's too timey-wimey

[@eds7033]

So well done with great story telling. Could there be anything more insightful about Alexander’s personality?Fascinating!

[@nrschicago]

Well explained. Thank you

[@Peter-oh3hc]

I have just started learning ancient greek and am just learning the alphabet. To be able to recognize the Greek letters was amazing. Thank yoiu

[@toriwilson6961]

Please make a "short" about the 90 year old french "shorts" !!

[@britishmuseum]

Well we did say we would if you asked nicely. I suppose our hands are tied 😂

[@danser_theplayer01]

Yo, you should've inscribed the new bricks you built to support the bridge and consequently "make things work as they should".

[@nickfosterxx]

Nicely done thank you. Well worth all the extra effort of location filming and animation. Edit: I would just add, your Girsu playlist should be included in the description, as well as in the web page you refer to. Will be watching them all tomorrow! I stopped the video as he said 'And that is the magic of archeology' and would have missed them if not spotted elsewhere.

[@widescreennavel]

Don't tell me it's Make Lagash Great Again??? OMG

[@britishmuseum]

Fortunately not, but this did make us giggle

[@pinchevulpes]

All hail Gudea the enlightened despot

[@kennyofbaja]

This is extremely fascinating. Keep up the good work!

[@britishmuseum]

Thanks, will do!

[@RatzoMcFatso]

This is amazing. Ancient Mesopotamia is perhaps the most important civilisation ever. The people of Iraq must be so proud to have this as their heritage. The first writing. The first cities. The cradle of civilisation. It is really mind-blowing what these ancient people did.

[@AriesEugene]

If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were.

[@fredwood1490]

It's interesting too to see the politics of the ancient world and how they were willing to mess with actual history in order to create a history they needed to affirm their own power. Not like today at all!!!

[@kimrnhof107]

A really good video - and it emphasises how important writing is, because without the texts on the briks - we would know very little. I'm danish, and we have wonderful archaeological finds in Denmark BUT we really don't have writing before about 700-800 AD (yes a few artefact before). We know of battles that must have rageds over days - with high losses - and we don't know who fought who or why ! Just because no one could write ! -- This video shows how much detective work you still have to do, to get an idea of what happened - even when you have texts.

[@peterfireflylund]

“Comb” ;)

[@ajkaajka2512]

Thank you for explaining so nicely with interesting pictures and animations. More like this please 😍

[@glenm99]

That's a marvellous story. Thank you.

[@britishmuseum]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@AllenPerkin]

One may say the eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.

Thank you

[@britishmuseum]

Thank you for joining us!

[@danielcookcarpentry]

Was that a popular coin? Or special for the shrine?

[@britishmuseum]

Minted in Babylon by Alexander to create further currency. So special in the sense that when we find one underneath a foundation, we know it has to have been built after the minting of that coin. However, they are quite common, as far as ancient coins are concerned. Here's one that's in the British Museum: www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1911-0409-61

[@debbralehrman5957]

Thanks this was so very interesting. You did a fine job of explaining what happened. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@incredibleadventures1027]

"Look at this one neat trick to ensure your job security "iTs ThE mAgIc Of ArCeOLoGy"

[@coyotepous]

So fascinating!!! Love this part of history!! Congratulations, so well explained!!!

[@britishmuseum]

Sébastien is a dingir 🤪

[@lynnblack6493]

You guys are so darn tricky. Love the detective work!

[@Czeckie]

it's crazy that there were archeologist 2000 years ago

[@jamesallison4875]

Clear as mud. Love everything you guys do. I dig it. Hahaha 😂

[@britishmuseum]

Well someone has puns in spades don't they? 😂

[@PrasannaKumar-lf7gl]

Excellent. Please continue to post like this !

[@kingsuperbus4617]

its crazy to think how one day everything will be gone because of archaeology. i like all the old photos better than the new ones.

[@XHobbiesPrime]

I'm more interested in what type of brick LASTS for 4000 years. That is the part I find fascinating.

[@HPLovecraftAudioLibrary]

Cooked bricks (and ceramics) are basically indestructible, even if of low quality :)

[@TheAlchaemist]

This speaks more about the dry conditions of the place coupled with it being buried, hence not exposed to atmospheric conditions, than about the brick itself.

[@brucejr.5833]

You know that's completely logical and I absolutely did not see that coming. Archeology with a twist.

[@JayCoww]

Something, something, French underwear. Were they found with any other "artefacts", or was the situation more akin to some unfortunate French person finding the local cuisine disagreeable and had to discard them away from camp? It's weird that something so domestic could have such an interesting(?) story to it.

[@britishmuseum]

I don't want to give SPOIL(heap)ERS, but the pants do actually tell us a fair amount about who was digging at Tello, what they thought about the site and how they were digging. Obviously there's a significant layer of interpretation involved in something like this (as with most archaeology), but evidence of human behaviour is present in just about every object we leave behind - even undies

[@nicolasduhaut4771]

I'm trying to remember the title of a book I read on a similar topic: ancient people (I think it was Greeks? Or maybe Romans?) who conducted their own excavations and collected ancient artifacts. It also discussed how we discovered some of those proto-cabinets of curiosities. But I can't seem to find it.

[@shannoncult]

Wow! Simply fascinating! Thank you.

[@britishmuseum]

Our pleasure!

[@paulblase3955]

And when somebody excavates the British Museum in 5000 years, the cycle continues!

[@susanhuntley9262]

This is wonderful! Amazing!

[@kkupsky6321]

I love how “archaeologists” is on par with heroes kings and gods. I had no idea…

[@grahamgillard3722]

And some people criticise British and French archaeologists. If it wasn’t for them, this history, this knowledge, art and culture would still lay buried.

[@santiagoc93]

The fact that the gob was depicted as a star tell you everything

[@KimberleyHouston-i1c]

Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.

[@SweetButDeadly101]

Every time I see cuneiform I think of the amazing Dr Irving Finkel

[@eckosters]

Absolutely fascinating- thank you

[@britishmuseum]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@nettejakobs2501]

Mindblowing 😮 Fascination 😊 Greetings from Denmark

[@Greg_M1]

Excellent!

[@zethijs2724]

That was quite interesting, thanks!

[@alchamone8133]

Shocking bit of brickwork that tinkers I reckon hence no trace of the driveway

[@entirelyeconomics4960]

How much work it must have been to write on every single brick going into a temple

[@britishmuseum]

I'll triple check with Sébastien after the weekend, but I'm fairly certain they would have used a mold. The bricks are all mud brick, and that's how they make them precisely the same shape. And there would have been 100s of them, so I think carving it in to each one would have been too much, even for the worshippers of Ningirsu

[@Ubique2927]

I bet that more than half of the “Time Team” videos include digging up what was dug up before.

[@ΙωάννηςΚήτος]

Indeed, a fascinating story, thank you!

[@Desizgirl3]

Wow, I love this stuff!

[@jdschneider5858]

Oh My Ningirsu! That was breathtaking! Thank you!!

[@britishmuseum]

Excellent. Simple, but excllent

[@britishmuseum]

Also we should have 'Oh my Ningirsu' t-shirts in the museum shop

[@CarthagoMike]

What a fascinating story!

[@Russpng]

What a great presentation. Considering they knew how to build well, why did that rotate the angle of the stamp on the brick rather than cut it square with the edges?

[@anthonynicholson5523]

I think we may be the 3rd group of archeologists who discovered gobekl teppe. The last ones reburied it for us to find.