Archaeologists keep re-excavating this 4000-year-old brick

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: https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/projects/girsu-project 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