1
00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,640
Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

2
00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,080
Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

3
00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:13,399
Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff

4
00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,280
Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas,

5
00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:23,920
Speaker 1: and moments in time. As we've discussed before on Stuff

6
00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,480
Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, gold is a special element. Particles

7
00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,960
Speaker 1: of gold can linger on a river bed for centuries

8
00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:32,880
Speaker 1: and retain all their luster and beauty, and the same

9
00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,560
Speaker 1: can be said for golden artifacts buried in the earth,

10
00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,600
Speaker 1: but not so with other metal creations. Consider the sword.

11
00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,960
Speaker 1: As instruments of war, they require strength and sharpness, so

12
00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:48,559
Speaker 1: malleable gold is a poor choice of materials, and so

13
00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,440
Speaker 1: swords tend to rust, whether dropped on the field of

14
00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:57,320
Speaker 1: battle or buried in a stately tomb. In the film Conan,

15
00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,480
Speaker 1: the Barbarian our muscular hero liberates a word from an

16
00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:04,920
Speaker 1: ancient crypt and it's ready to use, sharp and unrusted,

17
00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,319
Speaker 1: despite untold century stuck away in a tomb. We can

18
00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:11,320
Speaker 1: forgive the film for this, since it deals with the

19
00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:16,160
Speaker 1: world of magic, and perhaps it's Atlantean Smith's mastered arts

20
00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:24,320
Speaker 1: that allowed it to endure. One of the closest things

21
00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,920
Speaker 1: in real life however, is the sword of Gojin. Archaeologists

22
00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,640
Speaker 1: believe this resplendent bronze weapon belonged to Gojin, who ruled

23
00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,039
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of You from four to four sixty five

24
00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,000
Speaker 1: b c. His ownership is identified in writing on the

25
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,679
Speaker 1: blade itself. When the king died, his sword was buried

26
00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:49,480
Speaker 1: with him and remained there for more than two thousand years. Then,

27
00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,760
Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty five, a team of archaeologists in Hubei

28
00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:56,000
Speaker 1: Province unearthed the water logged tomb, and amid the many

29
00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:00,080
Speaker 1: undisturbed artifacts, they found the sword. Suffice to say, a

30
00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,640
Speaker 1: cone in the Barbarian would have been pleased because the

31
00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,560
Speaker 1: sword of Gojin was remarkably well preserved. Not only was

32
00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,240
Speaker 1: it largely untarnished, but it was sharp, reportedly able to

33
00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,240
Speaker 1: cut through twenty pieces of hard paper. According to the

34
00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:17,440
Speaker 1: Hubei Department of Culture, Again, this was no Atlantean magic sword,

35
00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,400
Speaker 1: but a bronze blade. How had it survived so long

36
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,040
Speaker 1: in a flooded tomb. Part of it is the sword's composition.

37
00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,160
Speaker 1: According to Chu lang Hu in a study published in

38
00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,680
Speaker 1: Chinese Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology,

39
00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,720
Speaker 1: the sword was smelted from tin bronze, and the pattern

40
00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,600
Speaker 1: of decoration on the surface contains black copper sulfide. The

41
00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,240
Speaker 1: tin and the weapon's edges helped it retain its sharpness,

42
00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,720
Speaker 1: and the sulfur helped decreased tarnishing. More to the point, however,

43
00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,640
Speaker 1: the sword passed the centuries in a sheath that was

44
00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,160
Speaker 1: nearly air tight. It's just like if the Lady of

45
00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,600
Speaker 1: the Lake stored Excalibur in a big ziploc bag before

46
00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:01,120
Speaker 1: taking it with her into the depths. Tune in for

47
00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,880
Speaker 1: additional editions of the artifact every week, hosted by either

48
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,520
Speaker 1: Joe or myself. As always, you can email us at

49
00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:19,840
Speaker 1: contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff

50
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:22,079
Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio.

51
00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,760
Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart

52
00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,520
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

53
00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:28,239
Speaker 1: favorite shows.