1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of curiosities. The human body is 5 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: not meant to handle the extreme cold. Scores of aspiring 6 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: hikers of Parish trying to scale the deadly amount everest 7 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: souls were lost when the Titanic sank in, many of 8 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: whom froze to death in the frigid North Atlantic. When 9 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: our internal body temperature drops below degrees, hypothermia begins to 10 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: set in. Our breathing slows down, our pulse weakens, our 11 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: brain starts to lose function, and words become slurred while 12 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: our motor control falters. You don't want to get caught 13 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: in the cold, especially with no warmth or shelter nearby. 14 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,839 Speaker 1: Aside from hypothermia, frostbite can claim fingers, toes and entire 15 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: limbs without proper treatment. Folks in places like Minnesota know 16 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: all about handling harsh winters and sub zero temperatures, if 17 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: only they'd been nearby when Jean Hilliard needed them. It 18 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: was a winter's night in nineteen eighty when Jeane lost 19 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: control of her car and ended up in a ditch. 20 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: The snow and ice prevented her from getting the car 21 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: back on the road. The temperature had reached minus twenty 22 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: two and the area was pretty rural. She caught sign 23 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,400 Speaker 1: of a farmhouse not far from her position and decided 24 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: to trudge through the snow toward it. They'd have a 25 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: phone and she could call someone to come pick her up, 26 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: except when she got there, she learned it was empty. 27 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: She tried the next door neighbor's house, same result. Nobody 28 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: was home. Being farm country in Minnesota, neighbors weren't easy 29 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: to come by, and there wasn't an their house anywhere 30 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: in the area, but Jean remembered one about two miles back. 31 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: With no other options than to freeze in her car 32 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: until daybreak, she started walking the way she'd come. The 33 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: next day, the owner of the house, Wally Nelson, stepped 34 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: outside and noticed something in the snow. It was big 35 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: and it wasn't moving, so he inched toward it for 36 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: a closer look. It was a girl, Jean. In fact, 37 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: she had collapsed fifteen feet away from Wally's front door. 38 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,959 Speaker 1: Her body had frozen solid and her skin had been 39 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 1: hardened by the cold. It was clear she had died overnight, 40 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: but while he was at a loss for what to 41 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: do about her. He could call the authorities, but they 42 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to get to him for some time, 43 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: and he couldn't just leave her in the snow. And 44 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: then he heard something faint, like a whisper. Jean moaned 45 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: at his feet. He carried her to his car and 46 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: placed her in the back seat while he turned on 47 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: the heat. He drove her to the nearest hospital, hoping 48 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: doctors might be able to save her. Her joints refused 49 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 1: to bend. The thermometers they used were useless on someone 50 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: so cold. They couldn't remove her boots either, as her 51 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: feet had frozen into the shape of their insides, and 52 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: her pulse was practically non existent. At twelve beats per minute. 53 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: By all measures, Jean was essentially dead and not expected 54 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: to survive the next twenty four hours. The doctor on duty, 55 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: doctor George Sather, heard the same faint moan as Wally, 56 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: and he knew he couldn't just let her go. He 57 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: wrapped her in an electric blanket and gave her oxygen. 58 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: Two hours later, her temperature had returned to nine degrees. 59 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: She burst back to life with a seizure before calming 60 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: down and getting her bearings. Despite her brief confusion as 61 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: to what had happened to her, Jeane was fine. Her 62 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: brain was still fully functional, and she didn't require physical 63 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: therapy once she got back on her feet. In fact, 64 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: doctors thought even if she did survive, they'd have to 65 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: amputate her legs from severe frost bite that they had sustained. 66 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: But that wasn't the case. The frost bite started to 67 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: fade away and her skin slowly returned to normal. It 68 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: was a miracle, they thought. Until tests came back they 69 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: revealed the simple explanation as to why Jean had survived overnight. 70 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,839 Speaker 1: It wasn't because Wally had found her in time, nor 71 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: had there been any divine intervention. She merely had a 72 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: few drinks in her system when her car broke down. 73 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,840 Speaker 1: The alcohol had prevented her organs from freezing, meaning her 74 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: skin had taken the brunt of the cold. Jean had 75 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: gotten a second chance at life, and I think it 76 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: would be fair to say that anyone would consider that 77 00:04:44,040 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: a sobering experience. History is a record, It tells future 78 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: generations where we came from and how we got to 79 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 1: where we are today. History is chock full of failures, successes, 80 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: and everything in between. It is a journey of cultures. 81 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: Yet many cultures have been lost to time, to invaders, 82 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: to fire and floods, and we have no way of 83 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: learning about them aside from the few clues that remain. 84 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: The ancient Egyptians left behind pyramids, temples, and tombs with 85 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: the story of their people illustrated on their walls. We 86 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: have statues and writings from the ancient Greeks to shed 87 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: light on their way of life and how they contributed 88 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 1: to the world at large. And then there's ancient Summer, 89 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: the basis for modern civilization as we know it today. 90 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: The Sumerians originally settled in Mesopotamia, a region in southern Iraq, 91 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: about four thousand BC. They made great advances in agriculture, technology, 92 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: and most importantly language. Sumerian was the primary tongue in 93 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 1: mesopotam Ama for over a thousand years before other languages 94 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: started to take hold. Canea form. Their written language lasted 95 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 1: for two thousand years longer. It was comprised of triangular 96 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 1: shaped markings etched into clay tablets it was used for 97 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,919 Speaker 1: all sorts of communications. A message from King Xerxes was 98 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: uncovered in Turkey. Etched into the side of a mountain. 99 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: It described the great deeds accomplished by his family in 100 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,799 Speaker 1: the region. Canea formed tablets have been found all across 101 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: the Middle East, but one has perplexed historians for decades. 102 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: It was a German American man named Herman Hilprecht who 103 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: first discovered it at the beginning of the twentieth century. 104 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: Known as the Sumerian King List, it details the names 105 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,520 Speaker 1: of ancient rulers across the region and the lengths of 106 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 1: their reign. There are a few things surprising about it, though, First, 107 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: there are several versions of the text known to exist. 108 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,599 Speaker 1: At least eighteen stone tablets have been found. However, the 109 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: most comprehensive version is known as the Old Blundel Prism, 110 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: a long eight inch column with four sides each side 111 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: jam packed with the names of ancient Sumerian kings. This 112 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: list is more than a chronology, though, it opens up 113 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: the door to endless questions about our past and what 114 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: we think we know. According to the list, many of 115 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: the ancient kings ruled for hundreds of years, such as 116 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: the mythical Gilgamesh. Sumerian kingship was meant for the divinely chosen. 117 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: According to one translation, one king ruled for twenty eight thousand, 118 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: eight hundred years, immediately followed by another king who reigned 119 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: for thirty six thousand years. That's two kings who ruled 120 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: for a combined sixty five thousand years. In fact, over 121 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: the course of more than two hundred forty one thousand years, 122 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: only eight kings ruled Summer, a staggering number. Even when 123 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: those reigns are broken down into more realistic ranges using 124 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: a variety of formulas and mathematical computations, those realistic reign 125 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: just number in the tens of hundreds of years, which 126 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: are still well outside our modern expectations. People just don't 127 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: live that long, and so historians have been left with 128 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: a puzzle to solve. Did the ancient Sumerian kings actually 129 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: reign for thousands of years? Or are we missing a 130 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: piece that unlocks the true meaning of these numbers. Perhaps 131 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: more information could be gleaned from other lists we haven't 132 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: found yet, that is, if they exist. Until then, we'll 133 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: have to keep looking. Although rare new stone tablets show 134 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 1: up from time to time, but it's hard to predict 135 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: how helpful they'll be. Some allow us to connect one 136 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: more dot, while others just make the mystery a little 137 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 1: more foggy. In the end, our best chance is to 138 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: keep looking, keep thinking, and keep putting the pieces together. 139 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: Oh and to make sure to never leave a stone unturned. 140 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour the Cabinet of Curiosities. 141 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,959 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 142 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 143 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 144 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 145 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 146 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 147 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.