Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas, and moments in time. As we've discussed before on Stuff to Blow Your Mind, gold is a special element. Particles of gold can linger on a river bed for centuries and retain all their luster and beauty, and the same can be said for golden artifacts buried in the earth,
but not so with other metal creations. Consider the sword. As instruments of war, they require strength and sharpness, so malleable gold is a poor choice of materials, and so swords tend to rust, whether dropped on the field of battle or buried in a stately tomb. In the film Conan, the Barbarian our muscular hero liberates a word from an ancient crypt and it's ready to use, sharp and unrusted,
despite untold century stuck away in a tomb. We can forgive the film for this, since it deals with the world of magic, and perhaps it's Atlantean Smith's mastered arts that allowed it to endure. One of the closest things in real life however, is the sword of Gojin. Archaeologists believe this resplendent bronze weapon belonged to Gojin, who ruled the Kingdom of You from four to four sixty five b c. His ownership is identified in writing on the
blade itself. When the king died, his sword was buried with him and remained there for more than two thousand years. Then, in nineteen sixty five, a team of archaeologists in Hubei Province unearthed the water logged tomb, and amid the many undisturbed artifacts, they found the sword. Suffice to say, a cone in the Barbarian would have been pleased because the sword of Gojin was remarkably well preserved. Not only was it largely untarnished, but it was sharp, reportedly able to
cut through twenty pieces of hard paper. According to the Hubei Department of Culture, Again, this was no Atlantean magic sword, but a bronze blade. How had it survived so long in a flooded tomb. Part of it is the sword's composition. According to Chu lang Hu in a study published in Chinese Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, the sword was smelted from tin bronze, and the pattern
of decoration on the surface contains black copper sulfide. The tin and the weapon's edges helped it retain its sharpness, and the sulfur helped decreased tarnishing. More to the point, however, the sword passed the centuries in a sheath that was nearly air tight. It's just like if the Lady of the Lake stored Excalibur in a big ziploc bag before taking it with her into the depths. Tune in for additional editions of the artifact every week, hosted by either
Joe or myself. As always, you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.