just a note: many of these talets are not being "baked a second time" by the fire as tom said, but actually baked a first time. clay tablets weren't usually baked intentionally unless they were *very* important. most were sunbaked but left unfired
Another fun fact about clay tablets is, in some regions they weren't ever deliberately fired in the era they were used in (so they could be recycled), but many of the best preserved examples are ones that were in accidental fires. So 'better condition than before' could be literal - even without a steam explosion, they might have been raw clay that would have disintegrated when wet, and even if they wouldn't have deliberately fired them (there's some debate on this), when given the choice between letting them burn or getting them wet it's obvious which one you'd pick even without the explosion risk.
same, starting to wonder if guests discuss the "obvious" answers to fill in time? pessimistic but maybe i am just being meta about the format at this point lol
Well it could be that the local fire service were already aware of the museum's contents and knew not to act, whereas passionate museum visitors and good samaritans may not know and try to grab buckets of water, etc to put it out. I'm not a fire fighter, but I am on a farm with access to a slurry tanker and a stream. If something was on fire that shouldn't be on fire while I'm nearby, I'd try my best to put it out, or at least minimise it spreading, in the time between seeing it on fire and the fire service arriving. I hope I never have to act like that though as I know there's many reasons just dumping water on a fire can be bad and being near one extremely dangerous, especially farm fires where there could be hundreds of litres of diesel, etc, and I might be someone who just freezes in an emergency, so maybe I wouldn't be any use at all if the situation arose.
I was all over a document store that was looking to dehumidify something like velum, so baking it would be ok, because the documents were in some fancy chamber, but water damage would be fatal...
Man, clay tablets or prints on ceramic tiles were my first thoughts in the beginning but I stuck too much to the impression that the fire had to be an accident somehow (making bystanders want to extinguish the flames).
40 sec in, library in india that is made of idk how many stellas carved. the whole thing is supposed to be a single book if I remember correctly, but I suppose it could be split in 30000 documents edit: not quite then
I was going to just watch and compare silently, but I think I'll leave my thoughts before I get any further (2:00). I was thinking about the water damage angle too, but then thought about the 'better condition'. I was thinking they're maybe in steel boxes and they had issues with damp, and the fire dried them out. I also thought about them being in plastic pockets in the steel boxes so the heat of the fire laminated them somehow :)
Pausing right after the question to make a guess: they documents are clay. Fire will just make them into fired clay, while making them experience temperature change too quickly would make them explode (and yes, my mind went immediately to Discworld).
My guess: the 30,000 documents are old clay tablets, like cuneiform tablets from mesopotamia. Using water to extinguish the fire would destroy them, but leaving them in the fire will be like putting them through a kiln.
Haven't finished this yet but I'm immediately thinking like these are non-paper documents, like stone or whatever, and maybe water or foam would destroy this particular kind of stone
my mind went to something like some form of stone or metal document pretty fast (though i didnt think of clay) and yeah... all of those would be pretty head resistant.... but shock cooling them after heating might cause problems (in the case of clay, as tom said...they literally explode)
No way they would expect them to get better. I assume many of them would crack and random building fire is far from the consistency of a normal clay firing furnace.
I didn't like the trick in this one. Antique clay isn't made better by exposing it to fire. That's not preservation. Changing the object's material properties with fire might be desirable for some purposes, but altering an antique in that kind of uncontrolled way does not make it better.
@@lateralcast So the part about the "staff looking after the library begging people not to extinguish the flames" is just a fictional invention? We surely have no records of what the staff at the time said.
The question was _very deliberately_ phrased to mislead; As soon as Tom reiterates that it's 30k documents, "not papers", they pretty much got it immediately.
![Kodak Black - Catch Fire [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A4ch-olIuZo/mqdefault.jpg)
just a note: many of these talets are not being "baked a second time" by the fire as tom said, but actually baked a first time. clay tablets weren't usually baked intentionally unless they were *very* important. most were sunbaked but left unfired
We only know about Ea-Nasir because either he chose to preserve his complaints as trophies, or angry customers burned his house down.
So if they were sun baked, and the fire baked them too, then him saying "baked a second time" is correct.
@@trippydrew8492 ehh, depends how pedantic you wanna be with the terminology; a sun-baked but unfired tablet can still be wiped clean with water.
Although, if they were in a _library,_ they were probably pretty important already, right?
Oooohhh that makes sense!
Another fun fact about clay tablets is, in some regions they weren't ever deliberately fired in the era they were used in (so they could be recycled), but many of the best preserved examples are ones that were in accidental fires. So 'better condition than before' could be literal - even without a steam explosion, they might have been raw clay that would have disintegrated when wet, and even if they wouldn't have deliberately fired them (there's some debate on this), when given the choice between letting them burn or getting them wet it's obvious which one you'd pick even without the explosion risk.
The fire might have also burned away any dust or anything on top, leaving the markings clearer.
My mind immediately went to: it doesn't have to be paper documents. But I couldn't link it to clay. Cool lateral!
My first thought would be like getting rid of rot or mould or bugs! But I didn't get to the material itself hardening either lol.
Clay tablets was the absolute first thing my mind went to after hearing "better condition." Fun episode.
I solved this one almost immediately. If I could have asked Tom a question it would have been, Would Dr Irving Finkel possibly handle these documents?
same, starting to wonder if guests discuss the "obvious" answers to fill in time? pessimistic but maybe i am just being meta about the format at this point lol
Oh that's a cheeky one! Maybe better yet, have someone you have played a board game with could have possibly handled these documents
Was thinking exactly the same.
@@jannetteberends8730 yay I was wondering if anyone else remembered the video with Dr Finkel
@@dottie471 apparently a lot of us did. 😀
I knew dr. Finkel from his video about real the arc of Noah. Later I saw the. video with Tom.
haha as an assyriologist my mind instantly went to clay tablets. we work with accidentally-fired documents all the time
As a park bench viewer I thought of Cuneiform tablets. We love you Irving
Something they did not pick up on in the original question is "beg people"
This hint suggested that this was in an era before firefighters.
Well it could be that the local fire service were already aware of the museum's contents and knew not to act, whereas passionate museum visitors and good samaritans may not know and try to grab buckets of water, etc to put it out.
I'm not a fire fighter, but I am on a farm with access to a slurry tanker and a stream. If something was on fire that shouldn't be on fire while I'm nearby, I'd try my best to put it out, or at least minimise it spreading, in the time between seeing it on fire and the fire service arriving. I hope I never have to act like that though as I know there's many reasons just dumping water on a fire can be bad and being near one extremely dangerous, especially farm fires where there could be hundreds of litres of diesel, etc, and I might be someone who just freezes in an emergency, so maybe I wouldn't be any use at all if the situation arose.
The hint of "improved" gave me the lightbulb moment immediately. Was very pleased about it.
I got stuck thinking there was a trick in the question and didn't get it- now I've got to go look it up because what a fascinating story!
I would never have guessed that. I kept thinking leather for some reason.
I was guessing "seed library" based on the title, but that got shot as soon as the "actual" question was revealed. Cool thing to learn about though!
I thought of a seed library too! I later did think of stone tablets, but somehow completely forgot about clay tablets...
I was all over a document store that was looking to dehumidify something like velum, so baking it would be ok, because the documents were in some fancy chamber, but water damage would be fatal...
Is it me or is Bernadette Banner sitting in front of a bed? This has peak lockdown vibes even though it's 2023, and I am here for it
I think that's her sewing table.
Man, clay tablets or prints on ceramic tiles were my first thoughts in the beginning but I stuck too much to the impression that the fire had to be an accident somehow (making bystanders want to extinguish the flames).
It was an accident, but it would have made things worse if the fire was put out by water
@caltheuntitled8021 not just water, it's the rapid change in temperature that would make them explode
40 sec in, library in india that is made of idk how many stellas carved. the whole thing is supposed to be a single book if I remember correctly, but I suppose it could be split in 30000 documents
edit: not quite then
Clay tablets, Alexandria library...?
My first thought was text metal plates,
Water could rust them, fire cleans the plates? Not sure
I got this almost immediately. I happen to be one of those history nerds who might think of clay. I also got the Julius Caesar one too.
I mean, this is why we have all of Ea-Nasir's complaints.
I was going to just watch and compare silently, but I think I'll leave my thoughts before I get any further (2:00).
I was thinking about the water damage angle too, but then thought about the 'better condition'. I was thinking they're maybe in steel boxes and they had issues with damp, and the fire dried them out. I also thought about them being in plastic pockets in the steel boxes so the heat of the fire laminated them somehow :)
I rarely solve these things but I got it very quickly this time. Very cool.
Pausing right after the question to make a guess: they documents are clay. Fire will just make them into fired clay, while making them experience temperature change too quickly would make them explode (and yes, my mind went immediately to Discworld).
GOLEM RIGHTS!!!
I almost immediately went for "are these clay tablets?"
My immediate thought was the library of Alexandria and water soluble clay but I don't know about about ancient libraries
I never heard of that earlier, and clay tablets came to my mind in a second.
I got this one! I'm so proud of me!
Sweet! I actually got this one with my first guess for once!
Now I want to go fond a video with Dr Finkle in it.
Tom Scott, Matt Gray and Dr Irving Finkel
ruclips.net/video/zOwP0KUlnZg/видео.htmlsi=AgoUmimNsl9XdfNW
I thought of this one immediately
There’s gotta be a way to stop the top comment spoiling every single one of these
one of the rare ones I got really fast! although I was stuck thinking it was metal for a while lol
0:26 I'm going to say clay tablets. this is a library from the cuneiform era.
4:51 YEAH GOT IT!!
My guess: the 30,000 documents are old clay tablets, like cuneiform tablets from mesopotamia. Using water to extinguish the fire would destroy them, but leaving them in the fire will be like putting them through a kiln.
They were all books from aliens titled "To Serve Man"
We found out too late it was a cook book.
Haven't finished this yet but I'm immediately thinking like these are non-paper documents, like stone or whatever, and maybe water or foam would destroy this particular kind of stone
My guess: they were clay tablets and they were just firing them.
Same
My first question after a minute of listening was "is clay involved?"
My immediate thought was that it's a museum of fire and it added new exhibits.
I knew this one because I recently watched a video on the history of Assyria.
My first thought was Cuneiform tablets
Is it a stone tablet that will crack if it suddenly changes temperature?
I LOVE this oooooonneeee!
Too easy.
Same... my first thought was correct.... ;)
I won't lie...my first instinct was that the documents were made of glass.
The actual answer is definitely more clever, though
my mind went to something like some form of stone or metal document pretty fast (though i didnt think of clay)
and yeah... all of those would be pretty head resistant.... but shock cooling them after heating might cause problems (in the case of clay, as tom said...they literally explode)
30 seconds in, I guess "clay tablets"
Immidiate guess was some type of clay tablets.
No way they would expect them to get better. I assume many of them would crack and random building fire is far from the consistency of a normal clay firing furnace.
Are the documents on clay tablets?
Guess at 0:34 - they're iron-tablets and it helps with rust?
"It's a kiln!"
30 seconds in. my thought: its a clay tablet library in the BC
This was a little frustrating to watch, I will not lie
I thought stone. Didn't think clay.
at 1:38 and im guessing its like a metaphor for forest fires and like tree seeds??
edit: nvm i was so wrong🤣
Instantly went to clay.
Not having heard the answer yet, my guess is it’s kiln fired tablets?
Immediate guess: clay tablets?
EDIT: Yes!
All the followers of Tom knew almost immediately what this was about. Most of us are familiar with Irving Finkel.
5:12 Who else read EXPLODE on the pennant behind her?
I like it! :D
First thoughts are they were stored on clay tablets
Guess: Clay or stone tablets.
Egyptian tablet library made of clay?
Ah Mesopotamia
✌️
I didn't like the trick in this one. Antique clay isn't made better by exposing it to fire. That's not preservation. Changing the object's material properties with fire might be desirable for some purposes, but altering an antique in that kind of uncontrolled way does not make it better.
It wasn't antique. The event was a long time ago, but the tablets were only 30 years old at the time.
@@lateralcast So the part about the "staff looking after the library begging people not to extinguish the flames" is just a fictional invention? We surely have no records of what the staff at the time said.
5:29
No, Hot. Explicitly HOT!
My mind went immediately to Irving Finkel...
Meow
This feels like half lateral thinking and half trivia.
They're thinking WAY too modern, clueless about ancient history...?🤷🤦
It is because you would think that ancient clay tablets would be in museums, not in libraries
The question was _very deliberately_ phrased to mislead; As soon as Tom reiterates that it's 30k documents, "not papers", they pretty much got it immediately.
@@F41nt13 A library is kind of like a museum for texts
i wouldnt call that a library