Can the USPS Handle Mailing The World's Oldest Letters?
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- After creating my own written language, I needed to take it one step further and craft something to write on. Enter papyrus scrolls! Will my homemade Dunder Mifflin product survive the modern day US Postal Service? Let's find out!
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When writing in clay, try pressing the letters into the material with an edge instead of scratching them with a point. This prevents burrs from forming all over the place, impeding legibility. That's how the Sumerians and Babylonians did it.
Wow
Isn't this also one reason for their wedge shaped letters? I think i remember something about the tool they used beeing that wedge shape so making characters out of a combination of those shapes made it faster to write on clay.
@@sewi014 to my knowledge it's not one reason, it is THE reason.
You, sir or madam, just earned a subscriber!
With the technology they had available (bronze and copper castings, more precise chisels and nails) couldn’t they cast bronze and copper letters or carve beeswax and wooden letters to use as stamps? Is there evidence of them doing this and if they didn’t, why?
Birch-bark scrolls were used in Novgorod and other towns of Old Russia. They sound easier to to replicate in your climate then papyrus.
would love to see this, there's a ton of things you can do with birch bark, people made entire boats and roofs out of the stuff
I was thinking about how there was a reason vellum was used in western Europe.
Ah, good old Onfim. He was a cool kid.
@@Cadwaladr Onfim was a wild beast.
Omg I completely forgot about birch bark. Wonderful plant, that is.
My mailman smashed my Sealed Lead Acid Batteries. He can kill anything.
I think I just found way to deal with nuclear waste:
just send it back and forth by mail. Sooner or later it will all be either lost or completly destroyed.
problem solved.
@@Bird_Dog00 Wow, that's like real life minecraft. "Item durability lowers per sending"
You do realize it goes through an eff ton of handling before your it arrives to your mail man.. he’s just the last person to touch it before you.
Majin Snake you know how embarrassed we feel delivering things that are are not looking good?.. 99% or carriers treat your items like they treat theirs and expect theirs to arrive. We’re just the last people to touch it and we show each other poor packaging, daily. There’s always one “do not bend” in bubble wrap with nothing to support it.... I know you’re being sarcastic... but us carriers really do care.
Person sending package: fragile
Package handlers: lmao yeet
its pretty cool to see how far Andy has come. From poisoning his friends with pickles to creating his own language lmao
Not to be that guy but it's More of an alphabet
I was just thinking that, Shawn.
*Script
A historically accurate method to protect clay tablets is to cushion them with some sort of bark, hay or straw in between the tablet itself and the clay envelope, which may be made out of cob instead of pure clay.
obligatory joke about the postal service:
"You should first test if a solid sphere of hardend tool steel can survive the US postal service..."
...
so did it?
well I mean if it was hardened and not tempered also then if it was dropped anywhere throughout the process it would shatter, so pretty decent chance it wouldn't
@Heather Terpsta
A solid sphere of steel, unless it's a through-hardening alloy, would still be quite resilient to shock loads as normal alloys only harden to a depth of about 12mm.
Also, where I come from, "hardening" in common parlance refers to the whole heat-treating process of hardening and tempering. So, I'm going to call you a nitt-picker. ;)
@@Bird_Dog00! Yes, Callout the foolery in these parts. Bird Dog!
@@Bird_Dog00 Neeeeerd
6:35 ok, I think you'd be forgiven for using proper rolling pins or dowel rods. You're not in the caveman phase anymore, I'm pretty sure the Egyptians had smooth rollers for their papyrus lol
Cool video, keep up the good work!
Yeah, they need to build a lathe, they have enough tools to make a basic one.
@@professionalschizo dude they can't make everything that was ever invented. He has a workshop, not a construction site.
@@Cadwaladr They wouldn't even need a lathe, just a draw knife or saw and some sanding blocks (i.e. rough stones and smooth stones)
The best, simplest, natural writing medium I found myself, is Dryad-saddle mushroom velum.
It's a common mushroom that can be eaten young, but to make velum/parchemin, all you have to do is take an older/larger one, slice it very thin, then scrape and dry it like you would rawhide.
It makes a cream coloured parchemin that is velvety smooth and take ink incredibly well.
If it's too thick it drys into a stiff woody card-stock.
Instructions on making papyrus not clear: Built some Pyramids instead
Yeah, but I suggest making miniature pyramids, no-where near full size. Much easier to do while in lockdown.
So , that's how...
They should bury you in it for circulating a pathetic joke that's ancient enough to be found on a temple wall.
@@angelus_solus nah that joke is prehistoric
"...and that's how you make fire ooga booga."
"Instructions unclear ooga booga accidentally made wheel."
"This is going on carvvit so I can get up-oogas."
Idiot! Everyone knows you make paper out of sugarcane
You should grow more bamboo bc it is fast growing, so you will get a good harvest during the short Minnesota growing seasons. Bamboo is also flexible yet strong, so it could be useful for a lot of things.
Its also invasive in Texas cities because people keep planting the shitters everywhere. Not complaining though. I'm sure some rodent can learn how to eat bamboo. It looks quite nice on train rides.
Arrow shafts, it's a little more work than using baby trees. But yes they are stronger, and the lighter weight makes your arrows fly faster. Also guide rail systems for firing shorter arrows, I forgot the technical term. But it works to keep enemy archers for firing your own arrows back at you, and allows you to reuse broken standard arrows.
Backseat gamers not allowed, chum.
Google made me do it I swear. It wasn’t me.😰😰😰😰😰😰😰
I think what I'm most impressed by in this video is that the USPS actually let you process those packages in the way you did. If I tried, all three would have been sent back to me or the worker would have been like "no".
papyrus are also cool to make rope, also if you cut the top of one and put it in water, roots will grow with lots of new plants growing from it, i have lots in my garden growing all around and inside the pond, they sell them in lots of plant stores.
Tip for later on: egg paints dry relatively quickly. If you ever need to paint/write something that takes a long time like a few hours, you'll have to get slower drying oil paints.
Very interesting. I've always wanted to do many of the things you are doing now. Thanks, I'll probably do this myself now.
Just to be pedantic, you made an alphabet, not a language. The language is still English. Kinda like how Japanese is written with both kanji and katakana.
Not pedantic at all, they are very different things!
gassnake2004 I mean it be hard to make an entire language just for a RUclips series
It’s Absolutely a death wish
It’s also hard to make most of the things he has made on this channel.
@@gayspacemoth3455 tell that to Artifexian lmao
What is being pedantic? Never heard that word before.
16:11 "Moisturize me, MOISTURIZE ME!"
mannys9130 I get this reference and appreciate it highly
yes
Tennant is the best!
Ahh, yes. Her meme works very well with Parchment making indeed
Glad to see everyone enjoying the reference as much as I did. 😸
I would like to point out that the Sumerians didn't scratch the forms into the clay. The pressed the sides of a rock or wood into the clay, that's why you see them as 'nails'. That way, you get much better readability after the clay has been fired.
Watching them roll out the pith using that lumpy, not straight stick was painful. back in ancient times, it is quiet likely that the papyrus makers would have taken the time to carve a fairly straight and round rolling pin, and I feel using a modern one would have been acceptable.
yeah that's htme in a nutshell. i like their videos but they always seem to stop at the "just good enough" phase when they are working with anything. don't watch the video in which they try to smoke foods by throwing it in the flames....
@@Adranash after all, they want to rush through the "tech tree" as it were, not spend time honing each and every stage as the real craftspeople had to do. Only when their tools break do they end up remaking them better. Though with the lathe now hopefully using straight smooth things will happen more often..
Love the pseudo-paper making! As a diehard fan of Ascendance of a Bookworm, this episode warms my soul!
Small note on the papyrus, if you wrote on the horizontal side, then rolled it up so the long vertical strips were on the outside, it might have provided a little more strength when unrolled, rather than cracking apart, perhaps
Can you imagine humans of the future stumbling upon Andy's works and being absolutely flummoxed with their carbon dating results?
I always wanted to go through human history and think like people at the time to invent the same they made . Your channel really puts thing in perspective . This is applicable knowledge at its finest . This needs a lot of research , I hope you are enjoying this as much as I do . Thanks a lot .
Before: I paid 5000$ for this shirt.
Now: Cant quite afford to go to egypt.
that’s just how much it would be worth
*Annalise leaves chat*
....
*Kate enters chat*
Also thought that
It would be nice to know what's up there. A simple "Annalise wen't back to school, here's Kate" or something. Makes it seem like something happened otherwise.
@@Curleysound To my knowledge it still has never been explained
loved the video :)
Edit: also thanks for answers some of my questions on that toilet paper stream.
"NYEH HEH HEH!!"
-Papyrus
Don't make fun out of my son.
Dr. Gaster yea that’s rude
Is this a reference to the caravan palace song?
CarpetHater no undertale
@@dapper_masonschnering8621 *megalovania intensfies*
This is really cool I’m gunna do this with some Palm leaves, keep up the good work, love the channel and the videos, you inspire me. -GB
Could you possibly try something with cassava strips, as they have a glue like properties when heated it might just work
The clay tablet was an okay representation of how the ancient sumerians did it. Only they used cuneiform, which is technically what every modern (non-asian) script in use is based off of
The main technical difference is that they pressed the symbols into the clay, they didn't scratch them. This would make for a much better quality.
@@entcraft44 Jup. Don't know about quality though, I speculate that the technique is more important for a good result
I don't think that is correct. the latin script derives from the Phoenician, through the greek. The Phoenician on the other hand descends from Egyptian hieroglyphs, where writing is believed to have evolved out of art.
Cuneiform died out millennia ago, leaving little to no influence on writing, except perhaps through inspiring old persian and influencing the ugaritic alphabet, which in turn interacted with the Phoenician. So arguably most contemporary european scripts descend from a north african writing system. Anyone know if runes are still in use somewhere, maybe by some neo-aesirians?
@@willowarkan2263 Oops. Yes, you're right. While researching the script a while back I misinterpreted or misread the "replacing of it with Phoenician" to "evolving into Phoenician". Cunningham's law strikes again
I think I have an idea on how to fix the issue with the corn papyrus substitute, cut the husks into strands, dip strands into the wheat glue and weave them together as tight as possible and dry between two flat rocks to hopefully prevent curling or waves.
Next: DIY luggage vs. the Samsonite Baggage Handling Gorilla.
I admire you for doing this project. This is something truely unique!
Just imagine sending someone a message with your clay, as you do of course, and then that person accidentally smooshed it and writes one back saying yo please send another I can't read your hand writing
If the clay had dried there would be no risk of "smooshing", although smashing remains a risk. Made me chuckle though.
Great video as always! Great parking job at 14:05
Fortunately corn husks come in large sheets when soaked become flexible so easily flattened and can work as a sheet of paper already so use that
Amazing how the statement of our cities not being burned has aged like milk.
Ayy i love your stuff keep it up and keep the grind goin :)
i love how he said "not like our citys are burning down"... he porolly feels really bad now
I'd love to see a side series that explores restarting civilization after a collapse. Very similar, but more focused on reclaiming bits and pieces of modern tech like a scavenger.
Just about everyone In the bronze age can't wait for the iron age
I can't wait till he make his own yt
Cant wait till he passes 2020 and go straight to 200,000
Everyone: here comes the end of the bronze age! Hope this is gonna be ask cool as the real thing!
*Bronze age collapse happens*
Everyone: *Mike wazowski with Sully's face*
@@reihanboo please Shrek
@@komiks42 please Shrek
Terrible parking job, bro.
Love the content, keep it up!
Gods bless our postal service workers. My local office may suck, but they are true heroes *salutes*
Love seeing my name in that patron list! Keep it up guys! I wish you all the best!
I think you handled that well. I mean if you lived where you do now then unless you just happened to live next to ore deposits, and I doubt that, you wouldn’t be able to do half of this without modern transportation etc.
So I think gathering similar material as a poc and then ordering the actual papyrus to show how it’s done it a good way to handle things. It shows both how the concept could have been born, how it actually worked, and why civilizations all first started around the same geographical area ad well as allowing you to progress with your goal.
Other things you could use for writing which are easier and cheaper to make than parchment: Birch bark (using a wooden or a metal stylus you can write on pieces of birch bark), wood or bamboo slips (smoothing out a wooden or a bamboo surface makes it easy to write on with a brush, a pen or a metal stylus), tough leaves work in the same way as birch bark (palm leaves were used historically, but other similar leaves can also work).
Birch bark and palm leaves were used in India (still are as a traditional way of writing religious texts). Birch bark was also used in Northern Europe and possibly elsewhere thanks to how easy it is to use (in Europe it was mainly used for personal messages, and other such stuff, similar to chalk boards).
Bamboo slips were used alongside silk and stone in China before paper was invented.
Also when you make your paper, make sure you use only the bark of young branches, instead of what you did back in your "HTME Book" series. And your papyrus is weak because it wasn't woven correctly (it should be one horizontal and one vertical, alternating between those until you get to the end).
From what i've seen in egypt, papyrus is not made from strips of papyrus, but from rolls. So cut along the stem in one line, then unroll one outer layer. It will make a strip much thinner and much wider than yours. Then repeat for every layer of the plant.
Ancient Egypt had a postal service, they even had it to where you could pay more and get it there faster. They ran on horses. That's why the post Master is the highest paying government job under the president.
It gave me anxiety watching how close to your hand you were with the hatchet while making the pen
Welcome aboard, Kate!!
We are only a few more episodes away from receiving bills and ads in the mail!
Papyrus scrolls with ads for penis enlargement herbs.
Papyrus: refuses to become paper.
Also Papyrus: refuses to print onto regular paper
I think it might work with palm tree leafs. Here in Brazil we also have a thorny little red flower. It's more thorns than anything else but the important part: it has a white sticky liquid like white glue inside. So... if palm tree leaf is not sticky by itself unlike papyrus, we could try the sticky liquid from that plant. I will think if I will actually try that or not
For the papyrus, You could use sugar cane.
"..rather than our cities being burned", Dammit Andy, you jinxed it!
You should team up with “The Modern Rogue” to make something
for the sword episode
velazquez armouries Which sword episode?
@@ToastyTastes all of them
@@ToastyTastes if they are redoing history they have to do a sword episode
An episode where Brian and Jason get to be the experts for a change.
I can't wait to see your illuminated manuscripts
Great Video, cant wait for the next One!
Hey Andy this is a really cool way to explore the material science. Will you do a series on early human plumbing? Maybe by just doing small garden scale examples like aqueducts, water towers, modern wells / water treatment as comparison. It could be a reason to build an outhouse for the garden. haha
Fun fact: you can actually buy papyrus paper from some local craft stores. Blick Art Materials is a good example
To be real did anyone see he's parking at the postal office absolutely nailed it
10 years later: ok guys , let’s try to make a microwave.
Oh man I wish I could see the looks on the faces of those post office workers who found the scrolls and the clay tablet being mailed. They must have been soooo confused!
You have to remember, in ancient times there was a TON of manual labor available (slavery and skilled laborers) that could do a piece of each of these projects full time. Would you consider using some sort of modern tech to mimic the amount of time and workers they had available? Nothing else. Like when she was using the roller you could have a machine roll it 100k times over night.
This is why ancient people don’t use the postal service
You should do this experiment twice more, once with alkali water for the soak step (taking this as a lesson from corn masa, which is alkali-treated corn flour that unlike normal corn flour, will actually stick to itself without an added binder); the second time with an acidic soak, in case alkali is the wrong way to go.
In all fairness usually the clay packages where held personally by dedicated messengers so it probably would've held up better.
Hi Kate! Welcome to the team.
Making new tools would be beneficial and could really make some of the tasks, that need more refined tooling, come together a lot more cleanly. I like that you experiment and can totally admit that something wasn't a success, since that's how we learn!
Assuming your postman doesn't just toss your mail in the trash the second he gets in his car? Maybe, but the most difficult step would be behind you
Ascension of a Bookworm anime/manga goes over a lot of these.
How many layers of corn husk did you use? 3 layers in the same manner that papyrus is laid out might work. As always I enjoyed the video, already anxious for the next!
I love the new assistants Harry Potter shirts!!!! 😍
"It's not actually woven like you would think" *weaves it*
10:34 heyyy i made it into the screenshot!
Hello! Love the channel! TY!
Boi i am hiped for the tank episode
the pulpish glue left over from soaking the papyrus is heated and reduced to a paste and is painted on both sides of the papyrus matrix, its then believed weights were used, this is from experimental archeology and isnt a fact but there you go
Dirty Jobs did an episode on making parchment.
Once you get to the iron age, for your first iron tools you should do a collab with Alec Steele!
pretty soon we’re all going to need this 😂
Corona be hitting hard
I believe that papyrus grows wild in central Florida. There is a plant that constantly clogs the propeller of my uncles boat and he claims it's a variant of papyrus.
Maybe try cutting the corn husks into smaller strips so that when it dries it's less chunky? Just an idea because those husks look way bigger than the papyrus strips and I feel there is a way to make papyrus with it. The writing problem on the other hand? Idk. Maybe it's because corn husks are a type of leaf and leaves usually have a little bit of outer structure that could mess with a clean stroke. To get what I'm saying, feel how fuzzy fresh corn husk is vs plant stalk. Not the same part of the plant at all. I wonder if you could use different types of grass instead or if it would turn out more basket like. Maybe sorghum leaves? Just spitballing. I'd like to have a discussion with people who know more about what they're doing.
4:12 How to make everything i hit them with a wooden hammer on an anvil to flatten the fibers out of them the papyrus plants, they are really good for rope just take the green parts away and only use the fibers, i never tried making paper with it though, but for rope to hold the plants in place like the tomatoes it works perfectly.
Love this channel
There is a form of paper that can be made from cut up plant materials that are soaked in water then set on a mesh surface with a weight on top that is far more flexible
Can you imagine being a postal worker handling this package? Dude probably thought it was made by somebody who was high.
Little advice- better than trying to carve small point with that dull blade, try to grind it on fine stone or piece od pottery. If the wood Is hard enough it will do nicely.
When making pigment use Lamp Black (like you did in tattooing) and don't add water to the emulsion but use wine...
I'm an experienced iconographer that has made their own pigments...
Everyone: Is afraid of what other things will happen in 2020
Andy: *Are you challenging me?*
Ah yes. Noch einer mit so nem Klixtra Accountbild. Hab das letztens mal unter nem anderen Kommentar gesehen.
9:22 Peter Draws has joined the chat.
This man made his own language, next his own country!!
He made his own alphabet. He's still using english.
Just a little surprised that the postal service didn't see your clay wrapped in tape as some kind of C4 explosive lol.
I had no idea about the clay envelopes.
much easier is to blend up tree-mushrooms or whatever with water, and make "paper" out of that... doesn't fold well at all, but is very writable if you press it between warm flat plates to dry...probably best to have one side be cloth or something to absorb the moisture
haha.... so you mentioned a self hair cut.... well, i actually did just that, with may fingers as a length guide and a pair of scissors... i will say, i did a pretty good job, if i do say so myself, though of course the back is most difficult, and a few details are not perfect, but, considering, and i admit im thinning out on top so style hardly bothers me much, it feels great to have short hair again after a long winter, and this virus thing going on... as for paper, ive never tried making it myself, but that could be a fun project to try with leaves, since ive got so darned many of them on my property haha...
lol I can't help but laugh at these people every time I watch one of these videos. Our ancestors would be ashamed!
Cant wait till he makes his own steel
I think the corn husk could have worked better if the writing layer had the husk stripes be horizontal. I think having the consistent stripes that way could make writing easier and also I could see it make the writer to modify characters to be easier to write with the texture the husks have
“Essential business” (gone wrong) (gone ancient)
You should have waited till now to go to Egypt. I heard plane fairs are rlly cheap
Look into amate - the Aztecs used it. Tapa was used by a different pre-bronze culture: Polynesia.