- 2 days ago
Archaeologists just uncovered groundbreaking evidence about Eridu, a lost megacity once thought to be more legend than reality, and the discovery is forcing experts to rethink the entire timeline of early civilization. Eridu wasn’t just a small ancient settlement—it was a massive, organized urban center with temples, water systems, and trade links that appeared far earlier than historians believed cities could exist. Researchers now think this place may have been one of the world’s very first megacities, shaping culture, religion, and technology across the ancient Near East. The new findings reveal that people built complex societies much sooner and more efficiently than textbooks ever suggested, opening the door to even more hidden chapters of human history. And in this video, you’ll dive into how Eridu’s rediscovery challenges everything we thought we knew about where civilization truly began. Animation is created by Bright Side.
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00Eridu, a megacity older than the first known civilization, and older than the pyramids of Giza,
00:08was buried in the sands of the Mesopotamian desert for over 2,000 years.
00:13Now, scientists have made a discovery that changes what we know about the ancient city.
00:19They found over 4,000 canals around Eridu that brought water to more than 700 farms
00:25where people worked between the 6th and the early 1st millennium BCE.
00:30Now, Eridu was founded around 5400 BCE and was the city of the first kings
00:37and history's first city according to the Sumerian king list, an ancient text on a clay tablet.
00:44Ancient Sumerians believed that deities created this city when they decided to settle on Earth.
00:51Eridu plays such a big role in Sumerian myths and legends that, at some point,
00:56people used to think it was just a mythical location.
00:59The most famous Eridu myth says that the skies got angry because humans were too noisy,
01:05so they decided to send a great flood to wipe them out.
01:09A new study showed that the Euphrates River served as the source of water for the entire city.
01:15The researchers mapped what remains of the ancient landscape and found a well-developed network of artificial irrigation canals.
01:23They discovered 200 large main canals pulling water from the Euphrates,
01:28and those canals fed another 4,000 smaller canals.
01:32The team used everything from satellite images and drone footage to soil analysis,
01:38old records, and remote sizing tech to map out the area.
01:42The 700 farms that used the water from the system were different in size,
01:46from about 5,000 square feet to over 200,000 square feet.
01:51The main canals were a little over a half mile long, and some stretched more than 5 miles.
01:57The smaller canals could be as short as 32 feet.
02:01Rivers in Mesopotamia were the main water sources for farming,
02:06so ancient farmers had to learn how to guide water from the river to their fields.
02:11It all started with simple methods, like digging small canals.
02:15But over generations, they learned how to build massive canals up to 62 miles long.
02:22The Euphrates itself helped the farmers.
02:25Water was moving thanks to gravity down its elevated river banks,
02:29and natural breaks in the banks let it spill onto the land.
02:32Researchers aren't sure when each canal was in use,
02:35and it's unlikely that all 4,200 canals were active at the same time during that long period.
02:41Eridu used to be an important religious and trade center,
02:46because of its strategic location on the Persian Gulf.
02:49Its economy mostly had to do with fishing, thanks to the Euphrates River.
02:54Researchers found fishing nets and weights and whole bales of dried fish at the site.
03:01And there were even models of reed boats,
03:03the earliest physical evidence we have for constructed boats anywhere.
03:08The city was thriving until people abandoned it around the year 600 BCE,
03:13and scientists still aren't sure why they did it.
03:16The local residents, plus the visiting pilgrims and merchants,
03:20had just exhausted all the resources of the land.
03:23They had to let it rest several times before abandoning the city for good.
03:28It happened when the Euphrates changed its course,
03:31and they lost their main source of water.
03:34Now, many centuries later, in 1854,
03:38a British official was on a mission to this area to check out a remote place
03:42that had a bunch of mounds called tells,
03:45which are piles of debris left behind by ancient human settlements.
03:49At first, Taylor wasn't impressed.
03:52He had been hoping to find something big,
03:54maybe statues, ancient writing, or ruins of palaces and temples.
03:58But with the brief time he had,
04:00all he found were things like walls, drains, stone platforms,
04:04and pieces of limestone columns decorated with tiny mosaic cones.
04:09But he didn't know that these boring mounds
04:13were hiding one of the oldest cities on Earth, Eridu.
04:17The people at the British Museum got interested in the finding,
04:21but the first full-scale excavations took place here only around a century later.
04:26The local Iraqi authorities got really interested in the excavations
04:31as they were hoping to find more about the earliest days of Mesopotamian history.
04:36So they focused on Mound 1, a massive tell as tall as an eight-story building.
04:43Soon they uncovered part of an unfinished step pyramid from the end of the third millennium BCE.
04:49As they dug deeper, they found layers of human life going back in time.
04:54There were levels from the Uruk period,
04:57and even remains from a time before the Sumerians called Proto-history.
05:02In those lower layers, they discovered multiple rebuilds of the Temple of Enki, the city's main deity.
05:09People rebuilt this temple again and again for over 2,000 years.
05:13Every time the temple collapsed, they built a new one right on top.
05:17Each new version of the temple was bigger and more impressive than the last.
05:22From the middle of the fourth millennium BCE, these temple buildings became massive,
05:28more advanced than anything else humans had built up to that point.
05:32The city in Eridu was also becoming more complex, with clear social classes.
05:38Eventually, they stopped rebuilding the temple and put up a step pyramid on top of the ruins.
05:44Even though Eridu faded, it likely stayed important as a religious site.
05:50Archaeologists found pottery from the second and first centuries BCE during excavations,
05:55although there were no signs of houses.
05:58The Sumerians were an innovative civilization, as you can tell.
06:02By 1500 BCE, they invented the cedar plow,
06:06a tool that let farmers plow and plant seeds at the same time,
06:10using animals like oxen to pull it.
06:14This gear even came with instructions.
06:16The Sumerian Farmers' Almanac gave farmers advice on how to grow more crops
06:22with proper tilling and irrigation.
06:24These smart farming tricks helped feed more people,
06:28which led to larger cities, an organized ruling system, and more focus on religion.
06:33And as their cities expanded, so did their work in writing, math, and spiritual life.
06:395,000 years ago, the Sumerians had already produced cuneiform,
06:44one of the first writing systems in history.
06:48So another recent find from the same part of the world
06:51proves that bureaucracy existed already 4,000 years ago.
06:56Archaeologists found ancient administrative tablets in another ancient Sumerian city.
07:01These clay tablets are the oldest solid proof we have of the world's first empire,
07:06the Akkadian Empire.
07:09The tablets were inside a state archive building made of mud bricks,
07:13which had different rooms that acted like offices.
07:17Now, before this discovery, archaeologists didn't really understand how the first known empire in the world,
07:23the Akkadian Empire, worked behind the scenes.
07:26But now, thanks to the recent Gerso excavations, we have the first real and unambiguous evidence of the empire's administrative system.
07:36They tracked everything—deliveries, spending, and inventory—from fish to sheep to grains, fabric, and even gems.
07:45The tablets also include population records, with names and jobs of men, women, and kids—an ancient version of a census.
07:53From these records, scientists found out that women played a key role in Akkadian society.
07:58Some women had powerful positions, like high priestesses.
08:02The tablets also show a wide range of jobs, from skilled workers, like stonecutters,
08:08to people with simpler roles, like temple floor sweepers.
08:12Some even included building blueprints, field layouts, and canal maps, proving that the empire had serious organization and planning.
08:21Eventually, the city rebelled and gained its independence, and the Akkadian Empire's 150-year rule ended.
08:28Now, researchers are carefully cleaning and translating the tablets to fully understand what they say.
08:35These new finds will replace older, incomplete ideas about the empire, and give us a way more accurate picture of how Akkadian power and the ruling system actually worked.
08:48At some point in its long and very interesting history, our dear planet Earth was sort of snoozing, just doing its planetary thing, spinning around the sun.
08:58And then, bam, life starts getting fancy.
09:02Plants and animals start strutting their stuff, showing off their complexity.
09:06Fast forward a bit, about 65 million years ago to be exact, and a cosmic disaster strikes.
09:15Or at least that's what we presume.
09:17An asteroid probably smashed into Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs and other big animals.
09:23We can't pinpoint specifics about the asteroid.
09:26But we do know that it was extremely large, and it crashed into our precious planet, creating a dusty mess that settled everywhere.
09:35You can still find remnants of that dust layer in sedimentary rocks today.
09:39If you dig beneath it, you'll uncover a whole bunch of fossils.
09:43These prehistoric creatures were living it up before the asteroid crashed the party.
09:48Think of it as the planet going on a cleaning spree, leaving a bunch of empty spaces waiting to be filled.
09:54And guess who took the opportunity?
09:57Mammals!
09:58These furry little critters were the ones to rise to fame.
10:02But why is it that this disaster became such a great opportunity for mammals?
10:07It's pretty simple, actually.
10:09With no big bullies around, they grew, multiplied, and had a population expanse.
10:15All kinds of mammals joined to fill in the blanks.
10:18Primates, rodents basically, the whole furry gang.
10:22We're talking about placental mammals, marsupials, and even egg-laying mammals, adding some serious variety to the mix.
10:29We like to think of primates as our closest relatives here on Earth.
10:33What's their story?
10:35Well, around 63 million years ago, just a couple of million years after the dinosaur's final dance,
10:42the primates decided it was time for a family reunion.
10:46They split into two groups.
10:48The dry-nosed primates, who became the cool monkeys and apes we know today,
10:52and the wet-nosed primates, who went off to become lemurs and aye-eyes, hey-hays.
10:58The fun didn't stop there.
11:01About 58 million years ago, the dry-nosed primates began their own little mission.
11:07One special guest called the Tarsier, Tarsier, arrived on the scene, featuring big eyes that were perfect for late-night shenanigans.
11:16This Tarsier took a different path from its primate relatives, embracing its unique niche and evolving separately.
11:23To this day, the Tarsier is the only primate that feeds exclusively on meat.
11:28These little guys have a taste for insects, small birds, rodents, and even lizards.
11:34But that's not all that makes them unique.
11:36Their eyes are twice the size of their brains.
11:39Also, their heads can do a full 180-degree spin, just like an owl.
11:45Because of their features, the Tarsiers are the true kings and queens of the night.
11:51With their superpower of ultrasonic tracking, they can spot their prey instantly.
11:57Plus, their legs and feet are like springs ready to launch them into action.
12:02They've got this special ankle bone called the Tarsus, which gives them those epic leaping skills.
12:08Hence the name, if you were wondering.
12:12But let's leave these little critters to rest and get back to our story, shall we?
12:17About 55 million years ago, the Earth cranked up the heat, literally.
12:22This sudden hot pod was a bit too much for many deep ocean dwellers and plants to handle, and they bid their farewells.
12:29But hey, every goodbye is an opportunity for something new, right?
12:34The oceanic mammals known as cetaceans, suitations, saw their chance and took it.
12:39They splashed into those empty niches, becoming the rulers of the sea.
12:44In this category of creatures, you can find the blue whale and the dolphin.
12:48A special primate guest made an appearance around 47 million years ago.
12:54Scientists now affectionately call the fossil of such a creature, Ida.
12:59This little wonder caused quite a stir.
13:02Initially hailed as the missing link in human evolution.
13:05But here's the hilarious part.
13:08It turned out Ida was not one of us dry-nosed primates, but a cheeky wet-nosed one.
13:13Moving forward to 40 million years ago, this is when another big event happened in the primate world.
13:21The New World monkeys, our distant cousins, decided to take a different path and branch off from our lineage of Old World monkeys.
13:31They packed their bags and set off to conquer South America, where they're still living it up today.
13:38What's the difference between the two, you might ask?
13:42Well, one crucial thing that sets them apart is the fact that the Old World monkeys had nostrils that pointed downwards.
13:50Around 25 million years ago, another troop of apes entered the scene.
13:55And these guys had something special, the lack of a tail.
13:59These unique creatures would go on to become our closest relatives.
14:04We're talking apes and great apes.
14:06The cool gang who share a whole lot of genetic similarities with us.
14:09The first ape to break free from the monkey madness was the gibbon.
14:14About 18 million years ago is when this little acrobat swung into the picture.
14:18A few million years later, the great apes made their grand entrance too.
14:24Orangutans were the pioneers, venturing into the wilds of Southern Asia.
14:30We're getting closer and closer to the present.
14:33It was seven million years ago when the great apes took a major fork in the evolutionary road.
14:38One path led to our ancestors, the future Homo sapiens.
14:43And the other path led to chimpanzees and bonobos.
14:47These two primate branches remained united for a few million years before finally going their separate ways.
14:525.6 million years ago, a game-changing ape, called Ardipithecus, made its way into our evolutionary history.
15:02It had a special talent, bipedalism.
15:05That's right.
15:06This was one of the first apes to walk on two feet, probably making its primate buddies raise an eyebrow or two.
15:12The real showstoppers, however, arrived around 4 million years ago.
15:17The Australopithecus crew.
15:19These were the earliest members of the Hominina-Home-Enina sub-tribe.
15:23Our tribe.
15:24What made them so special?
15:26Well, probably the fact that they brought some serious tools to the game.
15:30Stone tools, to be precise.
15:32It seems that at some point in their evolution, these clever primates started using stones to make their lives easier.
15:40Now, here comes a crucial turning point in our story.
15:44About two million years ago, our ancestors faced a food shortage.
15:49Survival of the fittest was the name of the game, and two strategies emerged.
15:54Group 1 went for stronger jaws, allowing them to chomp on tough foods like nuts.
15:59Group 2 had a different idea.
16:01They opted for weaker jaws, but bigger brains.
16:04They wanted access to a wider range of food options.
16:07Obviously, the bigger-brained group took the prize.
16:11And here's where our gang comes into play.
16:14Around 2.5 million years ago, a type of primate also known as handyman, made its mark on history.
16:22These clever beings had larger brains, and knew how to put those neurons to good use.
16:28About 1.9 million years ago, a new star emerged, Homo erectus.
16:34These creatures not only walked upright, but also had brains that were almost twice the size of the handyman's.
16:40They took the world by surprise, becoming the first of our direct ancestors to venture out of the African continent.
16:47They even knew how to tame fire.
16:50Approximately 700,000 years ago, the world witnessed a culinary revolution.
16:56The earliest evidence of cooking appeared.
16:59And around 500,000 years ago, our ancestors decided it was time to become a bit more fashionable.
17:06Donning the first evidence of clothing.
17:09Our very own species came to be just 300,000 years ago.
17:14Told you we were late to the party.
17:16But the world was never the same after the appearance of Homo sapiens, the anatomically modern humans.
17:24Alongside our other relatives, we emerged, ready to conquer the world with our innovative minds and complex societies.
17:32The exact path of our evolution remains a bit of a mystery.
17:37But what we do know for sure, is that Neanderthals joined the party around at some point too.
17:43As Homo sapiens flourished, so did our capacity for language.
17:48Modern speech is believed to have emerged almost hand in hand with our species.
17:53We started expressing ourselves, sharing stories and shaping the world with our words.
17:58So, there you have it.
18:01It took 13.8 billion years of cosmic history for humans to make their entrance.
18:06Think about it.
18:0899.998% of the time since the Big Bang, we weren't even around.
18:15Our species, Homo sapiens, is the toddler of the Earth's family, existing for just the tiniest fraction of the universe's timeline.
18:26Yet, in this blink of an eye, we've managed to unravel the entire story that led to our existence.
18:32The story won't end with us.
18:34It's an ongoing saga, still being written with every passing moment.
18:38That's it for today.
18:39So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
18:45Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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