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The unbroken seal on King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1923. That piece of rope and clay remained entirely untouched for 3,245 years before this photo was taken.
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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This is one of my favorite pictures. The sense of time from it is palpable.
I love what it says about something as mundane as rope, that humans perfected it thousands of years ago and its form has remained essentially unchanged for millennia.
Yeah that was the thing that got me too. That rope looks immaculate. Like factory made even. It made me question if the picture was AI, which immediately annoys me whenever I have to even consider that possibility now.
Seriously cool though.
For me it just speaks to how well those tombs were sealed. I have hemp and jute rope that don't look that good after a few months use. Granted this was probably unused before installed and not worked as much, but still 3000+ years is a long time for natural fibers.
The desert climate helps, it woulda rotted out forever ago most places.