“Voices from Ancient Mesopotamia” by Dr Irving Finkel

This four–part study day is an eye–opening introduction to the world of Ancient Mesopotamia, using
ancient cuneiform writing and inscriptions with surprising results!  An important point that will be
considered is that, thanks to their own words, how long–dead Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians
are surprisingly accessible to us, and even familiar to us, when you look carefully.

Programme
9.30 Registration
10.00 The Wonder of Cuneiform: What cuneiform writing is.
11.00 Coffee / Tea
11.30 The First Ghosts: A most ancient case of the belief in ghosts
12.30 Lunch – Bring-Your-Own – Tea / Coffee available
1.30 The Ark Before Noah: How a cuneiform tablet from 1800 BC came to light with instructions for building a great boat.
2.30 Tea / Coffee
3.00 The Ark Affair; The Consequences: The finding of this new pre-Biblical Ark narrative from
Mesopotamia provoked many reactions around the world.
4.00 Departure

Speaker – Dr Irving Finkel is a British philologist and Assyriologist. He is currently Senior Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages and cultures in the Department of the Middle East in the British Museum, where he specialises in cuneiform inscriptions on tablets of clay from ancient Mesopotamia. He is the author of several books of children’s fiction and books on his specialist subject include “The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood” (2014) and “The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies” (2021). He has also been involved in various YouTube videos and television programmes on his findings on the cuneiform tablets.

For full information please see the BOOKING FORM