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Irving Finkel Returns | Voices Out of the Darkness

Archaeology Now・63 minutes read

Irving Finkel discusses ancient Mesopotamian voices through cuneiform tablets, highlighting the use of cuneiform writing, the development of the writing system, and the educational practices in ancient Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian kings utilized inscriptions and brick stamps to document achievements and construction projects, showcasing the evolution of writing systems and the influence of Mesopotamian culture on later civilizations.

Insights

The transition from pictographic to cuneiform writing in ancient Mesopotamia allowed for the recording of complex messages by using signs to represent sounds and syllables.
Ancient Mesopotamian schooling was limited to boys from specific families, where they learned to write on clay tablets, with older students as teachers, and discipline often involved physical punishment.
The discovery of tablets with proverbs in ancient Mesopotamian schools, where older boys wrote and younger boys memorized and reproduced inscriptions, sometimes leading to discrepancies between the original and copied versions.

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What were ancient Mesopotamian schools like?
Boys from specific families learned writing on clay tablets.

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Summary

00:00

"Decoding Mesopotamian Voices Through Cuneiform Tablets"

Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum, discusses ancient Mesopotamian voices through cuneiform tablets.
Mesopotamia, located between Syria and Iran, was fertile due to the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
The rivers allowed for irrigation, leading to settlements and cities in Mesopotamia.
The Sumerians developed writing on clay tablets using reeds as styluses.
The transition from pictographic to cuneiform writing enabled complex messages to be recorded.
Cuneiform writing involved using signs to represent sounds and syllables.
Sumerian and Akkadian were the two languages written in cuneiform.
Schooling in ancient Mesopotamia was limited to boys from specific families.
Boys learned to write on clay tablets and were taught by older students.
Understanding ancient Mesopotamian texts requires knowledge of cuneiform and the languages used.

17:51

Ancient School Tablets and Cuneiform Communication

Clay was used to create small cakes, on which lines were ruled by an older boy using a writing stick.
Signs were then hung and pressed on the tablet, with each sign having its head tucked on the writing line.
Tablets with proverbs were created in schools, where older boys wrote and younger boys memorized and reproduced the inscriptions.
Discrepancies were sometimes found between the original writing and the copied version on these tablets.
In ancient schools, boys who didn't work properly were beaten with a stick as a form of discipline.
A round tablet with a human face drawn on it was discovered, believed to be a caricature of a teacher from around 1750 BC.
Scribes had two main directions to pursue: administration, involving writing receipts and ledgers for temple deliveries, and intellectual pursuits.
Scribes meticulously recorded details of transactions like marriages and loans to avoid loopholes and ensure clarity in future disputes.
Letters were common forms of communication, ranging from personal matters to commerce, often involving polite greetings before getting to the main point.
A tablet from the 14th century BC found in Egypt contained a letter from a king of Syria to the Pharaoh, showcasing the use of cuneiform writing for royal correspondence.

34:54

Ancient Mesopotamian Writing Systems: Evolution and Translation

Gudea, a Sumerian ruler from around 2200 BC in southern Iraq, had hundreds of cones made to signify the builder of a structure, aiming to prevent its collapse due to mud brick construction.
The cones were strategically placed in walls to signal to future kings the need for restoration, ensuring the reputation of the original builder.
Assyrian kings, like Ashurbanipal, were both fierce warriors and scholars, with Ashurbanipal boasting one of the largest ancient libraries, showcasing his prowess in governance and learning.
Ashurbanipal's library contained around 30,000 to 40,000 clay tablets with sophisticated cuneiform writing, demonstrating a highly developed and versatile writing system.
The tablets in Ashurbanipal's library were displayed in an exhibition at the British Museum, offering a glimpse into the ancient ruler's scholarly pursuits and governance strategies.
Mesopotamian kings, like Nebuchadnezzar, utilized inscriptions to document their achievements and building projects, often adopting ancient writing styles to convey power and tradition.
Nebuchadnezzar employed brick stamps with inscriptions to streamline the process of marking bricks for his construction projects, showcasing an early form of mass production and branding.
A tablet with pictographic signs alongside cuneiform equivalents demonstrates the evolution of writing systems in Mesopotamia, with scholars able to decipher and understand ancient forms of writing.
The tablet's list of equivalents between pictographic signs and cuneiform demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the evolution of writing systems, allowing for potential translation of ancient texts.
The systematic arrangement of signs on the tablet, linking related symbols together, showcases a unique approach to preserving and understanding extinct forms of writing, a remarkable feat in the history of writing systems.

51:10

Mesopotamian Artifacts: Insights into Ancient Culture

The Cyrus Cylinder, inscribed by King Cyrus of Persia in 539 BC, marked the end of the Sumerians, Syrians, and Babylonians' rule, ushering in a new era in Mesopotamian history.
The cylinder detailed how the Babylonian god Marduk chose Cyrus to be the king of Babylon, legitimizing his rule after the invasion.
The model of a sheep's liver with markings was used by diviners to predict the future based on specific features, such as holes indicating various outcomes.
A unique Babylonian world map depicted cosmic elements, with mountains symbolizing the edges of the world and rivers represented by pillars.
The tablet showcasing the merging of multiple gods into Marduk marked the beginning of monotheistic ideas in Mesopotamia, influencing later monotheistic religions.
The discovery and reconstruction of a lyre from ancient Mesopotamia allowed scholars to understand the music's tuning and intervals, shedding light on the region's musical history.
An ancient board game from 2600 BC, with rules inscribed in the 2nd century BC, provided insight into popular pastimes and gaming culture in antiquity.
The board game's unpredictable nature, akin to modern games, highlighted the excitement and strategy involved, with luck playing a significant role in determining the winner.
A tablet containing a hymn to the goddess Inanna listed around 70 games played by children in ancient Babylon, showcasing the variety of activities and their cultural significance.
A comparison between the Babylonian tablet's games and Bruegel's painting of children's games revealed similarities in the diversity and number of games played across different eras.

01:07:10

Ancient Babylonia's Influence on Modern Mathematics

Research on children's games reveals around 70 games played in Babylonia around 1500 BC, possibly up to 87 in medieval Europe.
The Babylonians used a sexagesimal mathematical system based on the number 60, which influenced all their mathematical and astronomical data for three millennia.
Babylonian astronomers meticulously recorded the first and last visibilities of the planet Mercury, which Greek astronomers later transcribed into Greek script for further study.
The sexagesimal system from Babylon, with its base of 60, influenced Greek astronomy and modern time measurements like 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour.
A bilingual tablet with Sumerian and Babylonian words for "canal" showcases the educational process in ancient times, highlighting the transmission of knowledge through different languages.
The tablet's Greek writing hints at a student's learning process, revealing the pronunciation of Sumerian words and the collaborative nature of education in ancient Babylonia.

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