Irving Finkel is a scholar of ancient languages and a longtime curator at the British Museum, renowned for his expertise in Mesopotamian history and cuneiform writing. He specializes in reading and in
I’m from Russia. I’ve commented here before, but I just want to say thank you again for making these conversations accessible to Russian-speaking listeners. It really means a lot. In difficult times, curiosity and the search for knowledge remind us what it means to be human.
If there is anyone deserving of a knighthood then it should be Mr Finkel. His articulation on the defense of the British museum and the destructive role of religion (1:45 onwards) stands miles ahead of anything that has ever been written or spoken about the subjects.
prof Finkel is also very humble. Once I was in the middle of nowhere in France writing a paper and needed access to one of his papers published in extremely technical journal. I wrote him an email, and to my surprise, he answered it with a pdf in less than 24 hours!
He started off by saying that It is "very very unlikely" That the first evidence we have for writing is the first writing in history. I am so sincerely happy to see someone so rational to finally say this, That's all I need to know that this is going to be an awesome podcast.
Professor Finkel is a world cultural gem. His enthusiasm and his insistence that we don't really know anything, we only have the earliest evidence of things, makes him almost unique in this space. Love his lectures. Love his crankiness. Love his humanity.
I’m six minutes in which might only be four minutes of this man talking, but I feel his ability to utilize communication is that the highest of standards Lex Freeman said a couple words and this dude has taken you through thousands of years of communication within seconds with great detail and extreme clarity
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See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
0:00 - Introduction
0:58 - Origins of human language
7:04 - Cuneiform
14:17 - Controversial theory about Göbekli Tepe
25:29 - How to write and speak Cuneiform
30:48 - Primitive human language
32:31 - Development of writing systems
33:25 - Decipherment of Cuneiform
45:57 - Limits of language
50:56 - Art of translation
56:06 - Gods
1:01:31 - Ghosts
1:11:19 - Ancient flood stories
1:21:26 - Noah's Ark
1:32:49 - The Royal Game of Ur
1:45:48 - British Museum
1:53:13 - Evolution of human civilization
CONTACT LEX:
Feedback - give feedback to Lex: lexfridman.com/survey
AMA - submit questions, videos or call-in: lexfridman.com/ama
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Other - other ways to get in touch: lexfridman.com/contact
EPISODE LINKS:
Irving's Instagram: www.instagram.com/drirvingfinkel/
The Ark Before Noah (book): amzn.to/4j2U0DW
Irving Lectures Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYXwZvOwHjVcFUi9iEqirkX…
British Museum Video Playlist: youtube.c
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See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
0:00 - Introduction
0:58 - Origins of human language
7:04 - Cuneiform
14:17 - Controversial theory about Göbekli Tepe
25:29 - How to write and speak Cuneiform
30:48 - Primitive human language
32:31 - Development of writing systems
33:25 - Decipherment of Cuneiform
45:57 - Limits of language
50:56 - Art of translation
56:06 - Gods
1:01:31 - Ghosts
1:11:19 - Ancient flood stories
1:21:26 - Noah's Ark
1:32:49 - The Royal Game of Ur
1:45:48 - British Museum
1:53:13 - Evolution of human civilization
Transcript:
lexfridman.com/irving-finkel-transcript
CONTACT LEX:
Feedback - give feedback to Lex: lexfridman.com/survey
AMA - submit questions, videos or call-in: lexfridman.com/ama
Hiring - join our team: lexfridman.com/hiring
Other - other ways to get in touch: lexfridman.com/contact
EPISODE LINKS:
Irving's Instagram: www.instagram.com/drirvingfinkel/
The Ark Before Noah (book): amzn.to/4j2U0DW
Irving Lectures Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYXwZvOwHjVcFUi9iEqirkX…
British Museum Video Playlist: youtube.c