Greg Jenner

And to you, lovely listener, join me next time as we navigate another treacherous historical subject. But for now, I'm off to go and bin all my tin food and scrub my kettle.

This episode of You're Dead to Me was researched by Matt Ryan. It was written by Matt Ryan, Emmy Rose Price Goodfellow and me. The audio producer was Steve Hankey and our production coordinator was Ben Hollands. It was produced by Emmy Rose Price Goodfellow, me and senior producer Emma Nagoose and our executive editor was James Cook.

This episode of You're Dead to Me was researched by Matt Ryan. It was written by Matt Ryan, Emmy Rose Price Goodfellow and me. The audio producer was Steve Hankey and our production coordinator was Ben Hollands. It was produced by Emmy Rose Price Goodfellow, me and senior producer Emma Nagoose and our executive editor was James Cook.

You're Dead to Me is a BBC Studios audio production for BBC Radio 4.

You're Dead to Me is a BBC Studios audio production for BBC Radio 4.

Hello and welcome to Your Dent to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously. My name is Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today we're bouncing back to the Bronze Age with our styluses and clay tablets to learn all about the first ever writing system or script called cuneiform.

Hello and welcome to Your Dent to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously. My name is Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today we're bouncing back to the Bronze Age with our styluses and clay tablets to learn all about the first ever writing system or script called cuneiform.

And to help us decipher the ancient story, we have two very special guests. In History Corner, she's an honorary fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. She's an Assyriologist who researches and teaches on the history of Mesopotamia, Cuneiform and the Akkadian language. She has a wonderful brand new book that I loved called Between Two Rivers, Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History.

And to help us decipher the ancient story, we have two very special guests. In History Corner, she's an honorary fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. She's an Assyriologist who researches and teaches on the history of Mesopotamia, Cuneiform and the Akkadian language. She has a wonderful brand new book that I loved called Between Two Rivers, Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History.

I highly recommend it. And you will remember her from our episode on the ancient Babylonians. It's Dr. Moody Al-Rashid. Welcome, Moody. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Delighted to have you back. And in Comedy Corner, he's a fantastic comedian, actor and author. You'll know him from Dastmaster, Live at the Apollo. Have a news for you from his two Netflix comedy specials.

I highly recommend it. And you will remember her from our episode on the ancient Babylonians. It's Dr. Moody Al-Rashid. Welcome, Moody. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Delighted to have you back. And in Comedy Corner, he's a fantastic comedian, actor and author. You'll know him from Dastmaster, Live at the Apollo. Have a news for you from his two Netflix comedy specials.

Two, count them. Maybe you've read his side-splitting book, Sidesplitter, which I loved on audiobook. But you'll definitely remember him from our previous episodes of You're Dead to Me. Most recently on the Terracotta Warriors and the History of Kung Fu, which sounds like a film title but isn't. Returning for a triumphant fifth appearance in...

Two, count them. Maybe you've read his side-splitting book, Sidesplitter, which I loved on audiobook. But you'll definitely remember him from our previous episodes of You're Dead to Me. Most recently on the Terracotta Warriors and the History of Kung Fu, which sounds like a film title but isn't. Returning for a triumphant fifth appearance in...

Phil, together we've tackled mighty military matters. We've done the Borgias. We've done Genghis Khan. We've done the Terracotta Warriors and Kung Fu. Today we're going quite nerdy. What does the word cuneiform mean to you? Spiritually. Emotionally.

Phil, together we've tackled mighty military matters. We've done the Borgias. We've done Genghis Khan. We've done the Terracotta Warriors and Kung Fu. Today we're going quite nerdy. What does the word cuneiform mean to you? Spiritually. Emotionally.

I mean, Moody, I don't want to give him too many sort of stars early on, but I feel that was quite good.

I mean, Moody, I don't want to give him too many sort of stars early on, but I feel that was quite good.

And the font for old is just like a really big font.

And the font for old is just like a really big font.

This is where I have a go at getting what you, our lovely listener, might know about today's subject. And, well, I think Phil has outclassed us all. You might remember a mention of cuneiform on our Babylonians episode we talked about before with Moody and Kay Curd. Maybe you've seen some cuneiform tablets in the British Museum or in the Ashmolean Museum in the States. I think Paris has some.