Greg Jenner

Phil, we're going to mix things up here. We're going to go to modern history now. We're going to start with only a couple of hundred years ago when they deciphered Kineiform. Can you guess the nationality of the man who deciphered this ancient Near Eastern technology? Oh. Nationality for us, please, Phil. French. French. It's a good guess. His name was Henry Rawlinson. Okay.

And he was from England, as all the best people are. That's what I wanted to say.

And he was from England, as all the best people are. That's what I wanted to say.

It's usually an Englishman or Frenchman, in fairness, in this period in history. Moody, what was an Englishman doing in Iran? Was he doing a classic bit of Empire? Hello, I've just come to do a bit of Empire.

It's usually an Englishman or Frenchman, in fairness, in this period in history. Moody, what was an Englishman doing in Iran? Was he doing a classic bit of Empire? Hello, I've just come to do a bit of Empire.

So he was invited in by the Shah of Persia.

So he was invited in by the Shah of Persia.

Normally it's a sort of invasion thing. So that's quite nice. They actually said, welcome, please. Phil, the study of languages is called philology.

Normally it's a sort of invasion thing. So that's quite nice. They actually said, welcome, please. Phil, the study of languages is called philology.

And your name is Phil. Yeah. I feel like therefore you have an innate skill in this.

And your name is Phil. Yeah. I feel like therefore you have an innate skill in this.

How would you go about decoding an ancient script? Because you're an engineer, right?

How would you go about decoding an ancient script? Because you're an engineer, right?

So you think laterally. Yeah, sure. And you're Henry Rawlinson. How do you start decoding that?

So you think laterally. Yeah, sure. And you're Henry Rawlinson. How do you start decoding that?

Moody, it sounds like Rawlinson used the Phil Wang technique.

Moody, it sounds like Rawlinson used the Phil Wang technique.

Are you besmirching an Englishman's name, Moody?

Are you besmirching an Englishman's name, Moody?

He kicked it out of the line. He showed up and said, I've got this, lads. Thank you very much. Is Behistun sort of the Rosetta equivalent that Phil mentioned? Is that like the key discovery?