Greg Jenner

I think you're bang on, right? I mean, Moody, he tries to crush his career, right?

Have you ever been tempted to crush your rival comedian's career? I mean, you're the only Phil in comedy, right?

Have you ever been tempted to crush your rival comedian's career? I mean, you're the only Phil in comedy, right?

So Rawlinson and Hinks were squabbling, and in 1857, so 20 years after Rawlinson first went out to Persia, I suppose that's what it would have been called at the time, the Royal Asiatic Society... I don't know what they are, but they sort of intervened and said, right, OK, we're going to officially declare that cuneiform has been decoded. They announced this how, Moody?

So Rawlinson and Hinks were squabbling, and in 1857, so 20 years after Rawlinson first went out to Persia, I suppose that's what it would have been called at the time, the Royal Asiatic Society... I don't know what they are, but they sort of intervened and said, right, OK, we're going to officially declare that cuneiform has been decoded. They announced this how, Moody?

OK. Phil, how do you think the competition was judged? What kind of... Talk me through the rounds.

OK. Phil, how do you think the competition was judged? What kind of... Talk me through the rounds.

I like that.

I like that.

How did this competition work? Is it live translation spelling bee, as Phil has suggested, which I'd love to see.

How did this competition work? Is it live translation spelling bee, as Phil has suggested, which I'd love to see.

Oh, that's nice.

Oh, that's nice.

And this is the Akkadian language now.

And this is the Akkadian language now.

So the three languages were Elamite, Akkadian and Old Persian. All three languages have been decoded.

So the three languages were Elamite, Akkadian and Old Persian. All three languages have been decoded.

And this invents a new discipline of which you are a practitioner.

And this invents a new discipline of which you are a practitioner.

But Assyriology is named after the fact that there's this incredible library, which dates to when roughly? The 7th century BC, so the 600s. Amazing. And so Nineveh, the royal library was discovered in what we now call Mosul in Iraq. 30,000 cuneiform tablets, which is amazing. They were brought to the British Museum, the home of Iraqi history. Yes.