Greg Jenner

We should talk about who can read this. I'm assuming most people are not literate. We've got multiple societies here. It's very generic to just say Bronze Age Mesopotamia, but who can read and write cuneiform? Is it a very highly skilled thing? Can you have basic functional literacy if you're an ordinary fisherman? Who's got that knowledge?

Oh, that's sick.

Oh, that's sick.

Keep it to the masses. This is just us. You said we have women scribes. The most famous one, I suppose, would be the daughter of King Sargon. So Sargon the Great of Arkady is a very famous sort of

Keep it to the masses. This is just us. You said we have women scribes. The most famous one, I suppose, would be the daughter of King Sargon. So Sargon the Great of Arkady is a very famous sort of

He's around like 4,000 years ago. But his daughter is the first woman author in history?

He's around like 4,000 years ago. But his daughter is the first woman author in history?

The earliest named author in history is a princess writing 4,300 years ago. Exactly. Wow. That's really cool. It's very cool.

The earliest named author in history is a princess writing 4,300 years ago. Exactly. Wow. That's really cool. It's very cool.

The tune is Sean Paul. It's Ashurbanipal's Sean Paul, yeah. That would actually be fantastic. Okay. And so how do you, like, can you send messages? Are there letters? Is there a postal system? Can you communicate with tablets and cuneiform, I suppose, is the question?

The tune is Sean Paul. It's Ashurbanipal's Sean Paul, yeah. That would actually be fantastic. Okay. And so how do you, like, can you send messages? Are there letters? Is there a postal system? Can you communicate with tablets and cuneiform, I suppose, is the question?

So in the 19th century, when you get the invention of telegraphy and you'd go to the telegraphy office and you dictate your thing and someone would put into Morse code and then someone else would translate it for them. And it's the same thing in, but 4,000 years ago. So you're dictating it. So it's like, hey, Siri, but instead it's, hey, scribe. Describe. Putting the Siri in a Siri.

So in the 19th century, when you get the invention of telegraphy and you'd go to the telegraphy office and you dictate your thing and someone would put into Morse code and then someone else would translate it for them. And it's the same thing in, but 4,000 years ago. So you're dictating it. So it's like, hey, Siri, but instead it's, hey, scribe. Describe. Putting the Siri in a Siri.

I didn't catch that. I'm sorry, I did not hear. Please say that again. What kind of things do you think people were dictating in their tablets, Phil? In the letters to each other. Yeah, what kind of stuff do you think is getting jotted down?

I didn't catch that. I'm sorry, I did not hear. Please say that again. What kind of things do you think people were dictating in their tablets, Phil? In the letters to each other. Yeah, what kind of stuff do you think is getting jotted down?

Actually, yeah. There must have been loads. The Hymn to Nankazi is one of the earliest things ever written down, and that's a song to a goddess about beer. And I know that one of the earliest ever Kineoform tablets we have is about beer. Mm-hmm. That's right. It's amazing. I feel like nothing has changed. Can you tell us about this ancient, is it one tablet? Is it fragments? What have we got?

Actually, yeah. There must have been loads. The Hymn to Nankazi is one of the earliest things ever written down, and that's a song to a goddess about beer. And I know that one of the earliest ever Kineoform tablets we have is about beer. Mm-hmm. That's right. It's amazing. I feel like nothing has changed. Can you tell us about this ancient, is it one tablet? Is it fragments? What have we got?

The beer tablet.

The beer tablet.

So he's a beer magnate. He's like... He's like, Mr. Heineken, he's in charge of all of the beer of the city.