169. Decoding the World’s First Writing

People I (Mostly) Admire

Irving Finkel is an expert on cuneiform — the oldest known writing system. He tells Steve the amazing story of how an ancient clay tablet unlocked the truth about Noah’s ark (and got Finkel in trouble with some Christians).

• SOURCES:
  • Irving Finkel, curator in the department of the Middle East at the British Museum.

• RESOURCES:
  • "How to write cuneiform," by Irving Finkel (The British Museum, 2021).
  • "PBS Nova: Secrets of Noah's Ark," (2015).
  • The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood, by Irving Finkel (2014).
  • "Epic Hero," by David Damrosch (Smithsonian Magazine, 2007).
  • "How Egyptian hieroglyphs were decoded, a timeline to decipherment," (The British Museum).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Jane Goodall, Who Chronicled the Social Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91," by Keith Schneider (New York Times, 2025).
  • "Jane Goodall Changed the Way We See Animals. She’s Not Done." by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).
  • "D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better," (1993).

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