Thin End of the Wedge

Gioele talks about the PlANET Project (Plants in the Ancient Near East Texts). How do texts and archaeobotanical evidence combine to explain the economic and functional roles of plants? And what symbolic values did they have? To what extent did they play active roles? 3:27 the PlANET project 5:23 what do we know about plants? 7:57 combining sources 11:13 project goals 13:35 attitudes to environmental change 15:18 interdisciplinary 17:30 identifying pl...

Christopher discusses new ideas around the murder of King Sennacherib. Who really killed him and why? Was it a coup? Where was Esarhaddon and why wasn't he in Nineveh? [Much of this first section of the episode was published as part of Episode 71. 8:03-10:30 is not found there. And everything from 25:19 is also new] Next he addresses the question of how the kings of this dynasty ran their empire. What does social network analysis reveal about how they coped with information flow? Who wa...

This episode was recorded live at the Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale conference held in Helsinki in July 2024. Simo Parpola reflects on his long and momentous career. He explains how he became an assyriologist, and how he came to focus on the Assyrians. A key collaboration led to one of the most significant projects in assyriological history. What was it like to study large groups of tablets in the days before bulk digitisation? How did they identify so many joins remotely? Si...

Witold discusses the labour market under Hammurabi of Babylon. What kind of work could you get, and what would you be paid in exchange? Who would be looking for employment, who would take them on, and who held the balance of power? 1:45 how we know about getting a job 2:54 who are the job seekers? 3:48 how common was it? 4:58 what jobs are there beyond harvest time? 6:17 what kind of people are working? 8:19 how good were conditions? 11:12 different jobs for men and women? 13:03 do workers...

Rune, Seraina, and Gustav discuss their recently completed project on geomapping cuneiform. Where were inscriptions found and where are they now? How many tablets are there? What counts as a tablet anyway? They reveal the challenges of integrating datasets, and explore the potential opened up by knowing where inscriptions really come from. 4:18 GLoW project 7:44 data collection 10:51 how many tablets are there? 13:50 provenance problems 17:06 why 'where' matters 20:50 what distribution tell...

The site of Ur is easily one of the most important in Iraq. In this interview, originally recorded in late 2021, we hear from the person responsible for managing that site. Ali talks about Ur's significance, and its role in local life. What are the plans for the development of this key site? 4:18 introducing Lina 7:02 importance of Ur 7:34 what tourists can see 8:39 information for visitors 9:12 what Ur means to Iraqis 10:15 excavations 11:04 site conservation 11:49 future of tourism 12:19 ...

At the Rencontre in Leiden this summer, the IAA awarded its annual prizes celebrating the excellence of early career scholars. There were prizes for the best dissertation, best first article, and a research subsidy. I tracked down the prize winners to ask them about their work. 2:17 Clélia Paladre 2:57 thesis on Iranian glyptic 4:38 the Proto-Elamite phenomenon 6:14 working at the Louvre 7:31 Tomoki Kitazumi 8:29 translating in the Hittite empire 11:45 interpreters in the ancient Nea...

Susanne pulls back the curtain on how exhibitions are made. She explains how the topic was chosen, and how that vision is translated into reality. How long does it take, how many people are involved, and just what needs to be done? 2:17 about Back to School 3:27 goals 5:37 what's on show? 7:16 star pieces 10:10 recreating an ancient school 11:05 how to display tablets 17:06 why school and why now? 19:10 return to Nippur and the Nippur Tablet Pr...