In this video, Dr. Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum and an expert in Cuneiform, provides a hands-on lesson on how to write the world's oldest script. He explains that Cuneiform is a syllabic writing system composed of just three basic wedge-shaped marks (vertical, horizontal, and diagonal) impressed into wet clay with a stylus. The hosts, Matt and Tom, learn to break their names down into syllables ("ma-at" and "Ta-am") and identify the corresponding signs on a chart. Dr. Finkel then guides them through the practical process of using a stylus (a popsicle stick) and a clay tablet to write their names. The discussion also covers the script's evolution from pictographs, the calligraphic nature of skilled scribal work, and the remarkable durability of clay tablets which has led to their preservation for millennia. Finally, Dr. Finkel introduces his horror-mystery novel, "The Writing in the Stone," inspired by a naturally fractured rock that uncannily mimics Cuneiform script.
Learning Ancient Cuneiform with Dr. Irving Finkel
0:26 Introduction to Cuneiform: Dr. Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum, explains that Cuneiform is the world's oldest writing system, with the museum housing 130,000 clay tablets inscribed with it.
2:17 The Three Basic Components: Cuneiform writing is not drawn but impressed into clay. The entire script is built from just three fundamental wedge shapes: one vertical, one horizontal, and one diagonal.
3:07 A Syllabic Script: Unlike an alphabet where letters represent individual sounds, Cuneiform is syllabic. To write a word, one must combine the signs for each syllable (e.g., "ba" + "na" + "na" for "banana").
4:04 Writing "Matt" and "Tom": Dr. Finkel demonstrates how to write the hosts' names by breaking them into syllables ("ma" + "at" for Matt, and "Ta" + "am" for Tom, as there is no "o" vowel) and finding the corresponding signs on a chart.
7:22 Evolution from Pictures: The abstract wedge-based signs evolved over approximately a thousand years from more literal pictographs (e.g., a simple drawing of a bird). This change was partly driven by the fact that impressing wedges is faster and cleaner on clay than drawing curved lines.
10:15 Practical Writing Lesson: The hosts receive clay tablets and popsicle sticks to use as styluses. Dr. Finkel demonstrates the proper technique of holding the stylus and pressing its corner into the clay to create the distinct wedge shapes.
15:45 Key Takeaway: Ancient Calligraphy: Skilled scribes aimed for a flowing, "joined-up writing" style where signs were written neatly and connected, showing a well-developed sense of calligraphy.
16:33 Key Takeaway: Indestructible Records: Clay tablets are incredibly durable. Even when only sun-dried, they could survive in the ground for thousands of years, preserving vast amounts of information about ancient life, from business documents to love letters.
18:38 Inspiration for a Novel: Dr. Finkel shows a piece of stone that naturally fractured in a way that perfectly mimics Cuneiform writing. This fluke of nature inspired him to write a horror-mystery novel, "The Writing in the Stone."
19:25 The Novel's Premise: The story imagines an ancient scribe finding such a stone, believing it to be an unreadable message from the gods. To hide his failure and protect his position, he resorts to a series of murders, which he can execute without fear of modern forensic detection. The book is being funded on Kickstarter.