The most important ancient artefacts in the world and what they tell us - Irving Finkel Returns

Dr Irving Finkel is curator of Mesopotamian artefacts in the British Museum, One of the very few people who can read Cuneiform as though it were the morning paper. He is regarded by many as one of the national treasures of the British Museum and the only one with a cult following.

TIMESTAMP
00:00 Irving Finkel
01:45 What are the most important artefacts in the British Museum?
01:58 The Lewis Chess Pieces
03:58 The Rosetta Stone
06:05 The Portland Vase
07:00 The Royal Game of Ur
17:56 How accurate is the Bible?
22:00 The Flood of the Bible and the Flood of Mesopotamia
30:10 Have you ever played Santa Claus?
32:10 What the very oldest inscription says
42:07 Is writing in China or India older than Cuneiform?
44:10 Are Egyptian Hieroglyphics older?
48:00 Sumerian number systems
52:10 The labyrinth motive
56:55 The meaning of burial objects
01:02:02 The waiting room for souls in the nether-world
01:05:20 Should the British Museum return the Elgin Marbles?
01:07:29 How would you start learning Cuneiform?
01:13:14 Has AI been used to help translate Cuneiform?
01:19:52 What wisdom have you personally learned from the Babylonians?
01:22:00 The diary project