<p>More than 5,000 years ago, a revolutionary script emerged in the fertile lands of Mesopotamia that would transform how people counted, governed, worshipped and told stories. This was cuneiform, the world’s earliest known writing system.</p><br><p>In this episode of <em>The Ancients</em>, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Irving Finkel to uncover how cuneiform actually worked and how you would write it yourself. From humble beginnings as simple pictograms tracking beer and grain, to the wedge-shaped signs that recorded myths, laws and epic tales long before the Bible, this episode explores how cuneiform spread across Sumer, Babylon, Assyria and Persia — and why these clay tablets remain one of archaeology’s richest windows into the ancient world.</p><br><p><strong>MORE</strong></p><br><p><strong>Noah's Ark and the Flood</strong></p><p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ancients/id1520403988?i=1000657831861" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Listen on Apple</a></p><p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2jGNMjqyIkvmpKjT532API?si=zYgP0yhpTtWZyzKGIWXUbA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Listen on Spotify </a></p><br><p><strong>The World's Oldest Letters</strong></p><p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ancients/id1520403988?i=1000738350099" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Listen on Apple</a></p><p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6a5mDAW5O22fM8sE9tkrUB?si=Y0OZfYcBTimMOOdgyZAXhA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Listen on Spotify </a></p><br><p><strong>Watch this episode on our NEW YouTube channel: </strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@TheAncientsPodcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>@TheAncientsPodcast</strong></a></p><br><p>Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.</p><p>All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds</p><p><em>The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.</em></p><br><p><strong>Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at </strong><a href="https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe</strong></a><strong>.</strong>&nbsp;</p><br><p>You can take part in our listener survey&nbsp;<a href="https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>:</strong></p><p><a href="https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>