Dr Irving Finkel DA, PhD

Dr Irving Finkel was born in London in 1951. He received his BA in Ancient
New Eastern Studies in 1969 from the University of Birmingham. That was
then followed by a PhD in Assyriology for work he did in the field of
"Ancient Mesopotamian Exorcistic Magic" in 1976. After spending a
further three years as a Research Associate at the Oriental Institute at
the University of Chicago he returned to the United Kingdom in 1979, where
he was appointed Assistant Keeper of Western Asiatic Antiquities at the
British Museum.

Dr Finkel is a man of many and varied interests. His special subjects are
Ancient Mesopotamian Studies, Cuneiform writing, Lexicography,
Medicine, Esoterica and the study of Ancient Magic. In addition to the
publication of articles and contributions in his field of expertise, he has
written a number of children’s books as well as a book on "The History of
Board Games".

Dr Finkel has contributed frequently to radio and television programmes. He
wrote and presented a four part series on Mesopotamian Medicine, Dentistry
and Magic titled "The Wedge Between Us", on Radio 4.

He is married and the father of 4 children.


The Lecture Notes

Alexander of Macedon in Babylonian Cuneiform

Cuneiform writing is the world's oldest known script. It appeared in
ancient Iraq in about 3000 BC, beginning as a simple pictographic system,
but rapidly evolving into a fluent means of recording language by means of
an elaborate syllabic system, written on tables of clay, in cuneiform,
"wedge-shaped" signs. By about 2800 BC all manner of things could be
written by those who learned the script.

This system lasted in Mesopotamia until about the second century AD.
Surviving tables give us mathematics and astronomy, magic and astrology,
medicine and literature, as well as mundane matters such as house sales,
letters and marriage contracts.

Among the 130,000 such documents in the British Museum there is a handful
from the city of Babylon that concern Alexander the Macedon. These include,
for example, a historical chronicle describing events that led up to his
reign, an astronomical diary that describes his entry into Babylon, and
other sources that extend our picture of day-to-day living. Such material
is little known outside the world of cuneiform.

This lecture will offer a brief introduction to cuneiform writing. Dr
Finkel will then talk in detail about the contemporary sources on clay that
concern Alexander, some of which have recently been identified in the
British Museum by the speaker, and are as yet unpublished.

London 1998