Writing is generally agreed to be among the greatest inventions in human history, perhaps the greatest invention, since it made history possible. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe You can read more about Irving's quest to explore the Noah's Ark myth in "The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood": https://geni.us/zU95bVO or learn more about cuneiform writing in "Cuneiform": https://geni.us/eMPb Writing seems to have been invented in the late fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia in the form of wedge-shaped marks pressed into soft clay with a reed stylus: the script known as cuneiform. Through his work on this ancient language, Irving Finkel, has uncovered amazing secrets from over five thousand years ago, including the story behind Noah’s ark. Irving Finkel is the curator in charge of cuneiform inscriptions on tablets of clay from ancient Mesopotamia at the British Museum, of which the Middle East Department has the largest collection of any modern museum. This work involves reading and translating all sorts of inscriptions, sometimes working on ancient archives to identify manuscripts that belong together, or even join to one another. He is the author of The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood. This talk was filmed in the Ri on 18 January 2019. --- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: Dave Ostler, David Lindo, David Schick, Erik Shepherd, Greg Nagel, Ivan Korolev, Joe Godenzi, Julia Stone, Kellas Lowery, Lasse T. Stendan, Lester Su, Osian Gwyn Williams, Paul Brown, Radu Tizu, Rebecca Pan, Robert Hillier, Roger Baker, and Will Knott. --- Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.