Hi everybody, from Wondery, welcome to another episode of Tides of History.

Thanks for hanging out with me today.

So one of the really consistent things that happens is you throw yourself into a new subject

is that you realize just how much you don't know, how many vast topics are out there that

are totally new and mind-blowing.

That's how I felt over the past couple of months as we've started to dig into the cultures

of the ancient Middle East.

It's a whole new world of cities, art, politics, and literature about which I previously

knew almost nothing.

At the heart of this world was a writing system.

Cuneiform.

Cuneiform was incredibly durable, long-lasting, and influential, but for those of us brought

up in educational traditions focused on Europe, it's probably not something we know

too much about.

Maybe we read the Epic of Gilgamesh if that, or learn a few names of kings like Sargon

or Hamarabi, or maybe if you're getting real wild with it, Asher Bannapal.

That's a shame because Cuneiform literature is much more than Gilgamesh or the deeds of

kings.

It's an incredible window onto a segment of the past and space and time that we're just

not exposed to nearly enough.

Luckily, we've got a great guest here today who can help us understand the Cuneiform

world.

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