Cuneiform: the world’s first writing system

You're Dead to Me

BBC

Comedy, History

4.7 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Greg Jenner is joined in ancient Mesopotamia by Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid and comedian Phil Wang to learn about the history of cuneiform, the oldest writing system in the world.

In the 19th Century, European scholars began to translate inscriptions found on ruins and clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia - an area of the world between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that encompasses modern Iraq, as well as parts of Syria, Iran, Turkey and Kuwait. The script they deciphered became known as cuneiform, and this distinctive wedge-shaped writing system is perhaps the oldest in the world. The earliest cuneiform tablet is in fact over 5,000 years old.

These clay tablets reveal much about the daily life of people in this part of the ancient world, recording everything from the amounts of beer sold by brewers and the best way to ask the gods for advice, to squabbles between husbands and wives and even the lullabies used to get babies to sleep. The first recorded epic poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh, is also preserved thanks to cuneiform. This episode traces the history of cuneiform, exploring how this script worked, who used it and what they used it for, what it tells us about the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia, and how it was finally deciphered.

If you’re a fan of historical puzzles, amazing archaeological finds and the intimate details of everyday life in the ancient world, you’ll love our episode on cuneiform.

If you want more from Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid, check out our episode on Ancient Babylon. And for more ancient history with Phil Wang, listen to our episodes on the history of Kung Fu and the Terracotta Warriors.

You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Hannah Cusworth and Matt Ryan Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: James Cook

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Did you know that you can listen to many of your favourite podcasts first on BBC Sounds?
0:07.0	Like, you're dead to me, where you can hear the latest episode 28 days earlier.
0:11.6	So catch it before it becomes history.
0:14.6	Good things come to those who don't wait.
0:16.4	Listen to your favourite podcasts first on BBC Sounds.
0:21.7	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.
0:26.8	Hello and welcome to Yon Demy, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
0:31.6	My name is Greg Jenner.
0:33.0	I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster.
0:35.1	And today we're bouncing back to the Bronze Age,
0:43.4	with our stylises and clay tablets to learn all about the first ever writing system, or script,
0:48.7	called Cuneiform. And to help us decipher the ancient story, we have two very special guests.
0:53.3	In History Corner, she's an honorary fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. She's an assyrologist who researches and teaches on the history of Mesopotamia, Kenea Form, and the Acadian
0:58.2	language. She has a wonderful, brand new book that I loved, called Between Two Rivers,
1:02.5	Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History. I highly recommend it. And you will remember
1:06.2	her from our episode on the Ancient Babylonians. It's Dr. Moody Al Rashid. Welcome Moody. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
1:12.5	Delighted to have you back.
1:13.9	And in Comedy Corner, he's a fantastic comedian, actor and author.
1:17.5	You'll know him from Dasmaster, live at the Apollo.
1:20.0	Have a news for you.
1:20.9	From his two Netflix comedy specials, too.
1:23.0	Count them. Maybe you've read his side-splitting book, Side Splitter, which I loved on audiobook, but you'll definitely remember him from our previous episodes of You're Dead to Me. Most recently,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.