The World’s Worst Script: Cuneiform | Irving Finkel in conversation with William Dalrymple

Irving Finkel introduced by William Dalrymple
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[@OSUex]

Irving Finkel is a treasure. This introduction by Dalrymple is embarrassing

[@HACUNA89]

My thoughts exactly!

[@M1cler]

rly ? i mean rly ?

[@amyfox9659]

The sorry we didn't get this guy or this guy. I'm too drunk to be up here. And here is some dude 😅

[@M1cler]

​@@amyfox9659 Sorry for being late with response I was quite busy at that moment in time but i was in shock that rly somebody replied :D... I guess u should all drink alcohol from time to time i do not bite :D or weld "Spear of destiny" as a great champion of God, El :) although sometimes it can be heard in my compositions(music) but umm yeah :D it is not like i try to scare everybody around with not only umm quite well informed regarding topic of Ancient Sumerians or Egyptians deity's but also welding "spear of destiny" as a Arche Angel Michael :D. And um Im sorry for the last comment ~i mean at that time meant what i meant~ but it was firmament so elevated spirit that hear jokes about boring not working microphone while doing almost impossible with craft (music composing from scratch) also implementing stories from ancient mythology(trying to tell their stories but with using no words) it just can make you little upset or sad, nothing enigmatic, sinister or ya know(spear of destiny kind of staff)xD, I like Mr Irwin i think his knowledge regarding topic is out of this world rly

[@disideratum]

How could Dr Finkel NOT ALWAYS be the first choice?

[@TheIrishAmish]

EXACTLY!

[@husamwaleed4876]

Proud to be an Iraqi, thank you Dr Irving for these stunning information

[@cyb-m]

why? you guys have destroyed your own culture by becoming slave to the arabs and their religion. And now those ISIS fools are destroying all those artifacts and statues of mesopotamia.

[@jamiewaymire7599]

Can't get enough of Irving's lectures.

[@simonruszczak5563]

You like being brainwashed.

[@pierrefitter]

Had the pleasure of meet him after this lecture. He is utterly delightful!

[@deepasampathkumar]

Lucky you. I really wish they put good videos with the ppt s for PPL who can t afford to visit far flung museums and as token of stealing/ dislocating all the artifacts

[@Ngw8888]

Alot of people of the older generation would argue that the current day generation would be bored by this. But man this guy is very interesting and i was floored the whole time by how informational it was and how much I’ve learned. But yeah fuck that audience i found it very disheartening to see his time wasted on that. I always considered older men like him who’ve purely dedicated their lives to their study to be absolute pillars to society and history. Keep on dude you’re one of the greats.

[@somniumisdreaming]

@Janitor Queen He wasn't being racist for goodness sake. He was probably annoyed by the ppl coming and going and having conversations as Finkel spoke. In my opinion the majority of the audience thoroughly enjoyed the talk.

[@giggabiite4417]

I would just quickly like to mention that a lot of those people did show great enthusiasm, and that a lot of them were probably there listening to lectures for quite a while. And I don't care how much you love something, listening to many hours of lectures on the subject will be tiring (not boring, but tiring). So I feel we can't put too much blame on this audience, although it would have been nicety see them more "with it"

[@casteretpollux]

The audience have a culture thousands of years older than you or that clown Finkelstein.

[@ashleighnelson512]

"Hello, I am this afternoon's cock-up." I absolutely love Irving.

[@glutinousmaximus]

I only discovered Irving Finkel recently, - he is one the funniest characters; but also extremely knowledgeable on a wide variety of subjects. Always a fascinating and illuminating talk ~ Thanks for posting!

[@daniadejonghe4980]

Brilliant and delightful

[@simonruszczak5563]

He's old and stupid.

[@nimeryaspawnbrd1049]

that's the definition of assyriologist, pretty much 😜

[@diegomorales8616]

Indians walking out because he didn't propagate the myth that Sanskrit was the first language.

[@ffabris]

Dr. Finkel is always a pleasure to listen to! Thanks for posting.

[@karenabrams8986]

Irving is a treasure. Love listening to him talk about cuneiform and Babylon.

[@SrJaime102]

checking your phone while your guest is talking?, and that terrible introduction?... Mr. Finkel deserve way more than that.

[@jennifersilves4195]

He did say he’s not coming back.

[@johnwinward2421]

Hard to watch because of all the shots of the audience sleeping, chatting, or fiddling with their mobile phones.

[@westronic]

Fascinating lecture! Dr. Finkel is such a great speaker, and has a wealth of knowledge.

[@linzenUSAF]

Strange to watch such a gripping lecture, where the camera keeps cutting over to the audience full of people paying no attention to the speaker.

[@Mirrorgirl492]

Heart-breaking that so many are not drinking at the Finkle well. ;'(

[@wpridgen4853]

That's extra credit for ya...

[@15nanoseconds]

No surprise. Arrogant rudeness seems to be deeply embedded in the culture. It's so infuriating to see this kind of disrespect for such a legend.

[@yaniraorellana4756]

Don’t expect “attention” in your country to be the same as yours. This was not addressed to specialists but general public. Im glad people of all kind and ages have payed attention at least 3 minutes. Me too, 30 years ago perhaps id found it not interesting. Now im passionate!

[@15nanoseconds]

@yaniraorellana4756 Very good point. So maybe the blame goes to the event coordinator. However, it doesn't change the fact that too many in the audience were just plain rude. I'm no specialist but if I'm sitting in a seat placed there for "listeners" the least respect I can give is to LISTEN. Still, I'm also aware that this is an old school englishman addressing a crowd of those who lived through or are offspring of those who were under British rule. They might still be a little salty...pun intended.

[@crankyhead1089]

Irving finkel: here's a picture Me: waiting for production to switch the camera to the right subject...

[@bipolarminddroppings]

You can always spot someone who studies ancient history because they say things like "eighteenth century" and dont think to add BC/BCE most of the time.

[@katherinetutschek4757]

Well, given that he was talking about it in context of Ancient Sumerian, I think it was understood.

[@AkBirdman17]

I would love if Irving Finkel was my mentor. Such an interesting man and so much of it comes from how interesting he himself finds things. I find so much joy listening to someone talk about their passion, and this man sure found his passion.

[@spinningleila]

Interesting that you said this. I said the same, then I realized that by choosing to spend my time watching his lectures, no matter how old, I’ve made him my mentor by paying attention to his words and his body language. I only hope to be able internalize his mannerisms. I want to be like him. He nurtures my mind.

[@yank196101]

I saw him speak about his new book at Watkins bookstore here in London. He was very entertaining. The First Ghosts: A rich history of ancient ghosts and ghost stories from the British Museum curator. Great speaker....

[@sorinstelian4395]

99% of the audience is attending a wrong lecture. maybe , except that 3 guys near the stage, on the right side ... ?

[@ezkibela]

Yep Irving Finkel is one of the greatest storyteller, not to talk about his amazing knowledge , my favourite curator by far (just knowing the ones i know by the KZbin series of the British Museum ) i've seen some of his conferences and all of them had been great , not only the amount of knowledge you get to know , and i love history but the enterteining he makes them to be and those funny moments he spread sometimes

[@peggychurchill5518]

Good lecture, tough audience.

[@SoulRippster]

I love this guy... 21:50 "OH AND YOU CAN TELL THAT ROGUE, IF I DON'T GET THAT MONEY SOON!!!!" ahahahah Love his lectures.

[@ludomancersvault5518]

Anyone notice Irving routinely throws shade on Egyptology?

[@selfproclaimednobody4614]

Because of the importance of the civilization that birthed their ideologies. But yes, yes I do and it's hilarious. He sold "throws shade" at smartphones and slide machines. Lol

[@daroth7127]

He litterally called the guy a cave man to his face lmao

[@jdd365]

You could have 660k views instead of just 66k if only you put IRVING FINKEL in the actual title of this presentation….

[@wrybreadspread]

26:40 It is evident that the Library of Ashurbanipal is equivalent to the Library of Alexandria. And it's ironical that Ninevah's royal library survived fire.

[@Stadtpark90]

Save the library! - Quick, burn it!

[@ramadavan7435]

This is what happens when you get a gutka brand the sponsor a literature festival. The crowd are more interested in the gutka than the brilliant talker.

[@ramadavan7435]

@Janitor Queen nutmeg mixed with tobacco is gutka - in short

[@SixWildKids]

Love Irving's style. Computers are useful for those of us out of the country to see the British Museum contents. If anything, it makes us want to go there even more.

[@morthim]

showing people in the audience yawn is bad

[@ergbudster3333]

Irving is one of the most amusing speakers I have ever heard.

[@Roedygr]

He is such a fun presenter.

[@martyheresniak5203]

Boo! Hiss! for the cameraman and editor. We don't need to see Irving. We certainly don't need to see the audience. Shots of the visuals Irving has on the screen would be appreciated.

[@error.418]

Please stop editing these videos in a way that causes us to miss out on slides

[@watermelonlalala]

If they have to chose between the lecturer and the slides, they should chose the slides. We can handle it.

[@Roedygr]

ditto

[@daddyo5054]

infuriating

[@Adam-kf6lr]

@Janitor Queen Kinda like when they do a close up of the singer mincing and gyrating during the guitar solo.

[@clair233]

I love him

[@jonahperelman]

Yep... me too.

[@glenrkat]

Anybody else notice the camera guy is finding pretty girls in the audience and panning to them? Just thought it was funny, heh.

[@nodigBKMiche]

glenrkat would have been nice if they zoomed in on the screen occasionally...

[@sam___seed4761]

For real tho they should have shown more of the slides than the crowd

[@dillybean9959]

He's probably 75 yr dirty ol bugger!

[@ArtInFusion]

I adore this man, he is incredible - shame on the public

[@yaniraorellana4756]

Why? What are your standards?

[@rubygoofyprincess8101]

Wow your lecture was amazing. It was amazing to hear so much is out there to learn for my grandchildren’s knowledge. I hope I can tell them about this so they see the world and it’s history of language. I was researching the history of knuckle bone,dice. Then I saw you.

[@maryseman7019]

I was shocked and disgusted by how rude this audience was. Looking around talking, eating, sleeping...why were they even there? Shame on them.

[@steventhrasher3495]

This was a special lecture. Well done!

[@summersolstice884]

Do NOT return these treasures to a culture which will destroy them and we will lose them for all time

[@Hobs55679]

So true!

[@casteretpollux]

It is the effing USUK and their 'jihadist' patsies who oversaw destruction of the artefacts and monuments of the ME, is it not?

[@muse4297]

Keep all the monuments from the lands you ruled and colonized. Still think British or for that matter west is civilized. They luted the entire world , still doing from Arabia and Africa. Western world is self centered and have closed boarders while they invade all the other lands.

[@muse4297]

India had civilization before west. If they didn’t have script, they believed by repeating till you get by heart all its scriptures didn’t need scripts.

[@tiggero6690]

....... i.e. the American army.

[@duetopersonalreasonsaaaaaa]

This guy is great, love the things he gives lectures on and how he gives the lectures. I do hope he comes back next year though, despite the comedic difficulties!

[@charleshowie2074]

When it all kicks off I'm enlisting with the British Museum's militia.

[@patrickholt2270]

I was going to say - movable type for stamping bricks! The destruction of knowledge, the annihilation of truth, is a fundamental sin, one of the worst imaginable. With other crimes, justice can be done as long as the truth can be discovered. But if information itself is destroyed, then justice is made impossible.

[@patrickholt2270]

@Janitor Queen That's just a subset of the routinized destruction of documents by security services in the US, UK and elsewhere. Freedom of Information was intended to protect the documentary record as much as anything else, and its rolling back and neutering over the decades has been so as to protect such destruction of records. Personally as a British socialist, I don't give a shit about Trump or US election outcomes. They're both evil, they're both worse, they both carry on global imperialism and no other country including my own is safe from the threat of coups and political interference and potential bombing as long as the US empire remains and the imperialist ruling class retains control over US society, through the Constitution designed to prevent democracy and entrench oligarchy. Jan 6 was a completely insignificant pinprick compared with the damage done by the US coups which have succeeded in the world, including the 2014 coup in Ukraine under Obama, and compared with the thousands murdered on the streets of America every year by US police. When the US State Department and the CIA gets involved in another coup attempt in Washington, then you'll have something to worry about, because those expletive deleteds mean business and don't care how many people get killed to install the client regime of their choice.

[@watermelonlalala]

Rude, jabbering audience is ruining this.

[@selfproclaimednobody4614]

@Judy Snyder this is about both math and sciences! They are like this on most things that I've noticed. Probably worse now that there is Facebook...... Lol

[@stumbling]

This is an open air event with hundreds of other people who are not watching the lecture. That is where the noise is coming from. If you look at the audience they are rarely talking.

[@maikmost8589]

you clearly never had a lecture in India. The audience was neither "rude" nor "jabbering"

[@tootstweet]

Yep, appears to be a tough crowd

[@xxledbettaxx]

I love listening to Irving Finkle's presentations. Aleays learn something new and his humor is always a good time.

[@freyatilly]

Don't think I've ever seen such a bored looking group of people in a lecture as fascinating and interesting as this.

[@prof.m.ottozeeejcdecs9998]

The audience looks like they don't understand anything... or that if they understand, that it is rather boring... or they are just there, so others could see them on TV, thinking: Oh, this person is attending a foreigners lecture on a dead language and dead writing... 😉 Seriously, Irving Finkel is genius, and a progressive one at that!

[@sgilbert5753]

Delightful lecture.

[@cynthiahumes8645]

Wonderful lecture. I only wish that instead of cutouts to the audience we could have instead seen the slides.

[@OstblockLatina]

Cuneiform: *gets called the world's worst script* Chinese script: *AM I A JOKE TO YOU?* I'd still love Irving Finkel only for all he knows about stuff, but then he adds to it a quality of one of the best stand-up comedians I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy. I just seriously and utterly can't with him!

[@hakanstorsater5090]

Japanese might be even worse, arguably... There's this little snag of "alternative readings"...

[@echelon2k8]

@@hakanstorsater5090 Chinese also has "alternative readings".

[@vaudevillian7]

Isn’t the earliest known Chinese writing system 1500 years younger than cuneiform..?

[@echelon2k8]

@@vaudevillian7 You referring to China's oracle bone script which dates to around the 2000 BC? I think cuneiform is supposed to be from about 3500 BC.

[@annjuurinen6553]

Absolutely riveting. Thank you. I will watch this again and again. So fascinating.

[@8bitRemakes]

Great lecture from Mr. Finkel, as always. The kind of side notes he makes, e.g. about teachers beating children, makes it all the more memorable as well as being very entertaining. Is he my spirit animal? Maybe. Is he one my favourite scholars appearing on KZbin? Absolutely. Kinda surprized the camera man managed to find so many pretty girls to film. I thought at some point he'd might run out - but apparently no. I guess I would've done the same. 🙃 Thanks for coming to my Finkel talk

[@augustaylissaevans9088]

I am frustrated that we are shown the audience so much... like why waste a camera filming them? I would rather see a clearer frame of the images in his presentation than some bored and annoyed people whispering to each other.

[@raminsafizadeh]

I still can’t get over the introduction. How stupid do you have to be, to invite someone such as Irving Finkel, the most important treasure in the British Museum, and give him such an introduction.

[@napalmholocaust9093]

He likes being funny. If you don't like it I suggest cultivating a sense of humor so you can react like a healthy person and not a socially sick one.

[@Mirrorgirl492]

Agreed, it was cringe-worthy. This man is a treasure, and should not have been introduced as an 'after-thought'.

[@dmts8098]

Not at all funny.

[@cyb-m]

It is called humour. I dont think Finkel took any offence. Why do you?

[@clareryan3843]

@@cyb-m 🤦 it wasn’t funny🤦 Dalrymple was ignorant because he hadn’t bothered to watch any KZbin clips of Irving Finkel - he thought he was making a Dad joke about his family telling him what to do - but he was just wilfully ignorant. That’s the offence everyone is offended by😐

[@theothersidenumber9307]

I am a tattoo artist, third generation fine artist and my brother and I always went to museums . It is cool to be smart!!! ♡ FROM AMERICA!!!

[@pagerhoads1531]

I like this guy. He looks just like my dad. He passed away in 2017.

[@skymanblank6243]

Yes terrible camera work Its not about the face of Finkle nor about the audience. Its about his story words and the slides.

[@deejayk5939]

Can hear people talking during lecture? How rude, Dr. Finkel is wonderful!

[@terrywallace5181]

Good lecture.

[@therealshannonpeoples]

Irving Finkle’s standup kills even in India

[@lucasroche8639]

The mention of the Indus valley people reminded me of the fact that in the ...9th century (I believe) King Alfred the Great had sent a diplomat to India, for what reason I don't know nor do we know the outcome but it is none the less very in that England and India were in contact with eachother eleven hundred years ago which shows the importance of India all those years ago and that countries although half a world away corresponded, that we have no other record of such diplomatic back and forth can easily be put down to the chaos, war and wholesale destruction that was part of English life then, in that respect Dr Finkel is right when he jokingly said that we should return to the use of clay tablets.

[@casteretpollux]

I happened to read today that Indian ambassadorial delegations to England were required, on return, to squeeze through a golden replica of a yoni, thus being culturally reborn. Makes sense to men. Finkel 's reasons for holding on to other people's cultural artefacts seemed to me however to be entirely spurious.

[@victoriahhigman9611]

I love this. And so well presented. Who could not admire it?

[@kempedkemp]

Must be Dr. Finkel's literature was too old for them. Half the people in the room don't belong there and are RUDE!

[@SJQuirke]

What a wonderful lecture this was a real treat Edit: This is so interesting

[@dmts8098]

Disrespectful introduction for a highly qualified and very knowledgeable ancient language historian. Have no idea who the missing lecturer was. Will return to view this lectures again.

[@kimeonyoung914]

Why the totally misleading title for the video? Finkel says nothing of the sort, and in fact much to the opposite.

[@selfproclaimednobody4614]

He says that at the very beginning. It was just a excerpt.

[@j.t.lennon177]

"You are the most handsome person I have ever seen..." lol!

[@cidklutch]

LOVE THIS GUY

[@user-xg1ur7pj4u]

ننتظر ترجمة هذه المحاضرة التي تبدوا شيقة خصوصا و هو يتكلم عن بلدنا العراق تحياتي 🌹

[@Northcountry1926]

🫡

[@baronsecuna]

Wonderful presentation

[@raywhitehead730]

Well, his lecture is not wasted on me. I well remember being posted near the ancient city of UR and having a chance to roam around it. This is where the first writing in Sumerian was probably invented. And it was likely the most important invention mankind has. I was enchanted. It made me day dream about a story: the Ghosts of Mars. Where the past and the present come together..

[@5Andysalive]

Really great. But i have no idea where the title comes from and what it has to do with the talk.

[@anomalyp8584]

His lecture went wasted on them :/

[@squareysquare3150]

Especially the idiots on their mobile phones. If they don't want to listen why are they there?

[@tootstweet]

@@squareysquare3150 I wonder if it's a cultural thing .... the mobile phone etiquette. I've heard of this phenomenon before ...unrestricted mobile phone use during a major classical music performance in Lebanon (admittedly a few years ago) . A hippy once said to me "it's cultural, that's why we don't understand it". Personally, I find it really sad. Someone please tell me what I'm missing (I suspect, reluctantly, a fair huge bit). In short, I.F. is worth listening to!

[@tootstweet]

Is it any irony thing? I love it but so many peeps don't get it

[@owl6218]

would have loved to attend this session. crowd is restless, not getting his humour. lets see how it goes

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

I’m an Egyptologist and I’m jealous of Dr. Finkelstein: I want to give a lecture in an Indian train station during rush hour, too!

[@maikmost8589]

You may or may not be an Egyptologist, but you clearly NEVER have been to an Indian train station.

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

@@maikmost8589 - Yes, as to the first; clearly so, as to the second.

[@yvesfree-assangescherdin6138]

This was a very interesting lecture. Thank you! It is very sad what all is destroyed by war and I found these questions in the end very important. My home country, Germany, has to give back the Gate of Ishtar to Iraq one day.

[@kellydalstok8900]

I can understand people want their own heritage back, but the artifacts have never been as safe as they’ve been in Western museums these past few centuries. I think 3D printed copies should be made of all these artifacts before handing them back, so we can still appreciate them in some form, and something better than photos is left in case they do get destroyed by savages.

[@jeremias-serus]

The current people of Iraq have absolutely no more claim to such artifacts than the British or French or Germans do. The current inhabitants of Iraq are not genetically, linguistically, or cultural similar to such old people at all.

[@VampireSquirrel]

I wish they showed the slides more

[@owl6218]

I hope there were members of indian linguistics and archaeology community in the audience. and enough people interested...because he is a wonderful speaker, but the jaipur crowd is looking for novelists and authors of best selling of the usual non fiction type...moreover, this event is really a 'fair'...people milling around all the time, with open air sessions everywhere, and people hopping from speaker to speaker😀

[@markusgorelli5278]

The host did say that irving was called at the last minute to fill an empty slot. And I did hear laughter at some of his jokes so it couldn't be all that bad.

[@casteretpollux]

Thank you for your explanation. Cameraman mainly focused on nubile females but in general it is a large and focussed audience. People are being silly.

[@chompachangas]

He's like a whip-smart Terry Pratchett character come to life.

[@jwcinc12]

he is so great

[@Didi8687]

Why not show the tablets he was talking about? We could always listen to him, without seeing him. The point was to see what he was talking about.

[@TheAdeybob]

absolutely riveting

[@gk-qf9hv]

So how about returning all those thousands of tablets to Iraq? Those that "somehow" have miraculously ended up in the British museum 🤷‍♂️?

[@nirvanabliss73]

He talked about Tushratta, the Mitannis' but did not talk at all about their connection to Vedic People? Very surprising !!!!!!

[@jasonlox27]

who needs uni can sit listening to great teachers for free

[@naomipatrao]

What a D💡FULL 👴🏻! I love him!!

[@Mirrorgirl492]

I see what you did there :D

[@giovannisantostasi9615]

This is why I'm glad there are Western institutions like the British Museum. Certain countries do not deserve to have their own treasures if they cannot keep them safe.

[@kellydalstok8900]

Maybe send them 3D printed copies instead.

[@howlrichard1028]

Who deserves what isn't something I'd let the British decide.

[@clareryan3843]

You mean like democracy and the US??

[@dr3540]

Such a pity we can't see the visuals.

[@missdee0151]

how rude are some of the audience

[@mcicogni]

Irving Finkel could be giving a hour-long lecture on paint drying and I'd still be nailed to my chair listening.

[@chompachangas]

Hah. In sound guy's defense, the mic was hot. But Dr Finkle swapped mics before they could get a stagehand out there to adjust the boom for him.

[@TheGodlessGuitarist]

Probably shouldn't talk about Nebuchadnezzar and 'the matrix' without clarification

[@roan90665]

ياريت محاضراتك مترجمه.

[@parrotraiser6541]

A fun talk, even though I'dheard most of it in others he's given. A bit disappointed that t didn't explain the title; why was cuneiform the worst? Partial compensation was a look at some of the beauties in the audience.

[@DavidZennaro]

This is an interesting talk but the video would benefit a lot if it showed the pictures all the time. And in a size that is viewable.

[@WetheDepressed]

All the shots of the audience sleeping and not paying attention.

[@WahhabiSound]

The human species, ladies and gentlemen.

[@emm789888]

so why is the title "The world's worst script"?

[@macronomicus]

A six year old typo lol! Someone should tell them, titles can be edited now & perhaps that wasn't possible before.

[@FloridaManMatty]

Irving is a delightful person and an incredible teacher. I have never seen a learned man captivate a room as he does. He is proof that one can be an academic AND have a superb sense of humor. Conversely, that fellow who made Dr. Finkel’s introduction should never be allowed to hold a microphone in front of a gathering of people of any size at any point in the future. That intro was almost insulting and was definitely a poor attempt to be funny by someone who just can’t pull it off. In this case, it was like someone trying to be clever and funny while he was introducing Robin Williams to a crowd. Crash and burn, buddy.

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

Chaos!