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The First Library in the World : Ashurbanipal Explained by Dr. Irving Finkel [7:07]
YouTube ^
| January 3, 2026
| Assyrian Times
Posted on 10/14/2026 7:15:37 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Filmed inside the British Museum, this episode features renowned Assyriologist Irving Finkel, exploring the Library of Ashurbanipal -- the earliest known library in human history.
Built in the 7th century BCE in Nineveh, this extraordinary library preserved thousands of clay tablets covering law, science, medicine, astronomy, religion, and literature -- including the Epic of Gilgamesh. Without Ashurbanipal’s vision, much of ancient Mesopotamian knowledge would have been lost forever.
King Ashurbanipal, one of the few ancient rulers who could read and write, gathered the knowledge of the known world and created humanity’s first true archive -- laying foundations for modern civilisation. The First Library in the World:
Ashurbanipal Explained by Dr. Irving Finkel | 7:07
Assyrian Times | 3.48K subscribers | 102,802 views | January 3, 2026
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: ashurbanipal; assyrianempire; britishmuseum; cuneiform; epicofgilgamesh; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; irvingfinkel; nineveh
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1
posted on
10/14/2026 7:15:37 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...
2
posted on
10/14/2026 7:17:05 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(TDS -- it's not just for DNC shills and jihadists anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
To: SunkenCiv
Penalty for overdue scroll..........beheading.......
3
posted on
10/14/2026 7:19:43 AM PDT
by
Red Badger
(Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
To: SunkenCiv
Why is David Letterman in that picture?
4
posted on
10/14/2026 7:23:40 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMind
(Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
To: Red Badger; Larry Lucido
Naw, they just made him work in the library for a month, community service, lugging around one page of a book at a time.
5
posted on
10/14/2026 7:29:22 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(TDS -- it's not just for DNC shills and jihadists anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
To: ConservativeMind
😁 Letterman... in his dreams. The name ‘Letterman’ (possibly originally Lederman or mann) is that cuneiform uses something like letters. Oh, and the large print edition cue cards he used to read on the air were bigger than these clay tablets.
Dr. Finkel is in three or four more vids on the channel, btw.
6
posted on
10/14/2026 7:33:37 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(TDS -- it's not just for DNC shills and jihadists anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
7
posted on
10/14/2026 7:37:43 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(TDS -- it's not just for DNC shills and jihadists anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
Irving Finkel is a scholar of ancient languages and a longtime curator at the British Museum, renowned for his expertise in Mesopotamian history and cuneiform writing. He specializes in reading and interpreting cuneiform inscriptions, including tablets from Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian contexts. He became widely known for studying a tablet with a Mesopotamian flood story that predates the biblical Noah narrative, which he presented in his book "The Ark Before Noah" and in a documentary that involved building a circular ark based on the tablet's technical instructions. Sumerian vs Babylonian ancient languages explained
Irving Finkel and Lex Fridman | 2:41
Lex Clips | 1.64M subscribers | 8,260 views | December 15, 2025
8
posted on
10/14/2026 6:33:57 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(TDS -- it's not just for DNC shills and jihadists anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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