Thin End of the Wedge
Thin End of the Wedge explores life in the ancient Middle East. There are many wonderful stories we can tell about those people, their communities, the gritty reality of their lives, their hopes, fears and beliefs. We can do that through the objects they left behind and the cities where they once lived. Our focus is on the cultures that used cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) writing, so mostly on ancient Iraq and nearby regions from about 3000 BC to about 100 AD. Thin End of the Wedge brings you expert insights and the latest research in clear and simple language. What do we know? How do we know anything? And why is what we know always changing? Why is any of this important today? We won’t talk to you like you’re stupid. But you won’t need any special training to understand what we’re talking about. This is an independent production by me as an individual. It is not supported by my employer or any other organisation I am involved with, and the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect theirs.
Episodes
77 episodes
75. Moudhy Al-Rashid: Engaging interest in Mesopotamia
Moudhy talks about the different kinds of outreach work she has done. How does she excite interest in material that is very unfamiliar for most people? What works well? She discusses the different audiences and formats, the various approaches a...
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Episode 75
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37:36
74. Michael Danti and John MacGinnis. Nimrud: post-conflict archaeology in the heartland of Assyria
The Mosul region is the focus of renewed activity by local and foreign teams. Archaeology there inevitably works differently now. Michael and John talk about the Iraq Heritage Stabilization Program, including conservation and reconstruction wor...
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Episode 74
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57:53
73. Zoltán Niederreiter, Erika Roboz: Kingdom of Gods and Demons
Zoltán and Erika introduce us to their exhibition about gods and demons. This exhibition, and the extensive catalogue that accompanies it, are major landmarks in Hungarian assyriology. What is it about, how did it become a reality, and what imp...
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Episode 73
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33:13
72. Christopher Jones: Court politics in the Neo-Assyrian empire
Christopher discusses new ideas around the murder of King Sennacherib. Who really killed him and why? Was it a coup? Where was Esarhaddon and why wasn't he in Nineveh? [Much of this first section of the episode was published as part of Episode ...
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Episode 72
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56:21
71. 2024 IAA Prize winners
This is a special episode presenting the prize-winning research of three early career scholars: William McGrath, Alessia Pilloni, and Christopher Jones. What prizes did they win, and what was their research about? We hear about the latest...
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Episode 71
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53:52
70. Simo Parpola and the State Archives of Assyria project
This episode was recorded live at the Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale conference held in Helsinki in July 2024. Simo Parpola reflects on his long and momentous career. He explains how he became an assyriologist, and how he ...
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Episode 70
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29:25
69. Carolyne Douché: Carpology in the archaeology of ancient western Asia
Carolyne introduces us to the study of ancient plant remains, especially carpology--the study of seeds, fruits, and flowers. In her case study she takes us to the site of Logardan in the Kurdish region, and explains what she could learn from th...
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Episode 69
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32:59
68. Witold Tyborowski: Finding a job during Hammurabi's reign
Witold discusses the labour market under Hammurabi of Babylon. What kind of work could you get, and what would you be paid in exchange? Who would be looking for employment, who would take them on, and who held the balance of power? ...
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Episode 68
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38:48
67. Amy Gansell: Dressing Assyria's queens
Amy discusses the multi-sensory presence of the queens of Assyria. What was queenly dress and what meaning did each part of it convey? How does the evidence from art compare to what we learn from archaeology? Can we identify personal choice? Sh...
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Episode 67
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42:28
66. Rune Rattenborg, Seraina Nett, Gustav Ryberg Smidt: Geomapping Cuneiform
Rune, Seraina, and Gustav discuss their recently completed project on geomapping cuneiform. Where were inscriptions found and where are they now? How many tablets are there? What counts as a tablet anyway? They reveal the challenges of integrat...
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Episode 66
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41:35
65. Omar N'Shea: Masculinities in Mesopotamia
Omar discusses the importance of studying gender as part of assyriology. What are the big themes now, and how did we get here? He focuses on two areas of special interest: masculinity, and eunuchism. What can we expect from the conference on ge...
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Episode 65
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36:06
64. Ali Kadhem Ghanem: Managing the site of Ur
The site of Ur is easily one of the most important in Iraq. In this interview, originally recorded in late 2021, we hear from the person responsible for managing that site. Ali talks about Ur's significance, and its role in local life. What are...
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Episode 64
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29:02
63: Enrique Jiménez: the electronic Babylonian Library
Enrique introduces us to a major new resource in digital assyriology: The electronic Babylonian Library. What does it offer and what are its aims? He discusses the issues facing the field and the potential of digital tools, including AI, to hel...
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Episode 63
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31:39
62. Prize-winning assyriology
At the Rencontre in Leiden this summer, the IAA awarded its annual prizes celebrating the excellence of early career scholars. There were prizes for the best dissertation, best first article, and a research subsidy. I tracked down the prize win...
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Episode 62
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30:55
61. Shigeo Yamada: Yasin Tepe: on the margins of empire
Shigeo shares the results of fieldwork at a site that was once a key city on the edges of the Assyrian empire. How do we know which city it was? He describes the key finds, and interprets their significance. What can we learn from a necklet?
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Episode 61
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27:53
60. Susanne Paulus: Back to School in Babylonia
Susanne pulls back the curtain on how exhibitions are made. She explains how the topic was chosen, and how that vision is translated into reality. How long does it take, how many people are involved, and just what needs to be done?2:17&...
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Episode 60
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46:19
59. Louise Pryke: Ishtar then and now
Louise discusses Ishtar, one of the most enigmatic and fascinating deities of the ancient Middle East. What characteristics were assigned to her, and what stories were told about her? What happened when Ishtar met Gilgamesh? Louise also discuss...
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Episode 59
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30:21
58. Looking back at RAI Leiden: on conferences, and catching up with guests
This special episode is a follow-up on the big annual conference. I offer some thoughts on what happened, and on how things might be in the future. As part of this, I catch up with three colleagues who have appeared as guests. Two were among th...
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Episode 58
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36:08
57. Looking forward to Leiden
The organising team of RAI 68 Leiden introduce us to what we can expect from the conference. Why did they pick inequality as a topic? And how do they address inequality in the conference design? What role does live-streaming play in a modern Re...
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Episode 57
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22:55
56. Nicholas Reid: The Big House
Nicholas explains about imprisonment in ancient Iraq. Were there prisons? Who would be confined, how long for, and why? What would someone do in prison? And whose interest did confinement serve?2:08 confinement in ancient Iraq...
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Episode 56
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30:53
55. Agnès Garcia-Ventura: The historiography of assyriology
Agnès discusses the history of the field, and why that matters now. Cast collections were an important part of Spain's early interest in ancient Iraq. How did these collections form? Who was interested? What were they interested in? And why? Th...
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Episode 55
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35:11
54. Eckart Frahm: A new history of Assyria, the world's first empire
Eckart has just published a new history of Assyria. What sources can we draw on? How reliable are they? He talks about Assyria's remarkable royal women and how they were remembered. What did the Assyrians achieve and what is their legacy?
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Episode 54
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47:26
53. Parsa Daneshmand: Consensus decision-making in divination
Parsa explains how decision-making took place in ancient Iraq. When you asked the assembly of gods for a yes/no answer to help you solve a difficult problem, how would they agree on what to reply? Why would these answers be time limited? And ho...
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Episode 53
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39:00
52. Birgül Öğüt: phytoliths in west Asian archaeology
Birgül explains about her work using microscopic plant remains to understand life in ancient western Asia. What are phytoliths and how do we find them? How can such microscopic evidence tell us about building use, for example? And where d...
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Episode 52
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39:04