Description
Join Dr Irving Finkel, curator of the Middle Eastern department at the British Museum, in this talk to discover the origins of magic and how it still influences our understanding of the modern world.
Magic has been with us for more than a millennia and even today it holds a powerful sway over many people from snapping wishbones or choosing lottery ticket numbers. Regardless of if we personally ‘believe’ in magic or not, there’s no doubt it has fascinated, frightened and entertained people for centuries and still has the ability to astound.
Who better to guide us through the history of magic and complex world of witchcraft than the global expert on the historic practices of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Dr Irving Finkel lifts the lid on magic and reveals just how important its practice was to ancient civilisations like the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians.
About the Speaker
Dr Irving Finkel
Irving Leonard Finkel, born 1951, is Deputy Keeper in the Middle East Department in the British Museum in London, where he reads Sumerian and Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions on tablets of clay from ancient Mesopotamia. He earned a PhD in Assyriology in 1976 at the University of Birmingham under the supervision of Professor W. G. Lambert, with a dissertation on Babylonian exorcistic spells against demons. Finkel also studies the history of board games; among his breakthrough works is the determination of the rules of the Royal Game of Ur.
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