When a small, peculiar, palm-sized clay tablet made its way to the desk of Irving Finkel, Assyriologist and Assistant Keeper at the British Museum, Finkel could hardly believe his luck. What he discovered was a missing piece in the story of Noah and the Ark. In this captivating, absorbing work of scholarship, Finkel, a world authority on ancient Mesopotamia, leads the reader on a detective hunt for the prototype of Noah’s Ark—from cuneiform wedges to bundles of reeds, from ancient Babylon to modern Iraq, Finkel reveals new information on the origin of the Babylonian Flood story which pre-dates the biblical deluge, including the surprising size and shape of the boat itself, and even where it came to rest. New to this edition, Finkel puts the “Ark Tablet” to the test in building a modern version of the ship. Throughout, The Ark Before Noah takes us on an adventurous voyage of discovery, opening the door to an enthralling world of ancient voices and historical lore.

The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood

History

Finkel, Irving

Ancient Civilizations

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

The recent translation of a Babylonian tablet launches a groundbreaking investigation into one of the most famous stories in the world, challenging the way we look at ancient history. Since the Victorian period, it has been understood that the story of Noah, iconic in the Book of Genesis, and a central motif in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, derives from a much older story that existed centuries before in ancient Babylon. But the relationship between the Babylonian and biblical traditions was shrouded in mystery. Then, in 2009, Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum and a world authority on ancient Mesopotamia, found himself playing detective when a member of the public arrived at the museum with an intriguing cuneiform tablet from a family collection. Not only did the tablet reveal a new version of the Babylonian Flood Story; the ancient poet described the size and completely unexpected shape of the ark, and gave detailed boat building specifications. Decoding this ancient message wedge by cuneiform wedge, Dr. Finkel discovered where the Babylonians believed the ark came to rest and developed a new explanation of how the old story ultimately found its way into the Bible. In The Ark Before Noah, Dr. Finkel takes us on an adventurous voyage of discovery, opening the door to an enthralling world of ancient voices and new meanings.

Religion & Spirituality

Nan A. Talese

The original account of a great flood― forgotten for thousands of years until it was recently rediscovered and deciphered―is now retold for children
Four thousand years ago, long before the story of Noah’s Ark was written down in the Hebrew Bible, the Sumerians and Babylonians of Ancient Mesopotamia knew the story of the flood and the special boat that rescued all the animals. Its ancient Babylonian hero, Atra-hasis, was― just like Noah― ordered by his god to build a lifeboat to keep his family and all the animals safe until the flood was over. Unlike Noah, Atra-hasis was asked to build a round coracle boat the size of a soccer field―and given very precise instructions to follow.
Told from the perspective both of the central hero, Atra-hasis, and of his youngest son, Very-quick, this remarkable story is supplemented with asides that give fascinating insights into daily life in Ancient Mesopotamia as well as the historical sources for the story.
A tale of destruction on an unthinkable scale and survival against the odds, The Lifeboat that Saved the World is a story that has truly stood the test of time. The narrative is complemented by historically accurate detail and insights into how people lived all those years ago. 30+ two-color illustrations

The Lifeboat that Saved the World

Children's Books

Thames&Hudson

The Lewis Chessmen were found on the Isle of Lewis in mysterious circumstances. Consisting of elaborately worked walrus ivory and whales teeth in the form of seated kings and queens, bishops, knights, warders and pawns, this curious chess set is strongly influenced by Norse culture. Of the 93 pieces known to us today, 11 pieces are in Edinburgh at the National Museum of Scotland, and 82 are in the British Museum, where they have delighted gen erations of visitors with their wonderfully expressive details. In this engaging story, Irving Finkel follows the many adventures of the chessmen after they came to light on a Scottish beach in the nineteenth century. It ends with the big surprise that befell them in September 1993, when they were all temporarily reunited for the first time since their separation, at a Sp ecial Exhibition of Chessmen at the British Museum.

The Lewis Chessmen, and What Happened to Them

Hodgson, Clive

Macilleathain, Ruaraidh

British Museum Pubns Ltd

From their discovery on a desolate beach in 1831, the ivory chessman from the Isle of Lewis have exercised a particular fascination. This text describes the turbulent lives of the chess pieces from their own point of view. A 60-minute reading of the book is included, with a chessman character.

The Lewis Chessmen: What Happened to Them

Everyone plays board games, and everyone will find something to fascinate them in this book about the games of the past, and their history and development. Based on the lectures given at a conference in the British Museum, this book tells the story in a properly academic way, but it is no less interesting for that ... and perhaps even more interesting! The book begins with three chapters on the games of the ancient Near East, most notably The Royal Game of Ur , then there are five chapters on the various games of ancient Egypt, senet, mehen , etc. Five more chapters are devoted to the games of the Greek and Roman world, then one on India, and three on Chinese games including Go. Then there are three on the beginnings of Chess and its introduction into western Europe, then four on backgammon from India to medieval England, three on mancala games, and one on the pursuit of hnefatafl , finally some brief notes on the games of the New World. The authors, thirty-one of them, range from archaeologists, historians and museum curators, not least Irving Finkel, the editor of the volume, to such well-known historians of games as R C Bell and the internationally famous grandmaster and journalist Raymond Keene. It is a large format book with hundreds of photos and drawings. Table of Contents Preface (John Curtis); The Study of Board Games and the present volume (I.F. Finkel); 1. The Earliest materials Homo Ludens: Early Board Games in the Near East (St. John Simpson); 2. Ancient Mesopotamia The Royal Game of Ur (A. Becker); The Game and the play of the Royal Game of Ur (I.F. Finkel); 3. Egypt Mehen: the ancient game of the serpent (Timothy Kendall); Were there gamesters in ancient Egypt? (W.J. Tait);The Egyptian game of senet and the migration of the soul, (Peter A. Piccione); The game of hounds and jackals (A.J. Hoerth); The ancient Egyptian 20 field game (E. Pusch); 4. The Classical World Board games and their symbols from Roman times to early Christianity (Anita Rieche); Inscribed imperial Roman gaming boards (N. Purcell); Pavement signs and game boards of the Graeco-Roman world, a BM typology (R.C. Bell &amp; C. Roueché); Late Roman and Byzantine game boards at Aphrodisias (C. Roueché); 5. Chess The beginnings of chess (Michael Mark); Changing cultures: the reception of chess into W. Europe in the Middle Ages (Richard Earles); Problems with the dating of chess with reference to Shatrang (Raymond Keene); 6. Backgammon New evidence from central Asia for board game history (G. Semenov); India in the history of backgammon (M. Soar); Notes on the early history of the backgammon family in China (Andrew Lo); A late eleventh century tabluae set from Gloucester (Ian J. Stewart); A brief history of backgammon and the design of the board (M. Watkins); 7. India and the Far East Game boards at Vijayanagara: a preliminary report (John M. Fritz and David Gibson); Horse coins: pieces for Da ma, the Chinese board game Driving Horses (Joe Cribb); An Introduction to board games in late imperial China (Andrew Lo); Go in ancient China (John Fairbairn); 8. Mankala An overview of Mankala rules and variations (L. Russ); The typological spread of the Mankala table for the above (Philip Townsend); Mankala game boards as African emblems of status (Rosly Adele Walker); 9. Miscellaneous studies The pursuit of Hnefatafl (I. Riddler); The history and rules of Rithmomachia, the philosopher's game (J. Stigter); Robert Culin and New World games (Bonita Freeman-Witthoft).

Ancient Board Games in Perspective

Humor & Entertainment

Puzzles & Games

British Museum Press

Cuneiform script on tablets of clay is, as far as we know, the oldest form of writing in the world. The choice of clay as writing medium in ancient Mesopotamia meant that records of all kinds could survive down to modern times, preserving fascinating documents from ancient civilization, written by a variety of people and societies. From reading these tablets we can understand not only the history and economics of the time but also the beliefs, ideas and superstitions. This new book will bring the world in which the cuneiform was written to life for the non-expert reader, revealing how ancient inscriptions can lead to a new way of thinking about the past. It will explain how this pre-alphabetic writing really worked and how it was possible to use cuneiform signs to record so many different languages so long ago. Richly illustrated with a wealth of fresh examples ranging from elementary school exercises to revealing private letters or beautifully calligraphic literature for the royal library, we will meet people that arent so very different from ourselves. We will read the work of many scribes from mundane record keepers to state fortune tellers, using tricks from puns to cryptography. For the first time cuneiform tablets and their messages are not remote and inaccessible, but wonderfully human documents that resonate today.

Cuneiform /anglais

BRITISH MUSEUM

Retells the adventures of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, as he meets the wild man Enkido, battles monsters, and searches for the secret of eternal life

Gilgamesh (Looking at Myths and Legends)

Literature & Fiction

McGraw=Hill

World

Hodder&Stoughton Ltd

Tantor Audio

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Finkel, Irving. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Finkel, Irving

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Finkel, Irving. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood

The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood

The Lifeboat that Saved the World

The Lewis Chessmen, and What Happened to Them

The Lewis Chessmen: What Happened to Them

Ancient Board Games in Perspective

Cuneiform /anglais

Gilgamesh (Looking at Myths and Legends)

The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood

The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood