Bloomsbury Summer School

Fascinated by ancient civilisations?

Monday 22 to Friday 26 July

Course Director: Dr Irving Finkle (British Museum)

Monday 22 July

10:45 – 11:00*
Students login to Google Meet

11:00 – 11:30
BSS Director’s Welcome Address

11:30 – 13:00
1. Cuneiform Writing: What it is, how it works

Welcome Lunch in BSS Common Room (14:00 Short optional tour of UCL with the Director)**

14:30 – 15:45
2. Reading a Sumerian Text and an Akkadian Text

16:15 – 17:30
3. Cuneiform Dictionaries Ancient and Modern: How we know anything

17:30
Non-BSS event: Get together with fellow students for a drink in the Woolf and Whistle Bar on the ground floor of the Tavistock Hotel**

Tuesday 23 July

10:00 – 11:15
4. A Look at Decipherment

11:45 – 13:00
5. Great Cuneiform Inscriptions

14:15 – 15:30
6. Assurbanipal's Library at Nineveh

16:00 – 17:15
7. Getting into Hot Water: The Flood Tablet

17:15 – 18:30
BSS Social on Common Room balcony**

Wednesday 24 July

10:00 – 11:15
8. Nothing is Unique 1: The Cyrus Cylinder

11:45 – 13:00
9. Reading Amulets and Spells

14:15 – 15:30
10. Nothing is Unique 2: The Map of the World

16:00 – 17:15
11. Considering Ghosts for a Moment

17:30
Non-BSS event: Get together with fellow students for dinner at Poppadom Indian Kitchen in the Tavistock Hotel**

Thursday 25 July

10:00 – 11:15
12. Practical Session: Intro – writing cuneiform

11:45 – 13:00
13. Practical Session: Tablet writing – questions

14:15 – 15:30
14. BM visit

16:00 – 17:15
15. BM visit continued

Friday 26 July

10:00 – 11:15
16. Cuneiform Omens

11:45 – 13:00
17. Drawings on Tablets

14:00 – 15:15
18. Medicine in Cuneiform

15:45 – 17:15
19. All the Games in the World

17:15 – 18:30
End-of-Course Drinks and Online Social (you are welcome to invite guests)

*All times are London UK time; Google Meet waiting room opens 15 minutes prior to the start; **In-person participants only.

NB: Timetables, once published, are unlikely to change, but remain provisional until the first day of the course.