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Bloomsbury Summer School
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Fascinated by ancient civilisations?
We offer anyone with any level of knowledge, inspiring short courses on ancient Egypt and other areas of the ancient world.
2024 Course timetable (in-person and online)
Monday 22 to Friday 26 July
CUNEIFORM: ITS WRITING AND LANGUAGES
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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. 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 24 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.