Dr. Irving Finkel Speaks on Dead Languages and the People Who Study Them

 

The Future of Dead Languages: Dead Languages, Living Stories – A Lecture by Dr. Irving Finkel

 

            In a bit of a detour from the usual path followed by RXTT’s Book Journey, this review will cover a lecture given by the pre-eminent Assyriologist and Curator of the Middle East Department at the British Museum, Dr. Irving Finkel.  On November 3, 2025 Dr. Finkel spoke at the University of Houston’s Dudley Hall, on the subject of dead languages, the difficulty of translation, and the history of this most human endeavor, trying to understand our ancestors through the written texts they left behind.

            Dr. Finkel first came to my attention through the videos posted by the British Museum, specifically a series titled “Ask a Curator.”  As the pre-eminent expert on Assyrian language, cuneiform, and all sorts of topics relating to ancient and dead languages, I found him to be a kindred spirit, someone who seeks to understand big things, and to absorb vast amounts of information in order to do so.  Upon hearing that he would be visiting and lecturing, I geeked out and signed up for the lecture.

            As a child I was fascinated with the story of the Rosetta Stone and its importance in allowing us modern humans to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs. This was achieved because on the Rosetta Stone the very same text is repeated in three different writing systems.  The top is ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.  The middle section is written in Demotic script, the “everyday” form of Egyptian writing, and the third section is written in Ancient Greek, the one language we knew how to read and translate.  Because of this, the whole world of the Egyptian written word opened up and it increased our knowledge of the ancient Egyptians exponentially. 

            Dr. Finkel discussed the importance of the Rosetta Stone, and the differences between Egyptian writing systems and the cuneiform writing system used in Mesopotamia.  Whereas in hieroglyphs, individual symbols stood for whole words and ideas, and in modern English the letters stand for individual sounds, in cuneiform the individual marks held many concurrent meanings, making it super difficult to translate.  Cuneiform is a writing system, NOT a language, and it was used to write down many ancient languages, all with the same wedge shapes.  Much like one can use Arabic letters to write words in German, English, French, or Spanish, cuneiform was originally used to write in Sumerian, the language of ancient Mesopotamia, and then other concurrent languages, such as Akkadian, Elamite, Assyrian, and ancient Persian.  Because the same symbols were used for different languages, translation of cuneiform was and remains a most difficult endeavor.

            An important point made by Dr. Finkel stated the importance of wide-ranging knowledge, hard work, and dedication to the art of translation, especially as it applies to long-dead languages.  The intellectual giants who made progress on deciphering cuneiform were intellectually brilliant humans, people who devoted decades of their lives to reading, researching, exploring, and analyzing ancient clay tablets, all with the hope to one day translate them and open up the ancestor’s world to our modern humanity and understanding.  Dr. Finkel stated his belief that, while computer programs can help translate already known languages, they are unable of thinking creatively, which is what is required to translate ancient dead languages.  This is a job for the human brain, not a machine algorithm.

            (A quick aside, for it must be pointed out.  I have personally organized and run quite a few medium to large events in my career.  The one critical task that must be handled early, to best prepare, is to have the Audio/Visual technology checked and double-checked, prior to the event.  From microphones, to laptops, to overhead projectors, to cabling and power strips, it must all be verified as functioning prior to an event.  The A/V stuff is too difficult to try and correct once the event begins. Dr. Finkel, ever gracious, decided to deliver his lecture without amplification, even in the face of loud disturbances involving the microphone set-up, although he did have to bust out with this rejoinder,

“Stop!  Just stop!  I am trying to deliver a complex lecture off my head and cannot do it with you fucking talking the entire time!  Just leave!” 

I wanted to stand up and clap!)

            Dr. Finkel battled through this interruption and delivered an amazing talk.  It is a testament to him and his powers of oratory.  It is a rare thing to hear one of your intellectual heroes speak on their chosen field of study in the flesh.  I have been very fortunate to hear such idols of mine as Stephen Hawking, Art Spiegelman, Paul Mooney, Buzz Aldrin, and now Dr. Irving Finkel, speak in person.  To see this intellectual vigor in a septuagenarian is an inspiration.  Dr. Finkel stated that he started working at the British Museum in 1979 and is the longest-tenured member of that organization.  He said his secret is not answering emails or phone calls, which, as he joked, means his supervisors think he already left!  Hilarious!  I was unable to personally greet Dr. Finkel but hearing him speak has been one of the intellectual highlights of my life.  Here’s to dead languages and the people who love them!