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Acknowledgements
Great expressions of gratitude are due to the late Douglas Simmonds, who first introduced me to the extraordinary document that forms the subject of this book and allowed me unrestricted access to decipher it at my leisure and follow wherever it led. Mark Wilson has been my invaluable friend and counsellor throughout and an admirable Appendix-writer. Mark Geller sent me elusive papers and, like Jenny Balfour Paul and Leander Feiler, was immensely supportive. Sue Kirk read early drafts at just the right time. Marion Faber and Roger Kaysel sent me wonderful background resources about European toy Noah’s Arks and I owe to Małgorzata Sandowicz especially her timely view of the Ararat rainbow.
Dan Chambers of Blink Films has taken up the story recounted here in an altogether different medium which is, as this book goes to press, just underway under the command of Nic Young. Technical input about guffas and guffa building in the early stages came from Tom Vosmer and Sir Peter Badge.
British Museum colleagues have been wonderful, especially Jonathan Tubb, my Keeper, Hannah Boulton and Patricia Wheatley. Jon Taylor, St John Simpson, Lisa Baylis and Nigel Tallis each came unhesitatingly to the rescue with late and last-minute images.
I am delighted to thank Gordon Wise, my agent, for doing so much to advance progress on this book, and as for Rupert Lancaster, Maddy Price and Camilla Dowse at Hodder, no one can have ever embarked on such a voyage through such waters in better company. Their navigation has been truly inspiring to me.
Most of all, let me conclude, I thank my dear Joanna, who awarded me the title.
Text Acknowledgements
M.A.S. Abdel Haleem: extracts from The Qur’an. A New Translation (Oxford World’s Classics, 2004); Andrew George (translator): extracts from The Epic of Gilgamesh (Allen Lane The Penguin Press, 1999), reproduced by permission of the translator and Penguin Books Ltd; James Hornell: extracts from Water Transport: Origins & Early Evolution (Cambridge University Press, 1946), © Cambridge University Press, translated with permission; W. G. Lambert & A. R. Millard: extracts from Atra-Nasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood (Oxford University Press, 1969), reproduced by permission of Eisenbrauns; A.L. Oppenheim: extracts from ‘A Babylonian Diviner’s Manual’ from Journal of Near Eastern Studies 33: 197-220 (University of Chicago, 1974).
Every effort has been to trace or contact all copyright holders. The publishers would be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.
Picture Acknowledgements
© Alamy: i11 (colour section)/ photo Robert Harding Picture Library, i20 (colour section), i30 (colour section)/ photo Mary Evans Picture Library. © Alinari Archives Florence: 12.10/ photo George-Tatge-Archivio Seat. © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford: 13.1 (detail AN1923.444). Author Collection: i1 (colour section and i3), i13 (colour section and i14), 4.2, 7.4, 7.7, 7.8/ photos E.S. Drower (née Stevens), 7.10/ photo J.P. Peters, 7.11, 7.14/ photo J.P. Peters, 7.15, 8.2, app3.1. © bpk Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin: i26 (colour section) & 11.10/ photos Vorderasiatisches Museum, SMB Olaf M. Teßmer. © Bridgeman Art Library: i16 & i23 (colour section)/ photos Christie Images, i19 (colour section)/ photo De Agostini Picture Library/ G.Dagli Orti, 7.2/ photo Look and Learn, 12.8/ photo Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois, USA. © The Trustees of the British Museum: i2 (colour section), i7, i9 (colour section BM 120000), i11 (DT 42), i15 (colour section BM As1921,1208.1), i17 (colour section BM 1997,0712.28), i24 & i26 (colour section BM 92687), 3.1 (BM 78158), 3.3 (BM 34580), 6.3 (BM 133043), 7.3 (detail BM 15285), 7.5, 7.12 & 7.13 (BM 32873), 9.1 (1870,0709.241), 11.2 (BM 21946b), 11.1 (BM 114789), 11.6 (BM 47406), 11.7 (BM 25636), 11.8 (BM 40565), 11.9 (BM 47449), 12.1 & 12.2 (BM 92687), 12.3 (detail BM 92687), 12.7, 12.9, app1.1 (BM 47817). Courtesy of the John J. Burns Library Boston College, Jesuitica Collection: 9.5. © Dale Cherry: i31 (colour section), 5.1, 11.3. © Corbis: i10 (colour section). © Getty Images: i21 (colour section) & 8.1/ photos De Agostini, 11.4/ photo Universal History Archive, app.5. © Neil Gower: Map, 12.5. Courtesy Library of Congress: 7.9/ photo Prints & Photographs Division (LC-DIG-matpic-16020
). © National Geographic Image Collection: i12 (colour section)/ photo Eric Keast Burke. © Newcastle University: i29–i31 (colour section), 12.6/ photos Gertrude Bell Archive. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology: 4.1 (CBS10673). © Kristin Phelps: i7 (colour section), 5.2, 9.2 (detail), 13.1 (details). © Pitt Rivers Museum University of Oxford: 6.1. © Private Collection: 3.4. © J.D Reade: i27 (colour section). © Rex Features: i5 (colour section). © Malgorzata Sandowicz: i28 (colour section). © Scala Florence: 3.2 & 11.5/ photos bpk Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin, 7.6/ photo National Geographic Image Collection. © Science Photo Library: 9.5/ photo National History Museum, London. © David Sofer: 11.11. © Tate London, 2013: i18 (colour section). © Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ V&A Images: 7.1. © Mark Wilson: i4 (colour section and i5), app3.1.
Every reasonable effort has been made to contact the copyright holders, but if there are any errors or omissions, Hodder & Stoughton will be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgement in any subsequent printing of this publication.
A Note About the Author
Dr. Irving Finkel is Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages, and cultures at the British Museum. He is the curator in charge of cuneiform inscriptions on tablets of clay from ancient Mesopotamia, of which the Middle East Department has the largest collection—some 130,000 pieces—of any modern museum.
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