Thin End of the Wedge

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Thin End of the Wedge explores life in the ancient Middle East. There are many wonderful stories we can tell about those people, their communities, the gritty reality of their lives, their hopes, fears and beliefs. We can do that through the objects they left behind and the cities where they once lived. Our focus is on the cultures that used cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) writing, so mostly on ancient Iraq and nearby regions from about 3000 BC to about 100 AD. Thin End of the Wedge brings you expert...

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Episodes (170)

83. David Kertai: The palaces of Assyria

Thin End of the Wedge

Apr 11, 202637:40failed

82. IAA prize winners 2025

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Jan 28, 202635:47pending

81. Lisa Wilhelmi: Bronze Age Diplomacy

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Dec 3, 202533:50pending

80. Ea-nasir: everyone's favourite copper merchant

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Nov 4, 202559:08pending

79. Rocío Da Riva and Nathan Wasserman: Carnival in Babylon

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Sep 13, 202545:20pending

78. Mustafa Faraj: The Gates of Nineveh

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Jul 31, 202528:50pending

77. Augusta McMahon: Excavations at Nippur

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Jun 14, 202545:55pending

76. Tina Greenfield: Zooarchaeology in Mesopotamia

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May 14, 202545:23pending

75. Moudhy Al-Rashid: Engaging interest in Mesopotamia

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Mar 30, 202537:36pending

74. Michael Danti and John MacGinnis. Nimrud: post-conflict archaeology in the h...

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Feb 21, 202557:53pending

73. Zoltán Niederreiter, Erika Roboz: Kingdom of Gods and Demons

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Jan 24, 202533:13pending

72. Christopher Jones: Court politics in the Neo-Assyrian empire

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Dec 23, 202456:21pending

71. 2024 IAA Prize winners

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Nov 21, 202453:52pending

70. Simo Parpola and the State Archives of Assyria project

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Oct 11, 202429:25pending

69. Carolyne Douché: Carpology in the archaeology of ancient western Asia

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Sep 11, 202432:59pending

68. Witold Tyborowski: Finding a job during Hammurabi's reign

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Aug 2, 202438:48pending

67. Amy Gansell: Dressing Assyria's queens

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Jun 5, 202442:28pending

66. Rune Rattenborg, Seraina Nett, Gustav Ryberg Smidt: Geomapping Cuneiform

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May 10, 202441:35pending

65. Omar N'Shea: Masculinities in Mesopotamia

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Apr 3, 202436:06pending

64. Ali Kadhem Ghanem: Managing the site of Ur

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Mar 6, 202429:02pending

63: Enrique Jiménez: the electronic Babylonian Library

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Feb 3, 202431:39pending

62. Prize-winning assyriology

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Dec 19, 202330:55pending

61. Shigeo Yamada: Yasin Tepe: on the margins of empire

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Nov 17, 202327:53pending

60. Susanne Paulus: Back to School in Babylonia

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Oct 13, 202346:19pending

59. Louise Pryke: Ishtar then and now

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Sep 7, 202330:21pending

58. Looking back at RAI Leiden: on conferences, and catching up with guests

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Aug 10, 202336:08pending

57. Looking forward to Leiden

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Jul 15, 202322:55pending

56. Nicholas Reid: The Big House

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Jun 29, 202330:53pending

55. Agnès Garcia-Ventura: The historiography of assyriology

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May 29, 202335:11pending

54. Eckart Frahm: A new history of Assyria, the world's first empire

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Apr 26, 202347:26pending

53. Parsa Daneshmand: Consensus decision-making in divination

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Mar 30, 202339:00pending

52. Birgül Öğüt: phytoliths in west Asian archaeology

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Mar 1, 202339:04pending

51. Ali al-Juboori: Reflections

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Feb 2, 202353:51pending

50. Dr Basima Jalil Abed

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Dec 21, 202228:31pending

49. George Smith: the man behind the headlines SHORT VERSION

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Nov 9, 202250:04pending

49. George Smith: the man behind the headlines

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Nov 9, 20221:29:54pending

48. Amanda Podany: A New History of the Ancient Near East

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Oct 5, 202239:18pending

47. Louise Quillien: Textiles from Babylonia

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Sep 7, 202235:01pending

46. Laerke Recht: The agency of animals

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Aug 3, 202229:34pending

45. Victor Klinkenberg: An archaeological approach to tablets

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Jul 4, 202239:23pending

44. Sophie Cluzan: Votive statues from Mari

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May 25, 202250:21pending

43. Nadia Ait Said-Ghanem: Iraqi antiquities dealers of 19th century

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Apr 20, 202239:34pending

42. Julian Edgeworth Reade: Reflections

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Mar 22, 202254:10pending

41. Farouk al-Rawi: reflections

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Feb 9, 20221:17:37pending

40. Davide Nadali: Excavating Tell Surghul

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Dec 15, 202144:29pending

39. Saana Svärd: Digital Assyriology in Helsinki

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Dec 1, 202134:33pending

38. Tonia Sharlach: The power behind the throne

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Nov 17, 202135:50pending

37. Tim Clayden: The Kassites

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Nov 3, 202134:04pending

36. Amir al-Zubaidi: Nasiriyah Museum, and engaging Iraqi audiences

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Oct 20, 202135:13pending

35. Małgorzata Sandowicz: Law and order in Babylonia

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Oct 6, 202140:52pending