Irving Finkel Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies

There are few things more in common across cultures than the belief in ghosts. They inhabit something of the very essence of what it is to be human. Whether we personally ‘believe’ or not, we are all aware of ghosts and the rich mythologies and rituals surrounding them. They have inspired, fascinated and frightened us for centuries – and their origins are much, much older... The world-renowned authority on cuneiform, the formof writing on clay tablets which dates back to 3400BC, Irving Finkel has embarked upon an ancient ghost hunt, scouring these tablets to unlock the secrets of the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians to breathe new life into the first ghost stories ever written. A fascinating speaker, he’ll ask what are ghosts, why does the idea of them remain so powerful despite the lack of concrete evidence, and what do they tell us about being human?