Speaking with the Dead: Ancient Necromancy
4/30/202645 min
In Ancient Mesopotamia, the boundary between the living and the dead was not always fixed... some even believed it could be crossed. But why would the living seek counsel from the dead? How common were these practices? And what answers did people hope the spirits might reveal?
In this episode, Anthony is joined by the brilliant Dr. Irving Finkel! Irving is a returning guest and Curator in the Department of Middle East at the British Museum. Be sure to check out our other episode with Irving, Earliest Evidence of Ghosts...
Edited by Hannah Feodorov and Anna Brant. Produced by Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer is Freddy Chick.
For tickets to see Anthony and Maddy talking about her new book, Hoax, click here: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/event/hoax/
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMaddy Pelling· Host0:00
Hello, everyone. It's me, Maddie. I am back. Well, not quite. I will be back on the pod very soon. But in the meantime, if you've missed your fix of Anthony and me together, you can now catch us live on stage at Conway Hall in London on the 7th of May. There we'll be discussing my brand-new book, Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment, out that very same day. We'll be discovering how fake news is nothing new, chatting about what it's like to spend time in the darker side of the Georgian world, and meeting the three extraordinary, bizarre, and often frightening characters at the heart of the book. Copies of Hoax will be available on the night, which I'll be signing after the show and hopefully chatting to as many of you as possible. So get your tickets now. The link is in the show notes. You can go to the Conway Hall website or follow the link in my Instagram bio. I'm so excited about this book, and I just can't wait to share it with you all. Do come along. It is gonna be the most fantastic evening. See you there.
Speaker 11:05
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