00:08The speaker expresses his gratitude for being at the event and shares his excitement about discussing the topic of the Ark before Noah.
00:13The speaker talks about his experience as a museum curator and the questions people often ask when they bring in ancient artifacts.
00:18The speaker recalls a specific incident where a man brought in a bag of antiquities, including a cuneiform tablet.
00:23The speaker describes how he discovered that the tablet contained the Flood Story from the Babylonian epic.
00:27The speaker shares his expertise in reading cuneiform and recognizes the beginning of the Flood Story on the tablet.
00:32The speaker explains his excitement about finding an unpublished piece of the Flood Story that had never been seen by any other Assyriologist.
00:34The speaker talks about the challenges he faced in dealing with the person who brought in the antiquities and how the tablet eventually ended up with the British Museum.
00:40The speaker describes the transformation in his life after discovering the tablet and delving into the research on the Ark before Noah.
00:44The speaker discusses the public's interest in ancient artifacts and their fascination with the monetary value of the objects.
00:49The speaker talks about his experience as a curator in identifying and classifying objects brought in by the public.
00:54The speaker shares an incident where a person brought in various antiquities, including the cuneiform tablet.
00:58The speaker recalls his excitement in discovering that the tablet contained the Flood Story and how he was able to read it at sight.
01:04The speaker discusses the impact of George Smith's discovery of the Flood Story in 1872 and the subsequent discussions and debates it sparked.
01:08The speaker talks about the different interpretations of the Noah's Ark story and the traditional image of the Ark as a rectangular vessel.
01:12The speaker explains that the Ark in the Babylonian version of the Flood Story was described as a round coracle boat.
01:19The speaker discusses the significance of the round boat in ancient Mesopotamian culture and its practicality as a flotation device.
01:23The speaker shares an anecdote about a person who dismissed the round boat description, citing the traditional rectangular Ark as the correct depiction.
01:27The speaker talks about the conflicting beliefs regarding the shape of Noah's Ark and the humorous depictions of the Ark in popular culture.
01:31The speaker discusses the discovery of a lantern slide showing the construction of a coracle boat in Iraq in 1920.
01:36The speaker explains the process of building a coracle boat and the materials used, such as rope, wood, and bitumen.
01:42The speaker shares his personal experience of being in a coracle boat and highlights the features of the boat that make it float effectively.
01:47The speaker discusses the historical and cultural significance of the coracle boat in Iraq, both in ancient times and the 20th century.
01:51The speaker explains the mathematical calculations involved in determining the amount of rope needed to build the round boat.
01:56The speaker shares the surprising result of the calculations, which closely matched the amount of rope specified on the tablet.
02:01The speaker discusses the significance of the accurate measurements and the realistic nature of the instructions provided in the tablet.
