Episode 151 - Shh! We're In the Library!

This week, Anna and Amber take a tour of some of the libraries of the ancient world. We visit Mesopotamia for the origins of writing and the heartland of administrative paperwork, hit up Africa for the oral traditions of the Griots, browse the stacks of oracle bones in China, and...yes, talk about the Library of Alexandria.

• The Origins of Writing (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History)

• Writing (World History Encyclopedia)

• Hidden women of history: Enheduanna, princess, priestess and the world’s first known author (The Conversation)

• Archives and Bookkeeping in Southern Mesopotamia during the Ur III period (Comptabilités)

• Hard Work-Where Will It Get You? Labor Management in Ur III Mesopotamia (Journal of Near Eastern Studies, via CDLI)

• OIP 92. Persepolis Fortification Tablets (Oriental Institute Publications)

• Persepolis Fortification Archive (Oriental Institute)

• A Heritage Threatened: The Persepolis Tablets Lawsuit and the Oriental Institute (Persepolis Fortification Archive Project)

• Persepolis Fortification Tablets (Livius.org)

• The Library of Ashurbanipal (ThoughtCo)

• A Library Fit for a King (British Museum)

• The Library of Alexandria Is Long-Gone – And All Around Us (Daily Beast)

• The Life and Death of the Library of Alexandria (Literary Hub)

• The Great Library of Alexandria (James Grout)

• Chinese Oracle Bones (British Library)

• History of Library Developments in China (IFLA)

• Zhou Period Literature (ChinaKnowledge.de)

• The History of Chinese Literature (China Highlights)

• What Is a Griot and Why Are They Important? (Culture Trip)

• African Music: A People’s Art (via WorldCat)

• The Four Surviving Maya Codices (ThoughtCo)

• Maya codices: invaluable cultural heritage burned by the Inquisition in 1562 (Yucatan Times)

Image: Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland.

Image Copyright: Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4