Meggie Macdonald

The recent re-discovery of a cuneiform tablet from the Middle East, originally found by Londoner Leonard Simmons during his service with the RAF between 1945 and 1948, has experts at the British Museum all atwitter.  The tablet was inherited by Mr. Simmons’ son, Douglas, who brought it to a British Museum Open Day and introduced it to Irving Finkel.  Mr. Finkel – an expert in cuneiform script on clay tablets – realised what a find the tablet was when he translated the text and saw that it represented an entirely new version of the story of Noah’s Ark.

According to Mr.Finkel, Mr. Simmons’ tablet is the first on record to describe the shape of the vessel:  round, circular, and made from reeds.  The ark did not have to be an ocean-going vessel with a prow and keel; it merely had to float as the flood waters rose.  Vessels of similar design are still used in Iraq and Iran to float livestock during river floods.

The original article from The Globe and Mail weekend edition of 2 January 2010 by Guardian Press Service reporter Maev Kennedy has proved rather difficult to find again.  However, Ms. Kennedy’s article suggests that further questions remain to be answered.  In particular, whether a replica of the ark recently opened to the public in Hong Kong will be considered inaccurate so soon after its unveiling.

In addition, I recently read a verse translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh by Hugh Mason that includes several new tablets that previously had been omitted for editorial reasons.  In the story, Gilgamesh meets Utnapishtim, who drank from the Fountain of Immortality after surviving a flood sent by the gods.  Unerringly similar to the Biblical Noah, Utnapishtim unites the Mesopotamian and Hebrew traditions and suggests, at the very least, a common cultural association between an ancient flood and the reverence due to the survivors.