It's enthralling stuff mixing the scholarly with the accessible and placing storytelling right
at the heart of the human experience.' - History Revealed 'A fascinating journey' - Yorkshire
Post 'Marvellous...Finkel is an expert in Mesopotamian cultures at the British Museum and is
one of the most clever and nicest of people it has ever been my pleasure to encounter...A
fascinating journey' - The Scotsman There are few things more in common across cultures than
the belief in ghosts. Ghosts 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 - yet
most of us are only familiar with the vengeful apparitions of Shakespeare or the ghastly
spectres haunting the pages of 19th century gothic literature. But their origins are much much
older... The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies takes us back to the very beginning. A
world-renowned authority on cuneiform the form of 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. In The First Ghosts he uncovers an extraordinarily rich seam of
ancient spirit wisdom which has remained hidden for nearly 4000 years covering practical
details of how to live with ghosts how to get rid of them and bring them back and how to
avoid becoming one as well as exploring more philosophical questions: 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?
