New Thinking: Dead Languages
Arts & Ideas26 Okt 2022

New Thinking: Dead Languages

John Gallagher discusses the latest research on the languages of the ancient world that weren't Latin and Greek. We associate places like Italy and Cyprus with those two best known ancient languages. But both were linguistically diverse. What informed people's choice of language in these places? How were alphabets developed and used? Plus, an exhibition at the British Museum explores the world opened up when Egyptian hieroglyphics were deciphered 200 years ago, and how the invention of the Cyrillic alphabet, developed in the Balkans over 1,000 years ago, still has political repercussions today.

With Dr Katherine McDonald, Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham, Dr Mirela Ivanova, Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Sheffield, and a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker, Dr Philippa Steele is Senior Research Associate in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Ilona Regulski, an Egyptologist based at the British Museum.

The British Museum exhibition Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt runs until Feb 189th 2023.

This New Thinking episode of the Arts and Ideas podcast was made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI.

Producer: Luke Mulhall

You can find other episodes exploring language in the New Research playlist on the Free Thinking programme website

Avsnitt(2000)

Power: A User's Guide

Power: A User's Guide

Political power can take many forms, from the top-down model of the Roman Empire, to operating in the democratic politics of today, to the possibilities offered by new technologies for more horizontal...

4 Juni 202557min

WOLVES

WOLVES

Wolves were once hunted and persecuted to the point of near extinction but are now enjoying a come back across Europe, if not the UK. What can explain the way they've been targeted, and even demonised...

23 Maj 202556min

Political Visions

Political Visions

What is the role of vision in politics? Must politicians have a vision of what kind of society they’re working towards, ultimately? What kind of role does this vision play in the day-to-day practice o...

16 Maj 202556min

Peace

Peace

On the 8th May 1945, the Allies declared victory over Nazi Germany. How has war and the threat of war shaped society in the intervening years? Do 'war' and 'peace' mean the same things, 80 years on? M...

9 Maj 202556min

Community

Community

Post local elections and pre VE day anniversary events across the UK, Shahidha Bari explores ideas about community. Mike Savage, Professor of Sociology at the LSE, explains how social capital enables ...

2 Maj 202556min

Decadence

Decadence

Some people think we live in an age of decline. Matthew Sweet investigates, with guests including political journalist Tim Stanley, art critic Louisa Buck, Professor Jane Desmarais who is head of the ...

25 Apr 202556min

The Middle Classes

The Middle Classes

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss the impact of the shifting geo political and economic trends on the British class system with specialist guests. Muriel Zagha is a writer and critic and Author of Find...

28 Mars 202556min

Isolation

Isolation

As Radio 4 marks the 5th anniversary of the first COVID lockdown, Free Thinking investigates one of the defining experiences of that period for many people: isolation. It's a word that entered the Eng...

21 Mars 202556min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

podme-dokumentar
aftonbladet-krim
en-mork-historia
p3-dokumentar
gynning-berg
svenska-fall
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
skaringer-nessvold
hor-har
spar
killradet
mardromsgasten
aftonbladet-daily
kod-katastrof
rss-brottsutredarna
flashback-forever
historiska-brott
vad-blir-det-for-mord
rss-mer-an-bara-morsa
rysarpodden