1001 FUN THINGS TO DO WITH CUNEIFORM

[marduk]

Just to leave Lisa-Bashing for a second, I want to point out a very serious
problem in the field of ancient history, namely, how do we get kids
interested in it? After all, its not an easy thing to suggest to some
high-school student that going to undergrad and grad school for 8-10 years
for a Ph.D. in Assyriology or Biblical Studies is a real smart career move.
Tenure is a thing of the past, and universities are constantly on the prowl
to downsize non-revenue producing departments...even those like Near Eastern
Studies which covered their schools in reflected glory when major
archaeological finds were discovered and publicized in the press.
One route, occasionaly taken by my Egyptologist friends, is to exploit the
public's fascination with the pseudo-scientific and so-called "mystical"
elements of Egyptology....and try to slip a little real scholarship into the
public mainstream. The problem with such an approach is that it carries the
danger of being lumped together with some major nutballs. Also, it is a
two-edged sword that runs the risk of people concentrating too much on the
bullshit mystical crap and not enough on the history.
Another approach is that taken by myself and a few collegues and grad
students that the time to interest kids in ancient history and archaeology is
in grade school. To that end, we have put together a pretty cool sound and
light exhibit that we schlep around to the various schools. Although the kids
come expecting to see Indiana Jones, we soon have them fascinated by the
exploits of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. We also make tee-shirts for them with their
names in hieroglyphics and in cuneiform.
Last summer, we sponsored a sand-castle-making contest on the beach between
Egypt (pyramids) and Babylon (ziggurats). We got over 100 people to
partcipate, and we were able to hand out brochures and pamphlets highlighting
the local museum and university exhibits and courses....Oh...I'm happy
to say that Babylon won the contest (anything to beat the Egyptologists).
On Halloween, I had chocolate coins made stamped with Sargon II's
(my fave Assyrian king) likeness...the kids loved it. And this year, my son's
hockey team is called the Sargonids, which, by the way, is also the name of
the snowboarding and mountain biking teams I race on and sponsor.
The point is, there is absolutely no reason why the teaching of ancient
languages and history cannot be made fun and exciting for kids. Because if we
don't start to get fresh blood into these fields, 20-30 years down the road
all we can hope for is a few stodgy, decrepit academics mouldering in their
dusty offices.