Irving Finkel

In an astonishing piece of academic detective work, Irving Finkel from the British Museum has uncovered the real story behind that most potent of myths, Noah’s Ark. In 1985, a member of the public walked into the British Museum with an ancient Babylonian clay tablet the size of a mobile phone. Decoding the cuneiform text, Finkel deduced that it dated from 1850 BC, and contained detailed instructions for building the Ark.