001– The Dead Library of the King of the World

Listen:

Civilisation began with the brewing of beer, but followed up with another great invention: books!

In this episode, we look at the first great books ever written, and ask which we should save if civilisation is destroyed.  After all, it’s happened before…

Battle of the Books - Round 1

• The Enuma Elish, also known as The Babylonian Creation Myth (available in various editions; Oxford World Classics combines it with Gilgamesh and other stories in ‘Myths From Mesopotamia’)

• The Epic of Gilgamesh (there are various different versions, but Penguin Classics has an easy to read translation which combines the surviving fragments into a short, coherent whole)

• Wildcard: The Tale of Sinuhe (combined with other Ancient Egyptian short stories by Oxford World Classics)

Shortcuts

No good shortcuts this week (with absolutely no apologies to Russell Crowe and Peter Ustinov), but check out Delacroix’s painting of the Death of Sardanapalus – otherwise known as Ashurbanipal: his civilisation was destroyed, but fortunately his best books survived

Battle of the Booze

• Beavertown Neck Oil IPA – hoppy and gluggable: just the way Gilgamesh liked it!

  Beavertown Smog Rocket Porter – dark and complex: perfect for drinking through a straw…

Poll of Champions

We want your votes!  Which book would you save?  Vote here!

Feedback

We’d love to hear from you with thoughts, comments, questions and suggestions – email us at brekofchamps@gmail.com.