Scholar to discuss clues about ancient life

A scholar who works on decoding civilization’s earliest forms of writing will speak Sept. 24 at the University of Louisville about new clues into ancient life.

University of Chicago professor emeritus Walter Farber will discuss “Diseases and Epidemics in Ancient Mesopotamia: Medical Conceptualization and Responses.”

Farber’s free, public lecture will begin at 4 p.m. in Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium. The College of Arts and Sciences’ Liberal Studies Project is the event sponsor.

Farber is curator of the tablet collection at UC’s Oriental Institute. He continues his academic writing since his 2013 retirement from UC’s Near Eastern languages and civilizations department, where he had worked since 1980.

He has published texts of cuneiform, or inscriptions made by using reed tools to press marks into damp clay tablets. Scholars continue to scour such artifacts to decipher signs from ancient languages for glimpses into Mesopotamian life.

For more information, contact John Hale at 502-852-2248 or john.hale@louisville.edu