Ancient story of revenge shortlisted for film award

The film tells the story of a compelling folk tale found etched on a clay tablet in South-East Turkey

The world’s first ever film in Babylonian – a language that died out 2,000 years ago ­­– has been nominated for a top research prize.

Students led by Dr Martin Worthington, a Fellow at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, made the innovative film based on a Babylonian folk tale about a violent and comic story of revenge from 700 BC.  

The Poor Man of Nippur has now been shortlisted in the Best Research Film of the Year category in the Research in Film Awards (RIFA). The awards, run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, are the only film awards dedicated to celebrating and recognising arts and humanities research through film.

The Poor Man of Nippur
George Heath-Whyte as Gimil-Ninurta in The Poor Man of Nippur with Florence the goat. Photo credit: Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge

The Poor Man of Nippur is a 160-line Babylonian story about a pauper called Gimil-Ninurta who is cheated by city’s mayor out of his only possession – a goat – so he vows to avenge his mistreatment ‘three times over’. It is one of only five films shortlisted in the Best Research Film category and represents ‘the very best academic filmmaking’.

The film, which attracted international attention when it was released in November 2018, tells the story of a compelling folk tale found etched on a clay tablet at the archaeological site of Sultantepe, in South-East Turkey.

It dates to 701 BC, though the story is probably much older. There is also a fragment of the story from the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.

Nippur was a city in the north of Babylonia, a region in central-southern Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq. The area is often described as the ‘cradle of civilisation’ and the culture is considered to be very close to the culture of the Old Testament - the story of Noah and the Ark has been found in Babylonian language. The first writings in Babylonian date back to about 2000 BC.

Dr Worthington is an Assyriologist who specialises in Babylonian, Assyrian and Sumerian grammar, literature and medicine. He directed the film, co-produced with Dr Kathryn Stevens of Durham University, which was premiered at St John’s.

The film was acted by Assyriology students and other members of the Mesopotamian community at the University of Cambridge. Shooting locations were in several Cambridge Colleges including St John’s College, King’s College, Peterhouse, and Trinity College; also in The British Museum, Flag Fen Archaeology Park, and countryside near Grantchester.

The project began after students suggested it would bring the poem to life.  Dr Worthington hopes the film will invite people to ‘reconsider their ideas about the ancient world’.

He said:Filming The Poor Man of Nippur was a huge team effort, and we are all delighted that the film has been so well received, being viewed (so far) 68.000 times, and receiving extensive press coverage at home and abroad. 

“The YouTube comments have also been very interesting. That the film should now be shortlisted as Best Research Film of the Year by the AHRC is a huge honour, and particularly pleasing for showing how well received the little-known subject of Assyriology can be when it engages with the broader public. Film-making has huge potential for small subjects, and we hope that the Poor Man will generate many more!”

The Research in Film Awards 2019 will be presented at a special ceremony at the BFI Southbank in November.

More information

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Published: 20/09/189

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