Dr Martin Worthington, Senior Lecturer in Assyriology and a Fellow at St John’s College, led the project to produce the first film in the world shot in the ancient language. The film, released open-access on YouTube, tells the story of The Poor Man of Nippur, a folktale based on a 2,700-year-old poem about a pauper called Gimil-Ninurta. Cheated out of his only possession – a goat – by the city’s mayor, he vows to avenge his unjust treatment three times over.

“Babylonia has such a rich history and there are tens of thousands of documents from the time of The Poor Man of Nippur. We have letters from spies, stories of families who became the equivalent of billionaires, details of religious reforms, medical prescriptions and surgical instructions,” said Dr Worthington.

“The range of information that is accessible to us is something most people don’t suspect, so part of this film project is to open up this fascinating world to more people.”