Worry wisely, like an ancient Babylonian

Managing anxiety can be a huge challenge, particularly in today's always-on world, with social media, flashing phones, and fears of global pandemics, climate change, AI meltdown, and nuclear war constantly being piped into our frazzled heads. But people have always worried, and always had good cause to worry.

The ancient peoples of Mesopotamia seem to have been particularly interested in worrying, and how to cope with it. According to Dr Selena Wisnom, author of The Library of Ancient Wisdom, they invented an entire branch of scholarship devoted to it, and worried on a national cosmic scale. We know how they felt and what they did because their cuneiform writings survive. I spoke to Selena to find out what we might learn from the methods of the ancient Mesopotamians. You can watch the video on this page, listen to an introductory podcast about the Assyrians with her here, and read my article on the lessons we can draw below.