8 April 2026 The Future is the Product of the Past

The world’s earliest drawing of a ghost discovered in the British Museum vault

The world’s earliest drawing of a ghost has been unearthed in the gloomy vaults of the British Museum.

The British Museum has unearthed the world’s earliest drawing of a ghost, according to The Guardian on Saturday. The drawing has been identified on an ancient Babylonian clay tablet that was constructed approximately 3,500 years ago.

The drawing presents a male ghost with his hands tied by a rope and is being led by a woman pulling the rope. A lonely bearded spirit being led into the afterlife and eternal bliss by a lover.

According to the report, half of the tablet is missing, and the remaining half is small enough to fit in a human palm. On the other side of the tablet, contains instructions of what to do should a ghost continue to pursue any individual, which requires making figurines of a man and woman.

A lonely spirit being led to eternal bliss by a lover on a Babylonian clay tablet. White line tracing © James Fraser and Chris Cobb for The First Ghosts, by Irving Finkel. Photograph: The British Museum
A lonely spirit being led to eternal bliss by a lover on a Babylonian clay tablet. White line tracing © James Fraser and Chris Cobb for The First Ghosts, by Irving Finkel. Photograph: The British Museum

It is part of an exorcist’s guide to getting rid of unwanted ghosts by addressing the particular malaise that brought them back to the world of the living — in this case, a ghost in urgent need of a companion. He is seen strolling with his arms outstretched, his wrists bound by a rope carried by a female, while an accompanying text describes a ceremony that will happily send them to the underworld.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Dr. Irving Finkel, the curator of the Middle East section at the British Museum, noticed that the tablet had been incorrectly deciphered before. The drawing had been missed as the ghost only comes to life when viewed from above and under a light.

Irving Finkel, a world authority on cuneiform script, tells the story of his ghostly discovery in The First Ghosts. Photograph: Dave Cherry
Irving Finkel, a world authority on the cuneiform script, tells the story of his ghostly discovery in The First Ghosts. Photograph: Dave Cherry

Dr. Irving Finkel said the “absolutely spectacular object from antiquity” had been overlooked until now.

Finkel believes the tablet was part of a library of magic in the house of an exorcist or in a temple.

Just in time for Halloween, the ghost has come. Finkel’s next book, The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies, will be released by Hodder & Stoughton on November 11th.

Related Articles

The 3400-year-old city belonging to a mysterious Kingdom emerged from the Tigris river

30 May 2022

30 May 2022

Archaeologists from Germany and Kurdistan have discovered a 3,400-year-old Mittani Empire-era city on the Tigris River. The ruins emerged on...

Interesting from Each Other 7 Amazing Historical Discoveries

21 April 2021

21 April 2021

Archaeologists signed interesting from each other and magnificent discoveries with their work in the last 20 years. Let’s take a...

World’s Oldest Murder

14 February 2021

14 February 2021

Researchers found a mass grave in a cave in Spain, now known as Sima de los Huesos, or the Pit...

Africa May not be Where the First Pre-Human First Appeared

22 March 2021

22 March 2021

According to one opinion: About 2 million years ago, our first ancestors moved north from their hometown and left Africa....

A 2,000-Year-Old Roman Head in a Sealed Mexican Tomb Raises Questions History Can’t Answer

18 March 2026

18 March 2026

In the heart of central Mexico, beneath layers of earth untouched for centuries, archaeologists uncovered a discovery that still unsettles...

How Was the Life of Teenager in Ancient Times?

1 March 2021

1 March 2021

Youth is the same in every era. Not so hard to guess. How was your life as a teenager? You...

Chariots in Neo-Assyrian Army

20 August 2021

20 August 2021

The first data related to the use of vehicles by humans appeared on a clay tablet found in stage IVa...

World’s Smallest Stegosaurus Track Found

14 March 2021

14 March 2021

The smallest trace of stegosaurus in the world that lived 155 million years ago was found. Stegosaurus, a herbivorous dinosaur,...

The Worst Torture Device in History “Brazen Bull”

2 February 2021

2 February 2021

Agrigentum Tyranny today is in the provincial borders of Agrigento in the Sicily Autonomous Region in the southwest of Sicily....

Archaeologists Unearth Monumental Relief Depicting Assyrian King and Major Deities in Ancient Nineveh

15 May 2025

15 May 2025

A team of archaeologists from Heidelberg University has made an extraordinary discovery in the ancient city of Nineveh, near modern-day...

8,000-Year-Old Botanical Art Reveals Humanity’s Earliest Mathematical Thinking

15 December 2025

15 December 2025

Long before numbers were written on clay tablets or calculations recorded in cuneiform, early farming communities in the Near East...

A new magnetic survey of the ancient Assyrian capital of Khorsabad has revealed a 127-room villa twice the size of the U.S. White House

26 December 2024

26 December 2024

Archaeologists in northern Iraq have conducted an extensive magnetic survey using an exhaustive magnetic survey at Khorsabad, once the ancient...

4000-year-old boat salvaged near the ancient city of Uruk one of the most important cities in ancient Mesopotamia

6 April 2022

6 April 2022

A team of archaeologists from the Iraqi German Mission of the State Board of Antiquities and the Orient Department of...

World’s First Air Conditioners “Windcatchers”

23 May 2021

23 May 2021

The Persians invented Air Conditioning! Although it should be noted that this is 500 CE, this is the first time...

Archaeologists Unearth a 400-Year-Old Glass Phallus in a Former Convent Latrine

7 January 2026

7 January 2026

When archaeologists excavated the remains of a former convent complex in the German town of Herford, they expected the usual...