Babylonokia (also Babylon-Nokia, Alien-Mobile, and Cuneiform Mobile Phone) is a 2012 artwork[1] by Karl Weingärtner in the form of a clay tablet shaped like a mobile phone, its keys and screen showing cuneiform script.
Weingärtner created the work to represent the evolution of information transfer from the ancient world to the present.[2] Fringe scientists and pseudoarchaeology proponents[3] subsequently misrepresented a photograph of the artwork as showing an 800-year-old archaeological find; that story was popularised in a video on the YouTube channel Paranormal Crucible[4] and led to the object being reported by some press sources as a mystery.[5]
Weingärtner created the phone-styled clay tablet with cuneiform signs as a reaction to an exhibition at the Museum for Communication in Berlin titled From the Cuneiform to the SMS: Communication Once and Today, as well as the negative, global effects of information technology.[2] Cuneiform signals the beginning of written records of information.
The fact that it is a clay copy of what appears to be an Ericsson S868 mobile phone,[6] a model from the 1990s, had no meaning for the artist, who was using it as a metaphor for mobile devices in general.
The work of art is unique and is kept by the artist in a special depot. It is available on request as a loan for museums and exhibitions. It is made from clay, weighs 91 grams (3¼ oz), and measures approximately 13.5by.
Weingärtner posted a photo of the image on Facebook as part of a sale of his work,[4] and a Facebook commenter coined the name "BabyloNokia".[4] Three years later, the image was posted to the Conspiracy Club website with the headline "800-Year-Old Mobile Phone Found In Austria? Check This Out."[4] The Express reposted Weingärtner's photo without attribution and claimed that the artifact had been dated to the 13th century BCE.[4]
Speaking about the image's use by fringe websites and the press, Weingärtner said "The photo was used without my knowledge and without my consent. [...] It’s not what I wanted. I do not believe in UFOs and I do not believe in aliens."[4]