Gods of the Clay Tablets: Companion Workbook & Study Guide (PDF)

You finished Gods of the Clay Tablets with a head full of questions. This workbook is where you put them to work.

Built chapter by chapter to match the book exactly, all twenty chapters across its four parts, the Companion Workbook & Study Guide turns a single reading into a study you keep. Each chapter opens with a short, spoiler-free orientation that sets up the question the chapter investigates, so you always know what to watch for before you read. Then it gives you the tools to dig in: the chapter's key terms and names defined the way the book defines them, a short reading from the primary record itself, discussion questions worth arguing about, and a three-question self-test so you can check what actually stuck.

The readings from the primary record come only from public-domain sources: R. H. Charles's 1917 translation of the Book of Enoch, George Smith's own 1876 account of the Flood Tablet, L. W. King's classic translation of the Code of Hammurabi, Isaac Newton's own rendering of the Emerald Tablet, the King James Bible, and the book's fresh rendering of the Emerald Tablet from its appendix. Where the book relies on a modern translation, the workbook paraphrases and says so, plainly, on the page.

It also builds in the book's three-layer honesty contract. Every chapter ends with a short exercise that asks you to sort the material yourself: what the evidence says, what alternative writers claim, and what nobody knows yet. That one habit is worth more than any single fact in the book, because it works on every ancient mystery claim you will ever meet.

Whether you read alone with a pen, run a book club, or teach the material, this is the companion that keeps the wonder honest and the thinking yours.

What's inside:

- Coverage of all 20 chapters of Gods of the Clay Tablets, in the book's own order, across all four parts

- A spoiler-free orientation for every chapter, so the book's conclusions stay the book's to give

- Key terms and names boxes for every chapter, defined the way the book defines them

- A "From the primary record" reading in every chapter, drawn only from public-domain sources, with paraphrases clearly labeled

- 4 to 5 discussion questions per chapter, written for journals, book clubs, and good arguments

- 3 self-test questions per chapter, 60 in all, with a full answer key at the back that gives the reason, not just the letter

- A "three layers" sorting exercise in every chapter, built on the book's honesty contract: evidence, claims, and open questions

- Ruled notes space in every chapter section

- A master timeline from the first farmers of the Ubaid period to the present day

- A full glossary drawn from the book's own appendix

Who it is for:

- Readers of Gods of the Clay Tablets who want to go deeper than one pass through the text

- Book clubs and study groups working through the book together

- Teachers and homeschoolers who want ready-made questions grounded in the primary sources

- Anyone who loves the ancient mystery genre and wants a fair way to weigh its claims

Delivery and format:

- Instant download after checkout, delivered by Payhip as a single PDF file

- 51 pages, US Letter size (8.5 x 11 in), designed for home printing or tablet reading

- Print-ready with embedded fonts and generous margins for binding and handwritten notes

- Yours to keep: reprint the chapter sections as often as you like for your own study

Gods of the Clay Tablets: Companion Workbook & Study Guide. Written by Franklin Onikan, author of Gods of the Clay Tablets, The Ritual Life, and The Descent of the Watchers. Copyright 2026 Franklin Onikan. All rights reserved.