Nomads and Empires

On this special First of April, we cover the nomadic peoples of the world of Godherja: the Öltenic. Please check this great mod for Crusader Kings 3! You can download the mod on its Steam page linked here or on ModDB here . Many appreciations to the Godherja team for providing me with feedback and corrections as well! Corrections: At around 13:17, I state that the Hyartan Mountains are the highest...

On this episode, we explore the titanic clash between Cyrus of the Persians and Tomyris of the Massagetae. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NomadsandEmpires Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/  Relevant Books: Barry Cunliffe, The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe David Greene (trans.), The History of Herodotus Ilya Gershevitch,...

In this special episode, we speak to Oleksiy Vasyliuk of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group and Tobias Muenchmeyer, European Project Lead at Green Recovery Ukraine, about the current status of Ukraine's steppes amid the ongoing war. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NomadsandEmpires Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/  Relev...

Another chapter ends, somewhat. Today, the Scythians will be pushed back to the Pontic steppe and will face those they had left behind.  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NomadsandEmpires Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/  Relevant Books: Barry Cunliffe, The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe Denis Sinor, The Cambridge History...

We investigate the supposed Scythian "28-year reign" of the Near East, including their conquests of Media and Palestine. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NomadsandEmpires Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/  Relevant Books: Barry Cunliffe, The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe Denis Sinor, The Cambridge History of Inn...

The Scythians move through the north and south Caucasus, pushing to the borders of the ancient Near East. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NomadsandEmpires Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/  Relevant Books: Antonio Sagona, The Archaeology of the Caucasus: From Earliest Settlements to the Iron Age  Barry Cunliffe, The Scythians: Nom...

We continue the narrative by assessing the mythological and historical origins of the Scythians. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NomadsandEmpires Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/      Relevant Books: Barry Cunliffe, The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe Claudia Chang, Rethinking Prehistoric Central Asia: Shepherds, Farmers,...

We analyze the artistic and material culture of the Scythians, and put a critical eye on the term "Scytho-Siberian Culture." Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NomadsandEmpires Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/     

We examine the religious beliefs of the Scythians, as well as thoughts of the afterlife. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/    

On today, April 1, we assess the nomads of Middle Earth, the peoples who reside in far eastern Rhûn. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/   

We look into the weapons, armor, and tactics of Scythian warfare.   Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/  

In this episode, we broadly examine the different Scythian groups from the grasses of Ukraine to the highlands of the Sayan-Altai. We meet peoples like the Pazyryk, the Massagetae, and the Saka. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/ 

Today, we introduce the Scythians. This episode provides a brief overview and dives a little into the historiographical development of Scythian studies. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NomadEmpiresPod Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/

In this side episode, part of the  Tales from the Steppe bonus episodes, we dive into the tale of Boktu-Kirish, a story that derives from the Tuvan people. Come listen as we hear about the exploits of a young woman on a quest to bring her dead brother back to life. 

On today's episode, we track the movements of the Medes, the Scythians, the Lydians, and the Kimmerians, as we finally end this leg of our journey. 

We chart the Kimmerians as they launched attacks against the Kingdom of Lydia, placing us closer to the eventual end of the Kimmerians. 

We examine the Kimmerian migration to Anatolia in the aftermath of Urartian and Assyrian invasions. We then chart the emergence of conflict between the Kimmerians and the Phrygians. 

Today, we explore the years 720-714 BCE as the Near Eastern states of Assyria and Urartu duke it out in a grand geopolitical struggle. All the while, the Kimmerians are making their way further and further into the region.

 We finally start the narrative and introduce our first named historical group: the Kimmerians.  

We assess environmental and sociocultural changes of the 1000s BCE and track how these changes would culminate in the kurgan of Arzhan 1. 

Today, we chart the emergence of the proto-Indo-Europeans and their subsequent migrations across Eurasia, including groups like the Indo-Iranians and proto-Tocharians. 

We explore the prehistoric Eurasian steppe and assess the changes emerging after the global Ice Age. 

Today, we look at the historiography of the Eurasian steppe and address the complexities, problems, and major historical trends of academic research in this part of the world.  

We examine the geography of the western and central Eurasian steppes and assess major trends and summarize historical developments. 

In this episode, we explore the geography of the eastern Eurasian steppe, an area encompassing modern day Mongolia and southeastern Siberia.