The Ancient World

Synopsis: The long-lived rulers of Egypt’s Twelfth Dynasty undertook the kingdom’s revitalization – restoring the depleted Faiyum Oasis and raising a massive chain of forts to subjugate Nubian lands. While the south Levant faced Egyptian raids, north Syria saw increased trade under newly-ascendant Amorite dynasties. The city of Assur on the upper Tigris took its first steps toward the economic dom...

Synopsis: The Sintashta way of life and death seeds aspects of Vedic Aryan Hinduism and Iranian Zoroastrianism, while their quest for a lucrative market for metals brings them into contact with the Oxus Civilization and – through them – the larger Near Eastern world. In post-Ur III Sumer, Amorite chiefs and military leaders begin to flex a newfound power and prestige. “The robe they spread upon th...

Synopsis: Yamnaya migrations east and west carried their language and culture to the mountains of Siberia and plains of Hungary. Over the following centuries, their Corded Ware/Bell Beaker successors spread their daughter languages to the frontiers of Europe. As the Aridification Event began to take hold, increasing violence and declining herds drove some steppe tribes to migrate east of the Urals...

Synopsis: The fall of Old Europe and dissolution of the Cucuteni-Tripolye Culture left horse-riding steppe-herders the unchallenged paradigm on the Pontic-Caspian steppe. The introduction of the wagon around 3500 BC enabled their adoption of a fully-nomadic lifestyle, culminating with the complete dominance of the Proto-Indo-European-speaking Yamnaya horizon. “I will declare the manly deeds of Ind...

SEASON 3 PREMIERE Synopsis: Despite the generally inhospitable environment, many ancient hunter-gatherers made the Northern Steppe their home. During the 6th and 5th millennia BC, their interactions with successive waves of migrating farmer-herders prompted a new cultural orientation toward the acquisition and control of large herds of cattle. Toward end of the period, the development of horse-rid...

SEASON 2 FINALE Synopsis: Shulgi and his successors face major challenges to Ur III rule, including Amorite attacks, Sumerian rivals, and a newly-emboldened Shimashki. “The god Enlil granted to Shu-Sin a long lifespan, a crown and tiara, a scepter of long days, a royal throne, a firm foundation, years of abundance, a weapon – the flood – which casts terror…” – Copy of an inscription from a statue...

Synopsis: The Proto-Elamite horizon sparked innovation and trade throughout Iran and Central Asia, and its collapse saw the emergence of numerous “secondary states”. Toward the end of the Third Millennium BC, the dominant polity east of the Zagros was the Oxus Civilization. Map of the Middle Asian Interaction Sphere: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/MAIS.png Episode Images: https://www.flickr...

Synopsis: Ur-Namma unifies Sumer and ejects the Elamites. His son, King Shulgi, designs a new empire and begins a push for Zagros domination. “The trustworthy shepherd, king, the sword of Sumer, Ur-Namma, the king of the Land, was taken to the …house…he who was beloved by the troops, could not raise his neck anymore. The wise one…lay down; silence descended. As he, who was the vigor of the Land, h...

Synopsis: With the fall of the Old Kingdom, power devolves to the various nomes. The Herakleopolitan House of Khety extends control over most of Egypt before eventually being defeated and deposed by the rival House of Thebes. “I took care of the towns of Hefat and Hormer in every situation of crisis, when the sky was clouded and the earth was parched and everybody died of hunger. The south came wi...

[NOTE: This new version features improved audio] Synopsis: The impacts of the Aridification Event lead to Akkadian collapse. Gudea of Lagash asserts independence and shepherds the south through the aftermath. The brief period of Guti domination is terminated by the Elamite invasion of Kutik-Inshushinak and the Sumerian revolt of Utu-Hegal of Uruk. “They placed fetters on (Tirigan’s) hands and put...

Synopsis: The science behind the 4.2 kiloyear BPE Aridification Event. “The great farming tracts brought forth no grain, The irrigated farming tracts brought forth no fish, The well-watered orchard brought forth neither syrup nor wine. The gathering clouds brought no rain, not even weeds would grow.” – The Curse of Agade Map of the Near East c. 2200 BC: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/2200BC...

Synopsis: The Akkadian Empire reaches its zenith under the rule of Naram-Sin. “Its king, the shepherd, Naram-Sin, Shone forth like sunrise on the holy throne of Agade, Its walls, like a mountain range, reached up to graze the sky. Holy Inanna opened in them spacious gates, Big enough to let the Tigris flow out through them to the sea.” - The Curse of Agade Original Episode Art by Mike Oeming: http...

Synopsis: Sargon of Akkad forges the world’s first Empire. “After Enlil’s baleful glare Had slain Kish like the Bull of Heaven, Had slaughtered house and land of Uruk in the dust,      like that monster bull, And Enlil had then and there given Sargon, king of Agade, Lordship of Uruk, kingship of Kish, From the lowlands to the upper regions, Then did holy Inanna busy herself to build Agade, the tem...

Synopsis: This episode covers the rise and fall of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. “The Second Dynasty consists of nine kings of This. The first was Boethos, for 38 years. In his reign a chasm opened at Bubastis, and many perished. Kaiechos, for 39 years. In his reign the bulls, Apis at Memphis and Mnevis at Heliopolis, and the Mendelsian goat were worshipped as gods. Binothris, for 47 years. In his rei...

Hi everyone! My friend Dominic at THoE and I are doing a feed-swap this week. It's a great chance to introduce you to his new set of episodes on the pharaoh Ramesses II. More details from Dominic below. Enjoy! - Scott C. In a land famous for its monarchs – the legendary pharaohs – there is no one quite like Ramesses II. He might be the most famous of all, and we know a heck of a lot more about Ram...

Synopsis: This episode covers the Early Dynastic Period in Sumer and northern Syria. “Eannatum gave the great battle net of Enlil to the leader of Umma and made him swear to him by it. The leader of Umma swore to Eannatum: ‘By the life of Enlil, king of heaven and earth! I may exploit the field of Ningirsu as an interest-bearing loan. I shall not destroy the irrigation channel! Forever and evermor...

Synopsis: This episode covers the early civilizations of Egypt and the Caucasus region, including the Kura-Araxes and Maikop. “In succession to the Spirits of the Dead and the Demigods, the Egyptians reckon the First Dynasty to consist of eight kings. Among these was Menes (Narmer), whose rule in Egypt was illustrious. I shall record the rulers of each race from the time of Menes. Their succession...

Synopsis: The launch of “The Ancient World – Ages”, a new series covering the Early Bronze Age Collapse (c. 2200 BC) and the remaking of Southwest Eurasia. We start things off with a discussion of the Ubaid and Uruk Periods of early Mesopotamia. “After Anu, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursag Had fashioned the black-headed people, Vegetation luxuriated from the earth, Animals, four-legged creatures of the...

Synopsis: Part 2 of a two-part Spotlight series on the rise and fall of the Roman Emperor Galerius: refugee, herdsman, soldier, Caesar, Augustus, Tetrarch, conqueror, schemer, would-be ruler of the (Dacian?) Empire, and persecutor of the Christians. A rollicking Third Century romp inspired by my current residence in his former tetrarchal capital of Thessaloniki, Greece. “Galerius…was born to wipe...

Synopsis: Part 1 of a two-part Spotlight series on the rise and fall of the Roman Emperor Galerius: refugee, herdsman, soldier, Caesar, Augustus, Tetrarch, conqueror, schemer, would-be ruler of the (Dacian?) Empire, and persecutor of the Christians. A rollicking Third Century romp inspired by my current residence in his former tetrarchal capital of Thessaloniki, Greece. “Galerius…(was) trained to...

Synopsis: Faced with a series of disloyal vassals, Sargon conquers the remaining Neo-Hittite kingdoms and absorbs them into his empire. The Cimmerian invasion of Anatolia leads to the deaths of two powerful kings. In their absence, the preservation of peace and stability falls to local rulers such as Azatiwadas of Quwe. “I am Azatiwadas, the Sun God’s man, servant of Tarhunzas, whom Awariku, king...

Synopsis: Rusa of Urartu wins early victories against Assyrian armies, but his intrigues in the Zagros kingdom of Mannea earn him Sargon’s wrath. After a crushing defeat by Cimmerian invaders, Rusa’s unable to prevent Sargon’s destruction of his kingdom. “I caused there to be lamentation in the wide land Urartu and in all the mountains, and I made Rusa, their king, use flint blades, razors (and) s...

Synopsis: After defeating Syrian rebels at Qarqar and extending his dominion to the borders of Egypt, Sargon II labors to defend Tabal from the advances of Midas of Phrygia. Letters to Midas from Pisiri of Carchemish give Sargon a pretext to depose the Country Lord and annex his kingdom to Assyria. “In my fifth regnal year, Pisiri of the city Carchemish sinned against the treaty sworn by the great...

Synopsis: Shalmaneser V succeeds his father to the thrones of Assyria and Babylonia, then deals with rebellions in Samaria and Tyre. But his reign is cut short by the violent coup of Sargon II. After losing his hold on Babylonia, Sargon marches west to confront a Syrian alliance under Yaubidi of Hamath. “With regard to the city Assur…Shalmaneser V, who did not revere the king of all the world, rai...

Synopsis: Tiglath-pileser crushes rebellions in Patin and Luash and annexes their territories to Assyria. King Rasyan of Aram-Damascus forms a coalition of southern kingdoms - including Israel, Edom, Phoenicia and Philistia - to challenge Assyrian dominance, but betrayal by allies and the brutal tenacity of Tiglath-pileser lead to his kingdom’s downfall. “I am Bar-Rakib the son of Panamuwa, king o...