ISAC Podcast

Everything You've Always Wanted to Know about Sex in Babylonia . . . Lecture by Jerry Cooper, W. W. Spence Professor of Semitic Languages Emeritus, The Johns Hopkins University This breezy look at 3000 years of sex in ancient Mesopotamia will cover such fascinating topics as virginity, adultery, rape, prostitution, literary sex, gay sex, ritual sex, marital sex and sexual dysfunction. This audio r...

Oriental Institute Oral History Project Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution for the Smithsonian Institution Archives Part 2 of an interview with Robert McCormick Adams (1926–2018), former Director of the Oriental Institute and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Interview conducted by Pamela H. Henson in the office of Robert McCormick Adams in the Smithsonian Institution building May 31,...

Assyrian Imperial Power and How to Oppose It by Karen Radner Alexander von Humboldt-Professor for Ancient History of the Near and Middle East, LMU Munich Honorary Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History, University College London In the early first millennium BC, the ancient kingdom of Assyria became the dominant power of the Middle East. Attitudes and preferences of the imperial center shaped t...

Uncovering History Episode 5 Traveling with Brian Muhs In this episode Steven visits Dr. Brian Muhs, Professor of Egyptology, for a celebration of summer road trips and a conversation that takes us from travel in ancient Egypt to lion goddesses and ancient finances. Become a member of the OI to keep up with the latest updates: oi.uchicago.edu/member

Uncovering History Episode 4 In this episode, we wrap up our look at ancient influences on George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. We head to Brian Muhs’ office for a conversation about the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Become a member of the OI to keep up with all the latest updates: oi.uchicago.edu/member

Uncovering History Episode 3 In this podcast, Steven Townshend talks to Tasha Vorderstrasse about the Umayyad sieges of Constantinople, Greek Fire, and their influences on Game of Thrones. Become a member of the OI to keep up with all the latest updates: oi.uchicago.edu/member

Uncovering History Episode 2 In this podcast, Steven Townshend talks to Tasha Vorderstrasse about the Scythians and how they potentially inspired the Dothraki in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. Become a member of the OI to keep up with all the latest updates: oi.uchicago.edu/member

1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric Cline Professor of Classics and Anthropology Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations; Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at The George Washington University, in Washington D.C. For more than three hundred years during the Late Bronze Age, from about 1500 BC to 1200 BC, the Mediterranean region...

Uncovering History Episode 1 In this podcast, Steven Townshend talks to Tasha Vorderstrasse about the queen Semiramis, the connection to the Assyrian queen Shammuramat, and the accounts of classical authors like Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus. Become a member of the OI to keep up with all the latest updates: https://oi.uchicago.edu/member

A Game of Thrones and Coffins: The Death and Resurrection of Osiris by Robert Ritner Professor of Egyptology This particular topic if one of great significance in the Western world. Robert Ritner discusses the primary Egyptian myth that defines many aspects of the ancient Egyptian civilization: the myth of Isis and Osiris, both of whom sit upon thrones and both of whose names are written with the...

Oriental Institute Oral History Project Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution for the Smithsonian Institution Archives Part 1 of an interview with Robert McCormick Adams (1926–2018), former Director of the Oriental Institute and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Interview conducted by Pamela H. Henson in the office of Robert McCormick Adams in the Smithsonian Institution building May 26,...

Pots from the City of Sin: The Consequences of Buying Holy Land Antique by Morag Kersel Associate Professor and Director of the Museum Studies Minor Program Anthropology Oriental Institute Members Lecture Whatever the motive, the demand for archaeological artifacts from the Holy Land (modern Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories) results in archaeological site destruction, theft from mus...

Oriental Institute Oral History Project Interview with Hervé Reculeau, Associate Professor of Assyriology In the Research Archives of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago December 13, 2018 In this faculty research highlight, Professor Reculeau discusses his work as an Assyriologist and highlights his collaboration in the international project Coping with Changing Climates in Early A...

Entangled Lives: Intercultural Interactions in the Nubian Borderlands by Stuart Tyson Smith University of California, Santa Barbara Egyptologists have often depicted Nubia as inferior, dominated both militarily and culturally by its northern neighbor. Stuart Smith explores how recent archaeological work in Nubia is breaking the simple Egyptian-Nubian dichotomy. This audio recording was originally...

Why the West Rules — For Now by Ian Morris Ian Morris, Professor of History at Stanford University, lecture Why the West Rules -- For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal about the Future at the Oriental Institute on October 2, 2013. This audio recording was originally presented as an illustrated lecture. The video of this lecture is available on the OI YouTube channel: https://youtu...

Former director of the Oriental Institute Gil Stein, Professor of Archaeology, sits down with the oral history project to discuss his life and career. This interview took place in the Research Archives of the Oriental Institute on April 17, 2018.

Highlights the OI’s mission of discovery, preservation, and the dissemination of knowledge through the lens of the OI's three projects in Egypt and global partnerships. This audio recording was originally recorded as a video highlight. The video is available on the OI YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/b-X0sZwce6E

Be My Baby in Babylonia: Girl Meets Boy and Vice Versa Presented by Andrew George, Professor of Babylonian, University of London, SOAS. Wednesday, April 5, 2017 This lecture presents two Old Babylonian incantations in comparative perspective. The language and emotions of new love and sexual attraction are shared in compositions as diverse as Akkadian and Sumerian love incantations and popular musi...

Presented by Lisa Cooper, Associate Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, University of British Columbia Wednesday, October 5, 2016 Encounters with Ancient Splendors: Gertrude Bell’s Archaeological Discoveries and Research in Mesopotamia, 1909-1914 Recent biographies highlight many aspects of the extraordinary life of Gertrude Bell, an early 20th century Englishwoman known for her bold travels to...

Irving Finkel, Assistant Keeper I with responsibility for cuneiform in the Department of the Middle East, British Museum. Wednesday, June 1, 2016 This talk will describe what befell the speaker after one quite remarkable cuneiform tablet was brought for examination to the British Museum in London. The inscription on this four-thousand-year-old tablet led to a series of altogether unexpected discov...

The Battle of Kadesh: A Debate between the Egyptian and Hittite Perspectives Wednesday, January 6, 2016 The Battle of Kadesh, ca. 1285 BC, is the earliest military encounter that can be analyzed in detail. This conflict between the Egyptian forces of Ramses II and the Hittite army of Muwatalli was celebrated as a personal victory by Ramses, but is often treated by modern scholars as an Egyptian de...

Josef Wegner, Associate Professor of Egyptian Archaeology from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, presents "The Pharaohs of Anubis-Mountain: Archaeological Investigations of a Royal Necropolis at Abydos" Wednesday, September 2, 2015 Recent excavations at Abydos in Upper Egypt have revealed an extensive royal necropolis beside a sacred peak...

Exhibit co-curator Dr. Virginia R. Herrmann explores the themes of "In Remembrance of Me". The exhibit elucidates the means by which the people of the ancient Middle East and Egypt honored and commemorated their deceased ancestors, as illustrated by numerous statues, steles, and inscriptions discovered throughout the region. This audio recording was originally presented as an illustrated lecture....

The Long Defeat: The Fall of the Roman Empire by Clifford Ando Wednesday, December 4, 2013 Clifford Ando, David B. and Clara E. Stern Professor; Professor of Classics, University of Chicago speaks at the third lecture in our four-part series: Why Did Civilizations Collapse: Internal Decay or External Forces? The Long Defeat: The Fall of the Roman Empire in East and West. The Roman Empire remains o...

Professor of Hittite and Anatolian Languages Theo van den Hout tells us about who scribes in Mesopotamia and Anatolia were. This interview was produced for the OI special exhibit "Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East" which ran from September 28, 2010, through March 6, 2011. This audio recording was originally recorded as a video interview. The video of this interview...