Oldest Stories

Today we are going to weave a few separate tales of Ishtar together to get a picture of her character and power as  the Goddess of Love and War. Apologies for the poor audio quality, my set up was flawed today, but the story is still audible. Online at oldeststories.net

Today we finish the epic of Gilgamesh with the story of the mysterious hermit Utnapishtim, a tale that goes all the way back to when the earth was young. We will see labor disputes and quite a lot of geological investigation while learning three ways for a mortal to gain immortality. Online at oldeststories.net

In the penultimate episode of the Epic of Gilgamesh, we see the height of action and adventure. Gilgamesh is going to scorn a beautiful woman, then pay dearly, fighting a mighty battle and going on a great journey. Online at oldeststories.net

In today's episode we cover two side stories of Gilgamesh. First he will fight off an invasion of Uruk in Gilgamesh and Aga, and then he will aid the goddess Ishtar, become obsessed with golf, and learn about the afterlife in Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Underworld. Two very different tales, but both say a lot about Gilgamesh and ancient Sumerian society. Find us online at oldeststories.net.

Here we continue the adventures of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, as they travel far from their city to battle the lord of forests, the fearsome force of nature, the Humbaba itself. This is part two of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Find us online at oldeststories.net

Here we finally begin the Epic of Gilgamesh by recounting the opening tablet and a half, the taming of Enkidu. In this episode we have it all, tyranny, power, lust, and violence, the grand opening of the tale that more than any other has stood the test of time. This is part one of the Gilgamesh series, it will continue in future episodes. Find us online at oldeststories.net.

The History part of the Oldest Stories begins here. Where did Enmerkar, Lugalbanda, and Gilgamesh come from, and how did civilization arise between the Tigris and Euphrates? Drawing from archeology and the very oldest writings, we look at the origins of Sumer, the pre-Sumerian Ubaids, the landscape of Mesopotamia, and the poorly understood ups and downs of the very earliest proto-history of Mesopo...

In this episode, we continue the oldest still existing narrative of human warfare. Aratta has gone back on their agreement from last time and King Enmerkar finally rallies an implausibly large number of soldiers to put him down for good. Of his eight storied generals, literally the only one who even still has a name remembered by history is Lugalbanda, and in this tale we will hear a sampling of h...

In this, the first episode of the Oldest Stories podcast, we go all the way back to the very beginning with about the oldest story ever to be written on clay tablets. This is the story of the city of Uruk and it's king Enmerkar as they threaten the rival city of Aratta. Find us online at oldeststories.net. This episode was re-recorded to improve audio quality and narrative structure as of 2021/1/2...