Oldest Stories

You have seen the memes, and maybe you are even familiar with them, but today we look at who was the famous Ea-Nasir, why people would buy from him, and what scams he was probably running. We ask how often Mesopotamians complained about things, and we learn a bit along the way. In this episode, we go far beyond the famous complaint tablet to uncover the full economic and historical context of Ea-N...

In 743 BCE, Tiglath-Pileser III—known in the Bible as Pul—led the Assyrian Empire into its most powerful and centralized form. This episode of Oldest Stories chronicles the dramatic military and political resurgence of Neo-Assyria as it faced two major threats: the rising Urartian kingdom of Biainilli to the north and the rebellious patchwork of Neo-Hittite and Aramean states in Syria. With detail...

This episode is the essential starting point for understanding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. In 745 BCE, a relatively obscure man named Tukulti-Apil-Esharra—better known by his biblical name Tiglath-Pileser III—seized the Assyrian throne in what would become one of the most transformative moments in ancient Near Eastern history. This episode explores how Tiglath-Pileser's revolutionary reforms resh...

This is where to start for the Neo-Assyrian Empire’s epic tale. In this foundational episode, we return to the heartland of Assyria at its lowest point—between the conquests of Shalmaneser III and the revolutionary rise of Tiglath-Pileser III. It is a time of political decay, military paralysis, and divine silence. We explore the full sweep of Assyrian history from its founding in the third millen...

In this episode of Oldest Stories, we return to the Armenian Highlands in 786 BCE to witness the death of King Menua of Urartu (Biainilli) and the rise of his son Argishti I—a transition that begins the golden age of the Urartian kingdom. Explore the geopolitics, warfare, urbanization, and social engineering of one of the most impressive and least understood Iron Age empires. We trace Argishti I’s...

Buy the Oldest Stories books!: https://a.co/d/7Wn4jhS :In this episode of Oldest Stories, we explore the complex military and political history of Urartu during its northern campaigns in the early 8th century BCE. As King Menua consolidates power and expands Biainilli influence into the Armenian Highlands, he clashes with the highland polities of Etiuni and Diauehi—two distinct yet influential gro...

Sorry for the late post - Spotify had this scheduled, but didn't post it on the correct day. Today we look at the daily life and industry of the Armenian highland kingdom of Urartu through the eyes of three Hurrians, a miner, a smelter, and an iron worker. This is a historical fiction, but it is based on what we can know about the industries and daily life of that era. I am also doing daily hi...

Today we witness the transformation of Urartu—called Biainilli in its own time—from a fledgling mountain kingdom into a formidable Iron Age empire that would challenge Assyria itself. Following Sarduri’s founding of Tushpa, his successors Ishpuini and Menua laid the military, economic, and administrative foundations of a true state. We explore the first co-regency in Urartian history, Ishpuini’s e...

In this episode, we explore one of the most dramatic and mysterious transformations in ancient Near Eastern history: the sudden rise of the Kingdom of Urartu—known to its own people as Biainilli—under the leadership of Sarduri I, son of Lutipri. From roughly 835 BCE, Sarduri doesn't merely shift a capital; he constructs an entire state system seemingly from the ground up on the eastern shore o...

Explore the fascinating rise of Urartu, an ancient kingdom forged in the crucible of war and environmental hardship. In just two decades during the mid-9th century BCE, this mountainous backwater transformed into a powerful and advanced state, boasting fortress cities, aqueducts, and cutting-edge metallurgy. How did the disparate Hurrian tribes of the Armenian Highlands unite under King Sarduri I,...

In the wake of the Bronze Age Collapse, a new power emerged in central Anatolia—the Phrygians. This episode examines their origins, tracing their migration from the Balkans and their settlement in the lands west of the former Hittite heartland. Drawing from archaeology and historical sources, we explore how the Phrygians established themselves as skilled wool workers, metalworkers, and cavalrymen,...

Suhu is a only modestly important region, and the independant kingdom that lived on the Middle Euphrates from perhaps 775 BCE to 744 BCE is barely more than an historical footnote. And yet, because they wrote their stories on stone stele, we can talk about the two kings Shamash-Resha-Usur and Ninurta-Kudurri-Usur. They loved their tiny nation and lived for its prosperity, building orchards, canals...

Graham Hancock is a complicated man. On one hand, he is exposing a lot of people to some of the most cutting edge archeological investigations and open questions in history, and doing it in a way that is engaging, entertaining, and gets non-experts excited about the field. On the other hand, his methodology is fundamentally unsound, to the point that even if he is right in his thesis of an ancient...

Reading 2800 year old slave documents, we learn a great deal about what concerned the people of Assyria on a day to day basis, at least the ones who lived in and around the major cities. From these documents we can see how the economy is changing, and how many parts of life are just as they have always been, for better or worse. If you like the show, consider sharing with your friends, leaving a l...

Today we talk about the governors Nergal-Erish and Mannu-ki-Mat-Assur as they play their part in building the Assyrian empire in a number of often unheralded and underappreciated ways. Then we look at important developments in Babylonia related to the Chaldeans and Itu'eans. Mannu-ki-Mat-Assur's archives: https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/atae?zoom=67&bkmk=P527340 If you like the show, consider s...

Today we blame the decline of Assyria on horses, and look at Adad-Nirari's desperation to get more of them. Also we see more of the historical Shammu-Ramat, the source of the Semiramis myth. There is also a brief discussion of the uncertain Messiah of 2 Kings 13. If you like the show, consider sharing with your friends, leaving a like, subscribing, or even supporting financially: Buy the Oldest St...

The tale of Semiramis is one of those myths that everyone used to know, and many people used to take quite seriously. It is a tale from the Greek era which purports to tell the whole story of the great and ancient Babylonian and Assyrian empires, ultimately based on a now-lost set of legends that grew around the historical queen Shammu-ramat, wife and Queen of Shamshi-Adad V and mother of Adad-Nir...

The angry and impotent king Shamshi-Adad would accomplish quite little during his reign of the Neo-Assyrian empire, but he would manage to completely annihilate the resurgent Babylonians and set them back a full century, while also marrying Shammu-Ramat, the inspiration for the mythical Semiramis, and allowing the Assyrian Empire to descend fully into the Age of the Magnates, or Assyrian Feudal Pe...

The final years of Shalmaneser III's reign over the Neo-Assyrian Empire, was a pivotal period marked by civil war, political intrigue, and shifting power dynamics. As Shalmaneser aged and relied more on his top general, Dayan-Assur, did his appointment of his younger son, Shamshi-Adad, as successor trigger a bitter seven-year conflict (827–820 BCE) with his elder son, Assur-Danin-Apli? This poorly...

The latter half of Shalmaneser's reign is less celebrated, but no less important. We see major campaigns against Urartu, Que, and Parsua, but more importantly we see some of those campaigns led by an unexpected figure, Dayan-Assur. We are rapidly building up to the civil war that opens the Assyrian Feudal Era, with epic poetry, political dynamics, and lots and lots of hard to remember names! If yo...

Today we see the political aspect of Babylon during its dark age, focusing on the 10th to 9th centuries BCE. Highlights are reigns of kings like Nabu-Mukin-Apli, Nabu-Shuma-Ukin, and Nabu-Apla-Iddina, tracing the political fragmentation, famine, and external threats faced by the city. The episode also highlights Babylon's struggle against Aramean raids, the rise of new dynasties, and the city's co...

Today we talk about why, exactly, Babylon was unique and look at how during this dark age they were still creating unique and interesting literary works. This gets pretty wide ranging, from defense to omen texts to political reform to the origins of the Chaldeans. The podcast has gone back to audio-only, the video side of things was taking too much away from the important parts of the show. Advice...

The lead-up to and significance of the first great battle of the iron age. Qarqar changed the equation for the Assyrian empire, which has until now been expanding without serious resistance. We will learn about the geopolitical significance of Damascus and Israel, watch the Assyrians struggle and grow as a result, and reach the peak of early Neo-Assyrian military achievement. If you like the show,...

Today we examine the situation in the Levant from the Bronze age Collapse to the entry of the Assyrians, and then follow Shalmaneser's levantine campaigns as they reshape the region through violence and indigenous reactions. We reach the end of Ahumu the Aramean's anti-Assyrian activities, and ponder some of the big questions of the series, like what motivates Shalmaneser and what happens...

A big transition of power as Shalmaneser peacefully takes the crown from his psychotic father, then immediately heads north for some war crimes. Big discussion today about how the Assyrian empire really works, what holds it together, and how Shalmaneser heralds a new phase in near eastern history. I even have a new background to mark the new era, for those watching on video. Also, for those not on...