Did you know that the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism is still alive? Dr. John Tidmarsh tells us all about some lesser-known Persians including Persian women, the Zoroastrian religion and whether he thought Xerxes was actually mad or not, along with more of your questions!

Dr. John Tidmarsh is both a medical doctor and holds a PhD in archaeology. He is a co-director of the University of Sydney’s excavations at Pella in Jordan and co-director of the ANU/ University of Melbourne excavations at Jebel Khalid in Syria. He has previously excavated in Greece and Cyprus. His main areas of interest are the archaeology of Alexander the Great’s conquests, the Hellenistic Period in the Near East and Asia, and the Islamic world.

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The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:

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