In this podcast, we take a look at the fabled king, Croesus of Lydia, at least from the point of view of Greek writers such as Herodotus and Xenophon.  Croesus was a king who during his day (r. 560-546 BC) was deemed to have been the wealthiest sovereign in the world. However, he lost it all to the Persian king Cyrus the Great while finally learning the lesson that the great Athenian sage, Solon, was trying to convey to him.  It's an interesting tale and fun to examine.  


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The Achaemenid king, Cambyses II of Persia, was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great.  Though Cyrus is lauded by friend and foe alike as the ideal ruler, his son Cambyses in many written sources has been portrayed as just the opposite - a cruel, intolerant and unjust tyrant.  But are these accusations true or simply the result of anti-Persian propaganda that was spread by some of their dissatisfied subject peoples, most notably in Egypt?  Most of what we know about Cambyses II comes from his time in Egypt, which we'll take a look at here to see if we can determine just who the real Cambyses II of Persia was.   

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With this video we start a series of programs and podcasts all dealing with ancient Persia and the beginnings of the Achaemenid Persian Empire of Cyrus II, better known to the world as Cyrus the Great.  We'll first take a quick look at the history of the region around the time when the first Iranian tribes entered the region, followed by the Medes and how they laid the groundwork for the rise of one of history's greatest rulers, Cyrus the Great, founder of Persian Achaemenid Empire.  We'll also examine a good deal of the primary sources (such as the works of Herodotus, Babylonian chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, etc.) that help us to put together a better picture of who Cyrus was. You will not want to miss this episode!

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In this podcast we cover the last centuries of what was once an independent and powerful Elam.  During what's known as the Neo-Elamite period (1100-550 BC), Elam went on a steady decline until it's near destruction at the hands of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.  This is the story of the last kings of Elam and the final end of their conflict with the peoples and empires of neighboring Babylonia and Assyria.   

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I thought it'd be a good idea to take some time and discuss the basic religious beliefs and practices that were prevalent in ancient Canaan and the Levant during the Bronze Age.  In this program, you'll learn about the basics of how Canaanite religion developed as well as how it impacted the lives of the people who practiced this form of worship.

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This podcast is for all of your fans of Babylonian history! In it, we take a look at the some of the most obscure centuries in Babylonian history and the events as well as the dynasties that shaped them, namely the Second Dynasty of the Sealand, the Bazi Dynasty, the Elamite Dynasty and the mysterious Dynasty of E.  This is the history of Babylon that you were not taught in school.

Sources and Suggested Reading ► https://bit.ly/3e8qWI6

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In this video podcast, we'll take a look at one of the most overlooked peoples of ancient history, the Medes, and reconstruct their early history using Assyrian, Babylonian and Greek sources, namely Herodotus (the Medes don't have any primary sources of their own).  It was the Medes and the Median Empire that laid the foundation upon which the Achaemenid Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great and his descendants rested upon.

Sources and Suggested Reading ► https://bit.ly/3ehWgov

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I thought that this might be a fun topic for those of you who are into examining ancient primary sources.  For those of you who may not know, the Amarna Letters are a collection of 14th century BCE correspondence between three pharaohs of Egypt and other great kings or their vassals and mayors in the Levant.  They're interesting and actually fun to read for what they reveal about international relations in the Near East during the period. 

The program is divided up into the following sections:

0:00 - Introduction to the Amarna Letters
3:55 - Bargaining for royal brides
11:30 - Assyria joins the club of great kings
13:11 - Trouble in Byblos

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Scribes played an extremely important role in the history of the ancient world, especially in Mesopotamia. As purveyors of the written word, they were responsible for all sorts of tasks - recording knowledge, drafting and writing edicts for their rulers, copying works of ancient literature, keep tab of grain inventories, writing up contracts between different parties, solving everyday mathematical problems, translating documents and much more.  In this episode, you'll get a glimpse of the world of scribes in Mesopotamia - and hear what may be the equivalent of the oldest diss track in ancient history. 

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The Kingdom and later Empire of Aksum (also spelled Axum) was one of late antiquity's most influential, wealthiest and powerful states.  The Aksumites built incredible monuments, minted their own gold coins, traded with lands as far away as India and China, and were influential in spreading Christianity throughout eastern Africa.  They are also arguably the people from whom the inhabitants of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea draw their cultural and religious identity from.  Check out the video to see what the Empire of Aksum was and why it's so important to the history of Africa and the world.

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