Three massive philosophical and spiritual shifts take place in these years, Confucius in China, Buddha in India and Zoroastrianism in Persia. We will visit the Celts across Europe and end with with a discussion of a newly discovered civilization hidden for millenia beneath the trees of the Amazon which will rewrite the history of Ecuador.

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Note: Visit our site if you're after official episode sources. Links below are to peruse and to compliment the episode for more depth.

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Celts

• We begin the episode with an explanation of expansion of the Indo-European Language Family.
• Proto-Indo-European is the reconstructed ancestor language of dozens of languages and language families across Eurasia, including Persian, Sanskrit and Celtic. We don’t usually link to Wikipedia, but this chart is an incredibly clear and concise layout of the ancient language families and their modern descendants.
• You can hear an attempted recreation of Proto-Indo-European here!
• One of the branches of this language family is the Celtic languages.
• The druids were critically important parts of Celtic society. They played the many roles as diplomats and advisors, as well as healers, historians and priests.
• Celtic chariots were important war tools.
• The etymology of the word barbarian.

Buddha

• A little more context for the word Aryan including how it was hijacked in the modern world.
• Or check out the book Which of Us Are Aryans? for an in depth look from many perspectives on all the controversy surrounding the influx of Vedic culture into India.
• The Buddha’s possible birth site is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
• The Caste System.
• There are many variations on the story of the Buddha’s life. Many are told through art including the incredible frescos in the Ajanta Caves, now a Unesco World Heritage site.

Buddhism

• The Four Noble Truths.
• The Eightfold Path.

The Zhou Dynasty and Confucius in China  

• The Duke of Zhou was a leader from before Confucius’ time. He was remembered as just and wise.
• The Mandate of Heaven.
• Confucius’ life fell between the Spring and Autumn Period of the Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period.
• Confucius
• Confucius teachings were compiled by his followers into the Analects.
• Contention of the 100 Schools of Thought were a time when so many important pieces of philosophy and literature and history were written, including The Art of War and the The Spring and Autumn Annals.

The Persian Empire

• Cyrus the Great first conquers Media and Lydia.
• The Babylonian Empire falls to Cyrus.
• Cyrus allows the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.
• The Hebrew Bible refers to Cyrus as a Messiah.
• Way too much incest in royal families throughout the ages.
• This podcast discusses Persepolis, the political or ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire. The three different historians give their perspective on what the role of Persepolis was. *Heads up, the interviewer feels frustratingly rude to me, doesn’t let them talk, cuts them off, etc.
• The Behistun Inscription - the “Rosetta Stone” for cuneiform.
• Besides The Rosetta Stone, Other Stone Texts Have Interpreted Ancient Cultures | Discover Magazine.
• Athens and Sparta exist at the time of this episode.
• The Trojan War, likely a mythologized memory of the Bronze Age Collapse, becomes an important part of Greek Origin stories.
• The Battle of Marathon.
• Battle of Thermopylae  or you can watch this if you prefer your history to be utter nonsense.
• Sparta’s last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae.

Zoroastrianism

• Zarathustra or Zoroaster is the profit or the Zoroastrian religion.
• Zoroastrianism is the world’s first major Monotheistic religion. The one true god, Ahura Mazda, has a counterpart, Angra Mainyu.
• The Magi are Zoroastrian priests.
• Towers of Silence.
• Fire is very sacred to the Zoroastrians. example, example, example.
• The Faravahar, the ...

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