Welcome to luxe dot fm, the podcast that traces the history of luxury through 5,000 years of civilizations, rare materials, symbols, and forms of power.
In this first series in 14 parts, we go back to the origins: Antiquity, where luxury takes root in the sacred, divine authority, imperial hierarchy, and funerary prestige.
At that time, the word “luxury” does not yet exist — but its manifestations are everywhere: in the ziggurats, the tombs, the woven fabrics, the precious metals, the votive objects, and the trade routes.
In this first episode, we travel through 13 founding civilizations, each illustrating a facet of ancient luxury:
Mesopotamia (Iraq):
Ziggurats, gold, lapis-lazuli — luxury consecrates divine and urban power
Pharaonic Egypt (Egypt):
Goldsmithing, fine linen, tombs — luxury sanctifies the power of the pharaohs
Ancient India (Maurya & Gupta) (India):
Textiles, spices, palaces — cosmic and imperial luxury
Ancient China (China):
Bronze, jade, silk — ritual, moral, and celestial luxury
Hittites (Anatolia):
Horses, gold, temples — martial and diplomatic luxury
Mycenaeans (Greece):
Funerary masks, goldsmithing, weapons — aristocratic and warrior luxury
Phoenicians (Lebanon):
Purple, ivory, glassmaking — commercial and artisanal luxury
Classical Greece (Greece):
Philosophy against the “perissos” — luxury seen as civic corruption
Carthaginians (Tunisia):
Gold, votive objects, networks — religious and commercial luxury
Ancient Rome (Italy):
Banquets, marbles, silks — imperial and decadent luxury, criticized by Seneca and Juvenal
Etruscans (Central Italy):
Jewelry, banquet, painted tombs — funerary, refined, and egalitarian luxury
Ancient Africa (Kush, Meroë, Axum) (Sudan, Ethiopia):
Gold, temples, craftsmanship — royal and sacred Afro-Oriental luxury
Ancient Judaism (Jerusalem):
Temple, ritual objects, sacred symbolism — a spiritual and communal luxury
Across these cultures, luxury manifests as a language of power, faith, and memory. It is not bought: it is shown, inscribed in stone, buried with kings, or circulates on the silk and incense roads.
Narrated by a female voice, this 20-minute audio documentary lays the first stone of a great story.
That of an ancient, total, cosmic luxury — far from modern consumption.
🎧 Next episode: Pre-Columbian civilizations, between jade masks, sacred feathers, and sun pyramids.
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