The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: Esarhaddon and the Empire That Ran Itself

   Esarhaddon inherited the Neo-Assyrian Empire at the height of its power—but his kingship looked very different from that of the warrior-kings who came before him. Plagued by questions of legitimacy, surrounded by prophets and diviners, and often absent from his own military campaigns, Esarhaddon nevertheless presided over an extraordinarily aggressive and successful Assyrian state. This episode follows the first half of Esarhaddon’s reign: the rebuilding of Babylon, the rise of prophecy as a political force, wars against Chaldeans and Arabs, the arrival of the Cimmerians, the destruction of Sidon, the treaty with Baal of Tyre, and the strange expedition to Bazu. Along the way, we look at how Assyrian kingship was changing, how religion and factional politics shaped the court, and how an empire built for conquest could continue functioning even when its king was no longer personally leading every army. Music from the show: oldeststories.net/music (or search "Oldest Stories Music") Support the show: Books: https://a.co/d/7Wn4jhS Donate: oldeststories.net Patreon / YouTube members get bonus episodes: patreon.com/JamesBleckley No-AI readings of ancient texts: youtube.com/@osnightreading

   August 26, 2026·44min
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   Number 2: The Cimmerian Horse Lords

   The Cimmerians were among the first great horse nomad powers to crash into the civilizations of the ancient Near East. Emerging from the Scytho-Siberian world north of the Caucasus, they struck Urartu, devastated Phrygia and Lydia, raided deep into the Near East, and became legendary in Greek memory as one of the great barbarian terrors of antiquity. But how dangerous were they really? In this episode, we look beyond the later legends to reconstruct the Cimmerians and their Scythian cousins as actual people: their pastoral economy, horses, clothing, settlements, weapons, trade, and political organization. We examine what made mounted nomads so difficult for settled kingdoms to fight, why mobility mattered more than any supposedly unstoppable horse-archer tactic, and why the mighty Assyrian army was surprisingly well suited to defeating them. We also confront one of the strangest mysteries of Cimmerian warfare: if lightly equipped horse nomads struggled against an Assyrian battle line, how did they repeatedly overcome some of the greatest fortified cities of Anatolia? From Conan the Barbarian to Herodotus, from the Caucasus to Sardis, this is the story of the Cimmerians, the early Scythians, and the arrival of the horse nomad as a major force in Near Eastern history. Music from the show: oldeststories.net/music (or search "Oldest Stories Music") Support the show: Books: https://a.co/d/7Wn4jhS Donate: oldeststories.net Patreon / YouTube members get bonus episodes: patreon.com/JamesBleckley No-AI readings of ancient texts: youtube.com/@osnightreading

   September 09, 2026·37min
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   Number 3: The Lessons of Ahiqar

   The ancient story of Ahiqar follows a legendary wise man and royal adviser at the court of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. After adopting his nephew Nadan and teaching him a long collection of proverbs, Ahiqar is betrayed, falsely accused of treason, condemned to death, and forced to hide beneath his own house. His eventual return leads to a strange contest of riddles with the Pharaoh of Egypt and a final confrontation with the student who rejected his wisdom. Preserved in an ancient Aramaic papyrus from Elephantine and in later Syriac, Arabic, Armenian, Greek, Slavonic, and Ethiopic versions, the Tale of Ahiqar may be the oldest Mesopotamian story to survive beyond the disappearance of cuneiform culture. This episode explores the story’s Assyrian background, its relationship to ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature, its memorable proverbs and insults, and the way traditional stories were used to form memory, judgment, and moral character. Topics include Ahiqar, Nadan, Sennacherib, ancient Assyria, Nineveh, Elephantine, Aramaic literature, Syriac literature, Mesopotamian wisdom, ancient proverbs, the Tale of Ahiqar, the Thousand and One Nights, ancient Egypt, Pharaoh, Assyrian court culture, and ancient Near Eastern storytelling. Music from the show: oldeststories.net/music (or search "Oldest Stories Music") Support the show: Books: https://a.co/d/7Wn4jhS Donate: oldeststories.net Patreon / YouTube members get bonus episodes: patreon.com/JamesBleckley No-AI readings of ancient texts: youtube.com/@osnightreading

   July 29, 2026·45min
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   Number 4: A Tour of Dur-Sharrukin

   Today we attempt an immersive historical reconstruction of Dur-Sharrukin, the short-lived but astonishing capital built by Sargon II of Assyria in the late eighth century BCE. Set primarily in 706 BCE, this episode takes the listener on a guided tour of the city at the height of its splendor, using a fictional Urartian envoy as a narrative lens to explore what may be the most ambitious urban project of the ancient Near East. Drawing closely on archaeological evidence, royal inscriptions, and comparative material from Assyria and Babylonia, the episode reconstructs the experience of approaching Dur-Sharrukin along the royal roads, passing through its immense fortifications, and moving from the regimented lower city into the elevated palace and temple complex. Along the way, it examines Assyrian logistics, deportation policy, urban planning, law courts, sacred gates, monumental reliefs, and the social reality of an imperial capital populated almost entirely by relocated peoples from across the empire. Particular attention is given to the unprecedented scale and order of the city, its rigid grid layout, state-allocated housing, massive walls, and the palace platform crowned by the ziggurat of Nabu. The episode also explores the hydraulic engineering that made the upper complex possible, including early screw-pump technology that anticipates later traditions surrounding the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Dur-Sharrukin emerges not merely as a capital, but as an ideological statement: a city designed to embody kingship, divine favor, and imperial domination in stone, water, and labor. Although the central figure of Aramu is fictional, the city is not. The episode uses historical fiction as a disciplined tool to illuminate daily experience, perception, and scale in a way that conventional narrative history often cannot. It also reflects on the tragedy of Dur-Sharrukin’s fate, abandoned only months after completion following Sargon II’s death, and largely erased from living memory despite rivaling the great wonders of the ancient world. This episode sets the stage for the next installment, which turns from the city to the engine that made it possible: the mature Assyrian army of the Sargonid period, examining its organization, equipment, tactics, and logistical systems in depth. I am also doing daily history facts again, at least until I run out of time again. You can find Oldest Stories daily on Tiktok and Youtube Shorts. If you like the show, consider sharing with your friends, leaving a like, subscribing, or even supporting financially: Buy the Oldest Stories books: https://a.co/d/7Wn4jhS Donate here: https://oldeststories.net/ or on patreon: https://patreon.com/JamesBleckley or on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCG2tPxnHNNvMd0VrInekaA/join Youtube and Patreon members get access to bonus content about Egyptian culture and myths.

   December 31, 2025·42min
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   Number 5: OS 168 - The Golden Age of Urartu

   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 ruthless expansion across Anatolia and the Caucasus, highlighting his staggering military campaigns—including the mass deportation of over 50,000 captives from the Diauehi—and the founding of major cities like Argishtikhinili and Erebuni (modern Yerevan). His reign marks a peak of Urartian power, economic integration, and cultural homogenization, supported by a complex bureaucracy and a militarized frontier strategy aimed at rival Assyria. The episode also dives into Argishti’s successor, Sarduri II, and the approaching storm of Tiglath-Pileser III's Assyrian military revolution. We examine the collapse of Urartu’s frontier buffer, the mysterious succession crisis involving multiple kings named Rusa, and the kingdom’s eventual unraveling under Cimmerian pressure and internal fragmentation. From glorious conquest to slow collapse, we recount the full arc of Urartian dominance, with attention to archaeological gaps, historiographic debates, and ancient sources. Whether you're interested in Iron Age imperialism, ancient warfare, Near Eastern archaeology, or the origins of Armenian civilization, this episode offers deep insight into one of history’s great highland kingdoms. #Urartu #Argishti #AncientArmenia #IronAge #OldestStoriesPodcast #Assyria #TiglathPileser #AncientHistory #Biainilli #Diauehi #Etiuni #Cimmerians #HistoryPodcast #NearEast #Yerevan #Archaeology #AncientWarfare #Khaldi #NeoHittites #Mesopotamia #KingsAndConquests #AncientEmpires I am also doing daily history facts again, at least until I run out of time again. You can find Oldest Stories on Reels, Tiktok, and Youtube. If you like the show, consider sharing with your friends, leaving a like, subscribing, or even supporting financially: Buy the Oldest Stories books: https://a.co/d/7Wn4jhS Donate here: https://oldeststories.net/ or on patreon: https://patreon.com/JamesBleckley or on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCG2tPxnHNNvMd0VrInekaA/join Youtube and Patreon members get access to bonus content about Egyptian culture and myths.

   May 28, 2025·38min
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