The Russian Empire History Podcast

This episode rounds out our look at the Scythians with the Sarmatians, who displaced the Royal Scythians as the rulers of the Western steppe, and the Saka, the Scythians who stayed in the East. 

Check out the episode blogpost at https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-111-sarmatians-and-saka

In this episode we return to the narrative with a look at the Scythian migration from Central Asia into the southern Russian and Ukrainian steppe, and the first empire created by a steppe people. 

Episode blog post https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-110-the-first-steppe-empire

In this episode we look at how a Bronze Age initiation ritual evolved into a cornerstone of steppe culture that drove the expansion and migration of nomadic peoples for centuries.

This year is the 200th anniversary of the return to Russia of the Bellinghausen Expedition, which discovered the Antarctic continent and was the first Russian visit to New Zealand. In this episode, we discuss the expedition and its significance with special guest Sergey Permitin.

Pictures by expedition artist Pavel Mikhailov in the collection of the Russian Museum: https://rusmuseumvrm.ru/reference/classifier/author/mihaylov_pavel_nikolaevich/index.php?show=asc&p=0&page=1&ps=20&lang=en#slide-1

NZ Geographic articles on the first Russian visit to NZ:

https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/from-russia-with-respect/?source=readmore-ribbon-related

https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-day-the-russians-came/

Peaceful East 200: https://www.russia-maritime.ru/mve200

Horsebreeding, lifestyle, and innovations in weaponry came together to make steppe warriors an almost unstoppable force. In this episode, we look at weapons and equipment of the mounted archers of the steppe and what made them different from their sedentary neighbours.

Intro from The History of Saqartvelo Georgia podcast - find them on all good podcast platforms.

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Ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote about the Scythians at length, but his writings have always been controversial. What did the Father of History have to say about the steppe warriors, and how reliable is it?

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In this last part of our look at archeological discoveries in steppe kurgans, we look at how finds from Ukraine to Mongolia were put together to rediscover the Scythians.

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This episode looks at the Greek colonies of the northern Black Sea coast, the Bosporan Kingdom, breadbasket of the Ancient Greek world and an important interface between the steppe and sedentary civilisations.

4000 years ago, another kurgan building culture developed - the ancestors of all the Iranic peoples appeared in the Southern Urals with a trade network from the Black Sea to the Pacific and innovations that would have an impact from China to Egypt. 

5000 years ago, nomadic steppe lifestyles began with the Yamnaya people, likely speakers of Proto-Indo-European, who left kurgan graves across the steppe, and whose descendants spread across half the world.

Check out the REHP blog for a map of the Yamnaya homeland https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-103-early-kurgans-and-the-yamnaya-culture