Thin End of the Wedge

How did ancient cultures understand the end of empires? When was the end even considered a possibility, and did they see it coming? When was an end not an end, but a continuity? Shana explores political change through the perspective of the communities who lived through it.

2:09 why the end of empires?
3:41 how to identify the end
5:58 are symbols of office destroyed?
7:48 ends versus natural rhythms
12:50 mythology of end
17:37 do destroyers take on the divine role?
19:14 would people have seen it coming?
24:28 could anyone intervene to prevent disaster?
26:55 what can we learn from ancient ends?
30:21 how much impact would an end have had?

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Gioele talks about the PlANET Project (Plants in the Ancient Near East Texts). How do texts and archaeobotanical evidence combine to explain the economic and functional roles of plants? And what symbolic values did they have? To what extent did they play active roles?

3:27  the PlANET project
5:23  what do we know about plants?
7:57  combining sources
11:13  project goals
13:35  attitudes to environmental change
15:18  interdisciplinary
17:30  identifying plants
21:07  environmental humanities
26:15  plants as actors
29:06  gender studies in plant studies
32:59  BioANE project and PlANET project
33:49  analogical thinking
37:43  current research
40:59  favourite plant

PlANET at La Sapienza 

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

David Kertai explains all about Neo-Assyrian palaces. What, and who, would we find there? How did they function? What do their design and decoration tell us about how they were used? How visible was the king? 

David's museum page

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

International Association for Assyriology awards prizes to early career scholars annually. The for 2025 awards went to: 

Best PhD dissertation in the field of Assyriology and Mesopotamian Archaeology: Adeline Reynaud, for “Les diagrammes mathématiques paléo-babyloniens : catalogue, propriétés matérielles, rôles dans les raisonnements”

Best article in Assyriology and Mesopotamian Archaeology: 

Laureate: Jon Beltz, for “Everyday Magic? Four Sumerian zi…pa₃ Incantations on Amulets,” in Journal of Cuneiform Studies 77: 97-121.

Runner-up: Andrew Pottorf, for “un-il₂ (“Menials”) as a Serflike Social Stratum during the Ur III Period,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History 12/1: 83-113. 

Jon and Andrew join us to talk about their prize-winning research. 

2:00 What is a zipa incantation?

2:54 amulets and tablets

3:55 practical magic

5:27 main argument

6:29 structures

8:13 place in research

9:10 what's next

11:42 status groups in Ur III

15:52 state of research

20:52 the "people"

22:30 how to become UN.IL2

26:59 social security?

28:50 place in research

30:43 what's next

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Lisa Wilhelmi discusses the international system in the ancient Middlle East. The 14th century BC tablets from Amarna in Egypt, and tablets from the royal archives in Hattusa (Türkiye), reveal diplomatic exchanges between the great powers that ruled the region. What did they want from each other? Who and what moved around, and why?

2:00 what does "international" mean?
3:09 what sources our sources say?
5:22 were the letters preserved or did they just survive?
6:50 what language do they use?
8:37 were they equal partners?
10:34 do resources buy membership of the great powers club?
12:15 how did they talk to each other?
14:35 what messages are they sending each other?
16:38 political theatre?
18:32 how princesses were chosen
19:40 did princesses take part in the correspondence?
20:13 why was cuneiform the method of communication?
23:51 cultural exchange
26:52 lost in translation?

Lisa's university page

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Gina Konstantopoulos, Andrew Deloucas, Gabriel Moshenska, and Steven Garfinkle discuss internet favourite, Ea-nasir. What do we know about the Dilmun traders and their role in the supply of copper to the kingdoms of Babylonia? Who were his customers and what did they want his copper for? How did he become famous in the 21st century, and what jokes do people make about him? What possibilities does this offer assyriology?

Andrew Deloucas's university page

Gina Konstantopoulos's university page

Gabriel Moshenska's university page

Steven Garfinkle's university page

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Rocío and Nathan take us to Babylon in the Late Babylonian period for a remarkable public ritual. The divine love lyrics are one of the most surprising literary survivals from antiquity. Sarpanitu discovers that Marduk has been sleeping with Ishtar. The two goddesses become embroiled in a very public shouting match, throwing insults at each other. What was this ritual and what did it mean? 

3:56  introduction to the Divine Love Lyrics 
5:42  one text, a series, or something else?
7:20  content in detail
10:45  reading the text
16:55  making sense of the texts
20:29  literary qualities
22:18  whose perspectives?
26:05  the lyrics in Babylonian theology
32:36  was it shocking?
34:29  who was it for?
37:56  what don't we know?
40:15  about the book

Rocío's university page

Rocío's Academia

Rocío's ResearchGate

Nathan's university page

Nathan's Academia

Nathan's personal website

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Mustafa discusses his project to document the condition of the gates of Nineveh, and to plan the sustainable conservation and management. What do the gates mean to Mosulis? What reconstruction work has taken place, what condition are the gates in now, and what might they look like in the future? 

2:39  the Gates of Nineveh project
4:46  historic reconstructions
5:40  significance
7:19  current condition
9:51  archaeological park
13:45  displaying finds from the gates
16:04  heritage tourism in Mosul
17:07  heritage restoration
21:03  the Banquet Stela of Ashurnasirpal
24:33  where to learn more

Mustafa's Facebook

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Augusta talks about the new excavations at Nippur. What are the goals of the new work, and how does she manage the long history of excavations at the site? What are the long term plans for the site? She reveals the first results, including news about the city walls, a huge Neo-Babylonian villa, and a Parthian cemetery. She reflects on how the archaeological situation has changed since she was a student. And she discusses plans for sharing the results of the work.

3:13 why Nippur?
5:26 project goals
8:11 working around previous excavations
12:09 first results
15:39 a Neo-Babylonian villa
19:40 searching for Ur III
22:18 Kassite Nippur
24:06 the dig team
27:14 Neo-Babylonian graves
29:18 challenges
35:19 long term plans
39:11 publication

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Tina explains what animal teeth and bones can tell us about life in ancient Iraq. What did people eat? And what did those animals eat? How were flocks and herds managed? What does this tell us about status and economy? We learn what new strands of evidence are provided by scientific analyses. 

3:12 about zooarchaeology
4:17 state of play
7:33 cow teeth and society
10:35 why the difference between texts and zooarchaeology?
14:43 feeding cattle
19:02 animal movement and management
26:13 how to get this information
32:06 stress in bones
37:15 how to learn

Tina's University page

Tina's laboratory page

Tina's Academia page

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod