Taharqa the Peaceful and Esarhaddon the Holy
In 673 BC, the mighty Assyrian Empire marched against Egypt, determined to achieve a conquest greater than any Assyrian king had accomplishe...
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Oldest Stories
This show is focused on the history and myth of the Cradle of Civilization, bronze age Mesopotamia, beginning with the dawn of writing. The show will cover the full history of Mesopotamia, f...
Episodes
20 of 241 episodesThe Pedubastis Cycle
The Pedubastis Cycle is a group of ancient Egyptian heroic tales centered on Pharaoh Pedubastis, Inaros, Petechonsis, Pemaus, and the powerf...
Assyrian Omen Science
How did ancient Assyria use divination, astrology, and animal livers to make decisions of war, government, and royal policy? Under King Esar...
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 Scy...
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-king...
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...
Sennacherib’s Last Omen
In the final years of Sennacherib’s reign, the Neo-Assyrian Empire entered a strange period of peace. After decades of war, conquest, rebell...
The Bottom of the Mesopotamia Iceberg
An examination of the deepest level of the Ancient Mesopotamia iceberg, commonly labeled "Theories and Speculative Ideas." The video reviews...
Sennacherib Builds a Paradise in Nineveh
Sennacherib is remembered as one of the most powerful kings of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, but his greatest legacy may not have been conquest....
Lachish and How an Assyrian Siege Worked
Its the siege of Lachish, but also a much more wide ranging explanation of Assyrian siegecraft more generally. Including how it was recogniz...
Sennacherib vs Hezekiah in 701 BCE: Isaiah and the Battle of Eltekeh
In 701 BCE, Assyrian king Sennacherib launched his western campaign against Judah, bringing him into direct conflict with King Hezekiah and...
Babylon Had It Coming
Babylon had survived five destructions before Sennacherib tried to erase it for good. Why did Assyria's most bookish king — a man who loved...
Sennacherib's Inheritance
Sennacherib is remembered in the Bible as a villain, the Assyrian king who invaded Judah and stood against Jerusalem. But that reputation, l...
The Doom of Sargon II
This episode examines the final major campaign of Sargon II of Assyria (reigned 722–705 BCE) and the long conflict with the Chaldean ruler M...
AI and History
How does one "do" history, and can an AI do it? The answers:1. You don't "do" history, you feel it.2. AI can do the actions of history, but...
The Golden Years of Sargon II
Oldest Stories Album available here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/oldeststoriesmusic/oldest-stories-vol-1 but also possibly on your fav...
Neo-Assyrian Imperial Administration
This episode explores how the Neo-Assyrian Empire actually functioned at the administrative level under Sargon II, focusing on imperial bure...
The Great Invasion of Urartu
In this episode of Oldest Stories, we cover Sargon II of Assyria and his most famous campaign: the Great Invasion of Urartu (714 BCE), cente...
The Composition of the Sargonid Army
In this episode, we break down the composition of the Neo-Assyrian Army under the Sargonid dynasty (Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon II, and thei...
The Environment in which the Assyrian Army Emerged
In this episode of Oldest Stories, we step back from the famous conquests of the Neo-Assyrian Empire to ask a more fundamental question: wha...