The Drumbeat Forever After1 Syys 2022

30: Late Chalcolithic metallurgy & the dawn of the Bronze Age, 4500-3000 BCE (Copper vs Silver)

Guest: Sheila

First, strong Copper casts his legitimate insults, insults of a miserable dog, against Silver. In my delusional hubris, I've arbitrarily pieced this particular debate text together from disparate fragments and granted it unnatural life beyond death via galvanic abominations beyond the comprehension of its original creator. As usual, I'm using the ETCSL translation.

Then, we track the development of copper metallurgy in the Near East, stretching from the early Neolithic to the Uruk and beyond. Sheila, actual chemistry expert, helps us understand the reactions occurring inside these Chalcolithic crucibles.

Then, a look at specific metals: copper, silver, gold, lead, and iron— all available to smiths at the very beginning of the so-called Bronze Age.

Speaking of which, why do we call it that anyway? Now that this podcast about the Bronze Age has finally reached the beginning of the story, it's worth explaining what exactly the familiar Stone Age / Bronze Age / Iron Age trichotomy means for our understanding of world history.

Then, we learn about arsenical bronze, the first intentional copper alloy to spread across the Near East. This, predictably, segues into an examination of the various health effects of these various metals on the people working with them. I learned something new about some familiar gods, and now you will too!

Finally, the conclusion (such as it is) to Copper's debate with Silver. Silver puts up a valiant defense, given that the constraints of the genre preordained his failure. Father Enlil be praised!

Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com.

Works cited

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(42)

41: Presargonic Lagash & Girsu, 2500-2300 BCE (Hymns to Nanshe)

Guest: Annika We've never been more back! We start off this new miniseries on Presargonic Lagash with a series of hymns to Nanshe, patron goddess of Ningen near the Gulf Coast and sister of Ningirsu, ...

13 Touko 20251h 17min

40: Royal Tombs of Ur, 2600-2400 BCE (The death of Gilgamesh)

Guest: Sheila We're so back! First, a Sumerian poem about Gilgamesh which mentions his trip to see Ziusudra (also known as Atrahasis, Utnapishtim, and/or Noah), which some have interpreted as evidence...

26 Tammi 202556min

Update on the show & beveled-rim bowls

Check out episodes 17-28, most of which I re-recorded and reuploaded recently. New episodes on Early Dynastic Sumer coming soon.

7 Joulu 20245min

39: Temples of Early Dynastic Nippur, 2900-2300 BCE (Enlil & Ninlil)

Guest: Stacy First, a story about Enlil, the Sumerian god of kingship, and his future wife Ninlil; he sees her bathing in a canal in their hometown of Nippur, and the narrative isn't especially concer...

23 Kesä 202345min

38: Abu Salabikh and the first Semitic-language literature, 2600-2500 BCE (Debate between two women, Lugalbanda & Ninsuna)

Guests: Lily, Annika First: a literary debate between two women (much of its meaning hidden beneath several layers of abstraction). It tells us a lot about public expectations of Sumerian housewives, ...

21 Touko 202354min

37: The decline & fall of Kish, 2600-2300 BCE (Hymn to Shamash, Kesh temple hymn)

(Sorry I disappeared for three months! I burned myself out working on rewriting old episodes and had to focus on other stuff for a couple months. I'm back in the saddle now, with episodes written up t...

25 Huhti 202349min

36: Interviews: Karrar Sabah on Eridu, Malath Feadha & Jaafar Jotheri on the geology of the Sumerian wetlands

Two interviews with three Iraqi academics! I interviewed Karrar Sabah Al Ramahi, then a PhD student at Baghdad University, about his research on the city of Eridu! Furqan Salam helped with the transla...

23 Tammi 202358min

35: Shuruppak & the first Sumerian literature, 2600-2500 BCE (Instructions of Shuruppak)

Guest: Lily First: the world's oldest known wisdom literature, in the form of a series of proverbs delivered from the eponymous Shuruppak (king of Shuruppak) to his son Zi-ud-sura (alias Utnapishtim, ...

23 Joulu 202259min