Oldest Stories

Sumer is in a bad state, with enemies on all sides, and just as they are crying out for good fortune they instead receive Ibbi-Sin, a blustering fool. We will read the letters he wrote as the world co...

25 Maalis 202032min

The Sumerian Renaissance, a fruitful period of literary achievement and military conquest. We are going to see the first Sumerian kings in 250 years as they revive their ancient culture and leave thei...

18 Maalis 202033min

Note that this episode has moved in the ordering to better fit its position in the timeline. This week we look at the wisdom literature of Ancient Sumer with a genre called instructions which are just...

17 Maalis 202026min

Note that this episode has moved in the ordering to better fit its position in the timeline. Today we will look at the actual words of a man 4000 years gone as he sends letters struggling to forge an ...

16 Maalis 202032min

Today the Akkadian empire will collapse, brought low by climate change, foreign invasion, and civil war. A dark age of Gutian domination will descend upon Mesopotamia. This episode will cover the fall...

11 Maalis 202033min

Today the fall of Akkad begins. We start with how the Mesopotamians themselves remembered the fall of their first great empire, with the Curse of Agade and the Cuthean Legend, and see that they slande...

4 Maalis 202028min

Who was the greatest king of the Akkadian Empire? Today I make the case for Naram-Sin, who brought the empire to the high water mark and really solidified everything his grandfather had worked to buil...

26 Helmi 202035min

Sargon had two sons and both will sit on the throne. Rimush will do all the work, while Manishtushu will enjoy all the rewards. Both are fairly interesting on their own, but suffer from being the inte...

19 Helmi 202032min