Episode 14 – In the Midst of the Seas

“I received the tribute of the kings of the seacoast – namely, the lands of the peoples of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, Mahallatu, Maizu, Kaizu, Amurru and the city of Arvad, which is in the midst of the seas – silver, gold, tin, bronze, a bronze vessel, multicolored linen garments, a large female monkey, a small female monkey, ebony, boxwood, and ivory of sea creatures.  They submitted to me.” – Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria
Under constant pressure from Assyria, Phoenician merchant fleets aggressively expanded their influence into Sardinia, North Africa and the Tartessian coast of southern Spain.  In the central Mediterranean, they bore witness to the cultural resurgence of Archaic Greece, and the growing power of the Etruscan kingdoms of Italy.

Series References and Further Reading:

https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/TOS_References.pdf

4 thoughts on “Episode 14 – In the Midst of the Seas

  1. Interesting! Have they been able to nail down approximately when the two groups diverged, or which of the two areas (if either) they originated from? Maybe I shouldn't have brushed aside the Aeneas connection so quickly. Thanks for the info!

  2. To what extent is this podcast a paraphrase of "A History of the Ancient World" by Susan Wise Bauer? Having read that book, this site seems suspiciously similar in its organization and treatment of themes.

  3. Hi! I've never heard of that book, but it sounds like a good one to check out. If you'd like to know my major references, they're listed at the bottom right-hand side of this blog page. One I pull from fairly extensively is "History of the Ancient Near East" by Van De Mieroop. But I really rely on around a dozen books, a few other podcasts, plus Wikipedia. Thanks for listening!

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