Episode C1 – Carchemish

Synopsis:  In the late 14th century BC, the Hittite Great King Suppiluliuma wrested Syria from the grip of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni.  Two of his sons would succeed him to the throne, while two others founded new dynasties in the cities of Aleppo and Carchemish.

“The Euphrates is my frontier.  In my rear, I established Mount Lebanon as my frontier.  And all of the cities of the land of Carchemish – these fortified cities – I gave to Piyassili, my son… Since Prince Piyassili crossed the Euphrates with Prince Shattiwaza and penetrated to the city of Irrite, all the cities on the west bank which Piyassili my son holds, these belong to Piyassili.” – The Suppiluliuma-Shattiwaza Treaty

“The gods ran before my father, namely the Sun Goddess of Arinna, the Storm God of Hatti, the Storm God of the Army Camp, and Ishtar of the Field.  He conquered the enemy.” – Mursili, The Deeds of Suppiluliuma I

Map of the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean:

https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/LBA_Hittite_Map.jpg

The Hittite Royal Family:

https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/LBA_Hittite_Family_Tree.jpg

References and Further Reading:

https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Season_1_Refs.pdf

10 thoughts on “Episode C1 – Carchemish

  1. Call me old fashioned, but if I can’t load your content into my player then you are no longer a podcast, you are a website with embedded audio. Sorry to see you go.

    1. I’m as un-tech-savvy as they come, but this newest episode appeared on my smartphone, as do all history podcasts. And I listened to it this morning. Thank you Scott for continuing to produce podcast–yes, podcasts.

      Hope writing your book is coming along nicely.

      1. Hi! Thanks for swinging by. Glad you enjoyed the first episode. The book is currently on pause (at around 60-70% drafted) while I get this series (and a few other things) up and running. Will return to it this Summer. Take care!

    2. I realise it’s a bit late, but John should try Google Podcasts, I’ve just downloaded this episode from there and it’s sitting on my MP3 player.

    1. Hi Patricia, It’s a great question! In many ways I suspect its economy would be typical of that of any river-based Near Eastern city during the Bronze Age – mainly as a trans-shipment point of precious goods from the North and the Mediterranean Coast to the wealthy lands of Babylonia, etc. Hopefully I’ll get into this a bit more during the course of the series. As far as it’s foundation, this provides some basic information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carchemish I may also get more into that during the series. Thanks for the interest, take care!

  2. I loved this episode, and would very much like to know of source material. Long ago, I read books about the Hittites, but most of what I found (at the time) had the archaeological / cultural arrangement: buildings, religion, material culture, and so on, without any kind of history narrative. What are the best sources for that?

    1. Hi! I have the perfect book reco for you: “The Kingdom of the Hittites” by Trevor Bryce. It covers EVERYTHING, and has a good narrative structure. Take care!

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