Synopsis: In the latter half of the 11th century BC, southern Syria witnessed the increasing prominence of semi-nomadic Semitic peoples – including the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites and Israelites. “Kings came, they fought, the kings of Canaan fought. At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo, they […]
Tag: Hurrian
Episode C9 – Horse to Horse, Army to Army
Synopsis: In the mid-11th century BC, the Hittite kingdoms of northern Syria are joined by others– in the Philistine pentapolis, the Amuq plain and the region of Classical Cilicia – with ties to the former Mycenaean Greeks. The Phoenician cities of the Levantine coast begin […]
Episode C5 – The Sea Peoples
Synopsis: The Sea Peoples cut a swath of devastation across the Levant before their final confrontation with the pharaoh Ramesses III of Egypt. The Hittite Great King Suppiluliuma II abandons the capital of Hattusas before its final destruction. “Regarding what you wrote me before: ‘Enemy […]
Episode C3 – The Eternal Treaty
Synopsis: Hattusili III’s diplomacy with the pharaoh Ramesses II culminates in the world’s first peace treaty. After his death, his son Tudhaliya IV drives out the Ahhiyawans, then defends northern Syria against Assyrian aggression. “The Kings who are my equals in rank are the King […]
Episode C2 – Tarhuntassa
Synopsis: King Muwatalli II relocates the Hittite capital to the new royal city of Tarhuntassa near the Mediterranean coast, then faces off against the young pharaoh Ramesses II in the Battle of Qadesh. After Muwatalli’s death, his son and brother – Urhi-Teshub and Hattusili – […]
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 […]
Episode 11 – The Rise of Assyria
“I slew 14,000 of their warriors with the sword. Like Adad, I rained destruction on them. I scattered their corpses far and wide, and covered the face of the desolate plain with their wide-spreading armies. With my weapons I made their blood to flow down […]
Episode 7 – Between Lions and Men
“As there are no pacts of faith between lions and men, nor do wolves and lambs have spirit in kind,…nor for us two will there be oaths;… Recollect your every skill. Now the need is very great to be a spearman and brave warrior.” – Achilles, […]
Episode 6 – The New Kingdoms
After expelling the Hyksos, the rulers of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty led their New Kingdom in an unprecedented drive for territorial expansion. In Syria and the Levant, they were forced to contend with powerful new states forged by the Hurrians and the Hittites. Episode Images: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/06_Images.pdf […]
Episode 5 – Blind-sided
“I was asleep upon my bed, having become weary…like a snake of the necropolis. As I came to, I awoke to fighting, and found that it was an attack of the bodyguard. If I had quickly taken weapons in my hand, I would have made […]