Oldest Stories podcast artwork
History

Oldest Stories

by James Bleckley
Claiming needs an RSS feed. Contact us.

Not on the Mexico charts we track today.

If you like Oldest Stories, try…

Latest episodes

  • The Pedubastis Cycle

    October 7, 2026 · 41 min

    The Pedubastis Cycle is a group of ancient Egyptian heroic tales centered on Pharaoh Pedubastis, Inaros, Petechonsis, Pemaus, and the powerful local rulers of Egypt during the centuries surrounding the Assyrian invasions. Preserved mainly…

  • Assyrian Omen Science

    September 23, 2026 · 51 min

    How did ancient Assyria use divination, astrology, and animal livers to make decisions of war, government, and royal policy? Under King Esarhaddon, the Neo-Assyrian Empire developed one of the ancient world’s most sophisticated systems of…

  • The Cimmerian Horse Lords

    September 9, 2026 · 36 min

    The Cimmerians were among the first great horse nomad powers to crash into the civilizations of the ancient Near East. Emerging from the Scytho-Siberian world north of the Caucasus, they struck Urartu, devastated Phrygia and Lydia, raided…

  • Esarhaddon and the Empire That Ran Itself

    August 26, 2026 · 43 min

    Esarhaddon inherited the Neo-Assyrian Empire at the height of its power—but his kingship looked very different from that of the warrior-kings who came before him. Plagued by questions of legitimacy, surrounded by prophets and diviners, and…

  • The Lessons of Ahiqar

    July 29, 2026 · 45 min

    The ancient story of Ahiqar follows a legendary wise man and royal adviser at the court of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. After adopting his nephew Nadan and teaching him a long collection of proverbs, Ahiqar is betrayed, falsely accused…

Show 7 more episodesShow fewer episodes
  • Sennacherib’s Last Omen

    July 15, 2026 · 38 min

    In the final years of Sennacherib’s reign, the Neo-Assyrian Empire entered a strange period of peace. After decades of war, conquest, rebellion, and the destruction of Babylon, the greatest military power of the ancient Near East suddenly…

  • The Bottom of the Mesopotamia Iceberg

    July 1, 2026 · 52 min

    An examination of the deepest level of the Ancient Mesopotamia iceberg, commonly labeled "Theories and Speculative Ideas." The video reviews each claim against primary sources from Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria, including cuneiform…

  • Sennacherib Builds a Paradise in Nineveh

    June 17, 2026 · 39 min

    Sennacherib is remembered as one of the most powerful kings of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, but his greatest legacy may not have been conquest. It was Nineveh: a rebuilt imperial capital of canals, gardens, temples, walls, lamassu, and the…

  • Lachish and How an Assyrian Siege Worked

    June 3, 2026 · 52 min

    Its the siege of Lachish, but also a much more wide ranging explanation of Assyrian siegecraft more generally. Including how it was recognizably modern and, in many ways, responsible for modernity.

  • Sennacherib vs Hezekiah in 701 BCE: Isaiah and the Battle of Eltekeh

    May 6, 2026 · 45 min

    In 701 BCE, Assyrian king Sennacherib launched his western campaign against Judah, bringing him into direct conflict with King Hezekiah and the political counsel of the prophet Isaiah. The decisive field battle of that year was not at…

  • Babylon Had It Coming

    April 22, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min

    Babylon had survived five destructions before Sennacherib tried to erase it for good. Why did Assyria's most bookish king — a man who loved Babylonian scholarship — finally flood the city and smash its temples in 689 BCE? This is Oldest…

  • Sennacherib's Inheritance

    April 8, 2026 · 38 min

    Sennacherib is remembered in the Bible as a villain, the Assyrian king who invaded Judah and stood against Jerusalem. But that reputation, like his father Sargon’s as a world conqueror, may be misleading. Beneath the image of the tyrant is…

Full episode archive on Apple Podcasts →

About the show

History and myth of the Cradle of Civilization, bronze age Mesopotamia, beginning with the dawn of writing. The show will cover the full history of Mesopotamia, from Gilgamesh to Nabonidas, a span of some 2500 years, with myths of heroes and gods, and tales of daily life peppered throughout. Sumer, Akkad, Old Babylon, Hittites, and Israel have all been covered in depth, current episodes get deep into the Assyrian Empire. New episodes every other Wednesday. Online at oldeststories.net.