Series 1: The Ancient World Episodes

The history before history. For most of human existence, there was no such thing as writing. Yet our ancestors did leave records and remains that we can study to learn more about the human past. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

History and prehistory. Before the dawn of writing, the human past is shrouded in darkness. The episodes of the Ancient World explore events before and just after the rise of civilization. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

The introduction to the Western Traditions podcast. The Great Books of the Western World and the Bible. The great men and women of western civilization. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

The Persians rise to power. Israel returns from exile. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

Two empires: Assyrian and Babylonian. The fall of Israel and Judah.

The story of the Bible and archaeological counter-perspectives. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

The New Kingdom. Egypt, under the leadership of men and women, such as Ramses II and Hatshepsut, reaches its final pinnacle of achievement before declining one last time into the background of history.

The descendants of the early European farmers found a unique civilization on the island of Crete and prepare the way for Greek culture.

The Middle Kingdom of Egypt. Renewal and flourish. The evolution of religious belief. The Hyksos take power and bring Egypt to another intermediate period.

The Hittites take over the Anatolian peninsula in the 2nd millennium BC. The first Indo-European speaking power takes the stage and meets with the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians.

The story returns to Mesopotamia. Here, in the early second millennium BC, Babylon rises to power. The episode further considers societal and technological developments for all of mankind at the height of the Bronze Age.

Old Kingdom Egypt. Great kings and great pyramids. Egypt makes its lasting mark on human history.

The land of milk and honey. Natufian culture transitions over thousands of years into the Semitic Canaanite culture of the Levant. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

Another civilization springs up alongside the Nile River. But before there were pharaohs, there was a lot of history in Egypt, from the Paleolithic to the opening of the Bronze Age. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

The history before history. For most of human existence, there was no such thing as writing. Yet our ancestors did leave records and remains that we can study to learn more about the human past.

History and prehistory. Before the dawn of writing, the human past is shrouded in darkness. The episodes of the Ancient World explore events before and just after the rise of civilization. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

The first known civilization arises in Mesopotamia around the year 3,500 BC. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

A brief review of the unprecedented Near Eastern transition into urban life. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

A semi-legendary tribe, far to the north of lands previously described, expands into Europe and Asia carrying language and culture that will be passed down all the way to the present. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

The Natufian culture, the Rise of Jericho and Catal Huyuk, Neolithic religion and the cult of the skulls. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

Great floods, the Younger Dryas Impact and the Toba eruption all present obstacles and challenges to the survival of early modern humans.

Early modern humans begin to work with copper and then bronze as their societies change and expand. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

Early modern humans adapt to a changing world. The Natufian culture rises in the Levant. The developments of agriculture and domestication create the foundations of the world in which we live today. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

Early modern humans begin the transition toward the Neolithic, tracking smaller game, experimenting with agriculture and building Gobekli Tepe. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link: