Oldest Stories

Oldest Stories

Author: James Bleckley Language: English Episodes: 100
Oldest Stories, hosted by James Bleckley, is a journey into the deep past of the Cradle of Civilization. This podcast meticulously traces the epic narrative of bronze age Mesopotamia, starting from the revolutionary dawn of writing itself. Listeners are guided through the full, sprawling history of the region across two and a half millennia, from the legendary age of Gilgamesh through to the era of Nabonidas. The episodes weave together the grand arcs of empires and the intimate details of daily life, blending rigorous historical accounts with the powerful myths of gods and heroes that shaped ancient worldviews. So far, the series has delved into the foundations laid by Sumer and Akkad, explored the complexities of Old Babylon and the Hittites, and examined the pivotal stories of ancient Israel. Current installments are deep within the formidable rise and reign of the Assyrian Empire. Each episode is built on a foundation of thorough research, aiming to make these distant cultures and their monumental achievements feel immediate and compelling. New chapters in this long-form story are released every other week, offering a sustained and immersive exploration of humanity's oldest stories.
Episodes
OS 111 - Israel's Wandering and Settlement [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:54
What does it mean that the people of Israel are the biggest whiners in recorded history? It may mean that a lot of the people were not actually on board with the theological mission of the Yahwist religious leaders. It m…
OS 110 - Israel and the Hebrews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:14
Today we obsess over the word Hebrew and go deep into what it means, who was and was not a Hebrew, whether it was a social or ethnic designation, what that implies about the religious and cultural mission of Israel, and…
OS 109 - Israel's Numbers Problem [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:59
Today we look at possibly the oldest section of the entire Bible, Exodus chapter 15, the Song of Moses, as well as the issues with the census listed in Numbers and what that might mean for biblical historicity. These are…
OS 108 - Israel's Formation and the Historical Exodus [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:00
We begin our big series on the historicity of the bible with Genesis. Unfortunately, nearly the entire book is beyond the purview of history, for reasons we will discuss. But with the tale of the Exodus, we have a narrat…
OS 107 - The Bible as History and Skeptical Views [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:00
Here it is, the part of ancient Near Eastern history that excites the most passion and interest. There is no doubt that there were kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and there is no doubt that after they were conquered by the…
OS 106 - The Fate of Anatolia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:13
After the Hittite Empire fell during the bronze age collapse, Anatolia became a Mad Max style wasteland with tribes crossing the hills and fighting for survival. Amidst all this, we have the fateful arrival of the myster…
OS 105 - Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:49
Animals in ancient Mesopotamia. From sheep, goats, horses, and other domesticated animals to wild beasts like lions, elephants, insects, birds and fish, the ancient world was surrounded by animals. But in our history we…
OS 104 - Arameans Everywhere [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:54
Today we look at pretty much everything we know about the Mesopotamian dark age following the bronze age collapse, and manage to cover about 120 years of history in about half an hour. After that is a discussion about ch…
OS 103 - The Babylonian Aristotle, Esagil-Kin-Apli [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:43
Today we are going to look at the reign of Adad-Apla-Iddina, the fact that he was hit by some brutal Aramean invasions and that he built a ton of stuff despite the times being pretty awful. But the star of our show today…
OS 102 - A Bit More Tiglath-Pileser [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:46
This week, Tiglath-Pileser is going to kill more people, just like last week. But now he is going to branch out into killing animals, too! But when he pauses to catch his breath between killing, he is also going to build…

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