The Human History Podcast: The Ancients

This first season of The Human History Podcast brings us back to the ancients: those earliest civilizations which are responsible for the shape of the world as it is today as much as anything that's happened since. We travel back through time and around the globe as we explore peoples from the Sumerians to the Mayans to the Indus Valley and more. This trip through ancient history is hosted by James Baldwin, who's primary interest is in history, economics, and politics. James is neither a historian nor an archaeologist. No academic lectures here. Just a general interest in the story of us.

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Episodes

The Akkadians: From Sargon the Great to the Gutian Invasion

Episode 2! The Akkadians: Sargon the Great to the Gutian Invasion covers one of the most  impressive empires of the ancient world, and likely the first multinational empire in human history. In this episode I dive in to the origin story of the man who began the empire around 2334BC - Sargon the Great. We'll discover how it's thought he went from a position in the gardens of King Ur-Zababa of the 4th Dynasty of Kish to his most trusted advisor--eventually establishing one of the most promine...

May 10, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 2

The Human History Podcast: An Interlude - Weekly Archaeology News Roundup Jan. 3, 2020-Jan 10th, 2020

Hey all!  This is the first installment of The Human History Podcast: An Interlude Weekly Roundup Series . Each week (hopefully) will be bringing you a rundown of some of the week's most interesting archaeological finds from around the world.  This week's stories: 1. Demon Drawing Spotted on Assyrian Clay Tablet https://www.archaeology.org/news/8333-200103-assyrian-demon-drawing https://www.livescience.com/assyrian-demon-tablet-found.html 2. New Translation of Viking Runestone Shows Cl...

Jan 13, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 4

An Interlude: Top Archaeological Finds of the Decade

Welcome to the first installment of The Human History Podcast: An Interlude . This is a place for shorter episodes on interesting topics like the top archaeological finds of the decade and also weekly roundups on archaeology news and discoveries.  This first episode is going to be my list of The Top 5 Archaeological Finds of the Decade (2010-2019). There was a new henge found at stonehenge ( https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2010/07/22july-stonehenge.aspx ), a new civilization discov...

Jan 07, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 3

The Sumerians: Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of this very first series for The Human History Podcast. Last time we introduced the Sumerians and heard about some of history's most lasting figures, including Gilgamesh and Abram (Abraham). In part 2 we're going to take a dive into some of the key events and innovations of the ancient Sumerians, including the settlement of the world's first city, the development of writing, the invention of the wheel, and some of the first stone architecture and large stone structures in the ...

Dec 04, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 2

The Sumerians: Part I

Welcome! In this first episode of The Human History Podcast we're going back to one of the earliest human civilizations. The peoples responsible for bringing us the wheel, who developed one of the earliest forms of writing, invented the sailboat, gave us our first written laws, cities, and more. Their figures are eternal: Gilgamesh, Abram (Abraham), Gudea, Ur-Nammu.  In part one of this two part series we'll introduce you to one of the most fascinating civilizations of all time - on top of ...

Nov 13, 2019•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 1