The Ancients

More than 5,000 years ago, a revolutionary script emerged in the fertile lands of Mesopotamia that would transform how people counted, governed, worshipped and told stories. This was cuneiform, the world’s earliest known writing system.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Irving Finkel to uncover how cuneiform actually worked and how you would write it yourself. From humble beginnings as simple pictograms tracking beer and grain, to the wedge-shaped signs that recorded myths, laws and epic tales long before the Bible, this episode explores how cuneiform spread across Sumer, Babylon, Assyria and Persia — and why these clay tablets remain one of archaeology’s richest windows into the ancient world.

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Noah's Ark and the Flood
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The World's Oldest Letters
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Watch this episode on our NEW YouTube channel: @TheAncientsPodcast

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here:
https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NEW SERIES! Journey through the early life of Alexander the Great, from his education under Aristotle to his first military experiences and rise to Macedonian kingship.

In this first episode, charting Alexander's incredible early life, Tristan Hughes and Dr Adrian Goldsworthy explore Alexander's formative years, the Battles that built the world's most formidable military leader and the immediate challenges following his father's assassination.

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The Rise of Hannibal with Adrian Goldsworthy
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Darius the Great, Persian King of Kings
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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan and the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here:
https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam and Eve: parents of humanity, or characters in a Near Eastern myth about wisdom, mortality, and the limits of being human?

Tristan Hughes and Dr Dylan Johnson strip away the Sunday school varnish to re-examine the story of Adam and Eve, starting with the question: was there really an apple? They discuss the origins and multiple layers of the story, try and pinpoint where Eden might have been located, and trace the tale of lost immortality that echoes through the legends of Gilgamesh, Sumerian rivers, and the earliest biblical texts

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Moses & The Exodus
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The Ark of The Covenant
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Watch this episode on our NEW YouTube channel: @TheAncientsPodcast

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here:
https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do we know about the earliest Popes, and how did they shape the early Christian Church amidst persecution?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Rosamond McKitterick to journey back to Imperial Rome to uncover the fascinating tales of the earliest Popes, focusing on St. Peter and his possible connection to Mark's gospel, Sylvester I during Constantine's reign, and Pope Leo I who confronted Atilla the Hun.

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Jesus of Nazareth
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The Apocryphal Gospels
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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan and the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here:
https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He is one of the most famous rulers of the ancient world, remembered for leading a vast Persian invasion of Greece. Yet Xerxes the Great was far more than just a battlefield king.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by friend of the show Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones to explore the life and reign of the Persias most revered king who ruled the largest empire the world had yet seen. From his royal upbringing and court politics to religion, monumental building projects and imperial power, this episode goes beyond Greek battle narratives to uncover who Xerxes really was — and how the Achaemenid empire functioned at the height of his power.

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Darius the Great: Persian King of Kings
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The Persian Wars: Xerxes, Thermopylae and Salamis
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Watch this episode on our NEW YouTube channel: @TheAncientsPodcast

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here:
https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.