Bronze Age Collapse · Sea People · Oldest Surviving Melody: Hurrian Hymn No. 6 · Iron Age · Assyrian Empire · Canaan · Origins of Israel and Judah · Legend of the Lost Tribes of Israel · Vedic period · Hinduism · Olmecs · Corn

In our last episode Ellie took us on a world-tour to visit China, The Mediterranean, Kerma, Poverty Point in North America and the Austronesians in the Pacific. We covered “the late bronze age,” a time when the earth was dotted with massive empires AND smaller communities with distinct cultures and organizational structures that varied widely from their neighbors.

In this episode we’ll cover from 1200 to 800 bce. Ellie takes us back to the corner of Afro-Eur-Asia to witness the dramatic close of the bronze age, the rise of a new metal, a new empire, and the origins of a new religion. In India we’ll see a new spiritual movement in Sanskrit, and finally in Mesoamerica our final so-called cradle.

We start with the interconnection of the Mediterranean World and the Bronze Age Collapse.

Akkadian became the Lingua Franca of the whole Bronze Age world by the time of the collapse.
King Tut’s widow.

Hurian Hymn number 6 played by Charlie! This oldest surviving melody was found on a tablet in the rubble of Ugarit.
Who built the walls of Troy?
Is the rubble of Megiddo the origin for the world armageddon?
Trojan war.

Bronze Age Collapse created a power vacuum which allowed the Neo Assyrian Assyrian Empire to thrive.

The Assyrian Empire’s brutal propaganda. Examples of imagery here, here and here. Or text here and a third of the way down the page here.
A translation of a portion of the Assyrian law codes. Warning they are quite violent.
Relocation policy.
The story of the 10 lost tribes.

We then move into the hills of Canaan where a group of subsistence farmers and herders lived in small communities north of Jerusalem.

First mention of the world Israel is on the Merneptah Stele.
Biblical scholars and Yale Divinity School professors Joel Baden and John J Collins offer brief takes on very early Israelite history.
Omri and his son, Ahab, built and expanded the northern capital in the city of Samaria.
The Israelites have two kingdoms: Israel in the North and Judah in the South.
Hoshea is the last king of Israel.
The story of the 10 lost tribes.

Vedic Period in India.

When and where horses were domesticated, and how they contributed to the spread of the Indo-European languages and cultures, is extremely controversial.
Quick history of chariots in the ancient world.
Sanskrit
Vedas. The text of the Rig Veda in PDF form.
A little more context for the word Aryan including how it was hijacked in the modern world.
Or check out the book Which of Us Are Aryans? for an in depth look from many perspectives on all the controversy surrounding the influx of Vedic culture into India.

Olmecs.

San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes are the three main urban centers of the Olmecs.
Wild teosinte plants compared to domesticated corn/maize. example one, example two, example three.
- compared to wild emmer vs wheat for example.
The stone heads are perhaps the most recognizable pieces of Olmec art. example one, two, and three.
In addition to the iconic heads, thrones were carved form the same volcanic stone.
The Olmec culture is known for its art in general including intricate works in jade (example, example, example).
The Olmecs are likely the “mother culture” of many leter Meso-American peoples. Here we find the early examples of the ball game, calendar, writing, pyramids, and pantheon that dominate culture here for the next 2000 years.