This week we follow the fleeing Elissa, princess of Tyre, to Qart-ḥadašt, the "New City" that would come into wider fame as Carthage. We start with some talk of the mythical founding of Carthage, some conjecture about when the city was really founded, and an overview of the city's early growth. Then, we look at two Phoenician shipwrecks discovered over 33 nautical miles off Asheklon, Israel. The Tanit and Elissa are two of the oldest Phoenician shipwrecks discovered to date, and then can tell us a fair amount about Phoenician shipping practices, also about their religious practices in relation to maritime travel. Another long episode with the Phoenicians it is!
This time around we take a look at a few select cuneiform tablets from a collection known as the Amarna Letters. Discovered in Amarna,...
Today we discuss the rise of the Mycenaean galley, a style of ship characterized by oared propulsion and a long, narrow hull built for...
In which we meet the Ubaid people and see how they became the first inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia and used their natural resources to...
