Podcasts about Ashurbanipal

In the seventh century BC, the ancient Assyrian king Ashurbanipal created a gigantic library in his capital city – one that contained centuries of wisdom. And this vast wealth of ancient knowledge can reveal a lot about how the people of the Near East thought about their gods. Dr Selena Wisnom tells David Musgrove more about the Assyrians' religious views, including how they tried to keep gods – and other supernatural entities – happy. (Ad) Selena Wisnom is the author of The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (Penguin, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fthe-library-of-ancient-wisdom%2Fselena-wisnom%2F%2F9780241519639. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

knowledge of ancient civilizations. Matthew Lacroix, a dedicated researcher, has spent thousands of hours studying ancient texts and mysterious structures worldwide. His mission is to objectively piece together the evidence left by ancient civilizations and mystery schools to revive the wisdom of the past. 

knowledge of ancient civilizations. Matthew Lacroix, a dedicated researcher, has spent thousands of hours studying ancient texts and mysterious structures worldwide. His mission is to objectively piece together the evidence left by ancient civilizations and mystery schools to revive the wisdom of the past.

Send us a textGods, ETs, or both? Does our creation narrative tell of a cosmic battle high up in the Heavens? The stories we've cherished for millennia as divine revelations may have very ancient—and potentially extraterrestrial—origins than most realize. Our dive into the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation myth that predates Genesis by over a thousand years, reveals shocking parallels that challenge conventional religious understanding.When 19th-century archaeologists unearthed the Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, they discovered clay tablets containing creation narratives startlingly similar to Biblical accounts. The Enuma Elish, an epic poem written in Akkadian cuneiform script, tells of primordial waters dividing, skies forming, and humans being created to serve gods. These are all elements found in the Book of Genesis, but with dramatically more detail about cosmic battles and involving multiple deities.We explore the provocative question proposed by ancient astronaut theorists: what if these weren't mythologies at all, but attempts by ancient humans to document encounters with advanced beings using the limited vocabulary available to them? As Zecharia Sitchin pointed out, while later cultures might create myths, how does the very first civilization—Sumer—get a myth? Perhaps their accounts weren't metaphorical but historical and then filtered down through generations of oral tradition before being condensed into the Biblical form that we know today.The evidence suggests the Old Testament's formation occurred much later than many believe—compiled after the Babylonian exile around 520 BCE, allowing ample time for Mesopotamian cosmologies to influence Hebrew thought. Archaeological discoveries even reveal that early Israelite religion included a female consort for Yahweh named Asherah, paralleling the divine couples in surrounding cultures, before later theological developments emphasized monotheism and abstraction.Whether you approach these texts through faith, historical interest, or the ancient alien perspective, they demand the same rigorous standards of evidence and critical thinking. The striking similarities between these accounts offer profound insights into humanity's earliest attempts to understand our origins and purpose. We must ask how they continue to shape our worldviews today?"Space Journey" by Geoff HarveyCopyright © 2021 Melody Loops LPFull License Royalty-Free Music https://www.melodyloops.com Support the showVisit our website

Mesopotamian civilisation filled more than half of human history: a culture with advanced mathematics and astronomy, a religion that influenced both ancient Greece and the Bible, and a literature that continues to inspire the blockbuster movies of 2025. Yet few of us today know anything about it. Taking us into the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, scholar and playwright Selena Wisnom reveals a world of gods and monsters, poets and bureaucrats that is both utterly strange and strangely familiar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When a team of Victorian archaeologists dug into a grassy hill in Iraq, they chanced upon one of the oldest and greatest stores of knowledge ever seen: the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, seventh century BCE ruler of a huge swathe of the ancient Middle East known as Mesopotamia. After his death, vengeful rivals burned Ashurbanipal's library to the ground - yet the texts, carved on clay tablets, were baked and preserved by the heat. Buried for millennia, the tablets were written in cuneiform: the first written language in the world. More than half of human history is written in cuneiform, but only a few hundred people on earth can read it. In The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (U Chicago Press, 2025), Assyriologist Dr. Selena Wisnom takes us on an immersive tour of this extraordinary library, bringing ancient Mesopotamia and its people to life. Through it, we encounter a world of astonishing richness, complexity and sophistication. Mesopotamia, she shows, was home to advanced mathematics, astronomy and banking, law and literature. This was a culture absorbed and developed by the ancient Greeks, and whose myths were precursors to Bible stories - in short, a culture without which our lives today would be unrecognizable. The Library of Ancient Wisdom unearths a civilization at once strange and strangely familiar: a land of capricious gods, exorcisms and professional lamenters, whose citizens wrote of jealous rivalries, profound friendships and petty grievances. Through these pages we come face to face with humanity's first civilization: their startling achievements, their daily life, and their struggle to understand our place in the universe. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

When a team of Victorian archaeologists dug into a grassy hill in Iraq, they chanced upon one of the oldest and greatest stores of knowledge ever seen: the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, seventh century BCE ruler of a huge swathe of the ancient Middle East known as Mesopotamia. After his death, vengeful rivals burned Ashurbanipal's library to the ground - yet the texts, carved on clay tablets, were baked and preserved by the heat. Buried for millennia, the tablets were written in cuneiform: the first written language in the world. More than half of human history is written in cuneiform, but only a few hundred people on earth can read it. In The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (U Chicago Press, 2025), Assyriologist Dr. Selena Wisnom takes us on an immersive tour of this extraordinary library, bringing ancient Mesopotamia and its people to life. Through it, we encounter a world of astonishing richness, complexity and sophistication. Mesopotamia, she shows, was home to advanced mathematics, astronomy and banking, law and literature. This was a culture absorbed and developed by the ancient Greeks, and whose myths were precursors to Bible stories - in short, a culture without which our lives today would be unrecognizable. The Library of Ancient Wisdom unearths a civilization at once strange and strangely familiar: a land of capricious gods, exorcisms and professional lamenters, whose citizens wrote of jealous rivalries, profound friendships and petty grievances. Through these pages we come face to face with humanity's first civilization: their startling achievements, their daily life, and their struggle to understand our place in the universe. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

When a team of Victorian archaeologists dug into a grassy hill in Iraq, they chanced upon one of the oldest and greatest stores of knowledge ever seen: the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, seventh century BCE ruler of a huge swathe of the ancient Middle East known as Mesopotamia. After his death, vengeful rivals burned Ashurbanipal's library to the ground - yet the texts, carved on clay tablets, were baked and preserved by the heat. Buried for millennia, the tablets were written in cuneiform: the first written language in the world. More than half of human history is written in cuneiform, but only a few hundred people on earth can read it. In The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (U Chicago Press, 2025), Assyriologist Dr. Selena Wisnom takes us on an immersive tour of this extraordinary library, bringing ancient Mesopotamia and its people to life. Through it, we encounter a world of astonishing richness, complexity and sophistication. Mesopotamia, she shows, was home to advanced mathematics, astronomy and banking, law and literature. This was a culture absorbed and developed by the ancient Greeks, and whose myths were precursors to Bible stories - in short, a culture without which our lives today would be unrecognizable. The Library of Ancient Wisdom unearths a civilization at once strange and strangely familiar: a land of capricious gods, exorcisms and professional lamenters, whose citizens wrote of jealous rivalries, profound friendships and petty grievances. Through these pages we come face to face with humanity's first civilization: their startling achievements, their daily life, and their struggle to understand our place in the universe. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

When a team of Victorian archaeologists dug into a grassy hill in Iraq, they chanced upon one of the oldest and greatest stores of knowledge ever seen: the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, seventh century BCE ruler of a huge swathe of the ancient Middle East known as Mesopotamia. After his death, vengeful rivals burned Ashurbanipal's library to the ground - yet the texts, carved on clay tablets, were baked and preserved by the heat. Buried for millennia, the tablets were written in cuneiform: the first written language in the world. More than half of human history is written in cuneiform, but only a few hundred people on earth can read it. In The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (U Chicago Press, 2025), Assyriologist Dr. Selena Wisnom takes us on an immersive tour of this extraordinary library, bringing ancient Mesopotamia and its people to life. Through it, we encounter a world of astonishing richness, complexity and sophistication. Mesopotamia, she shows, was home to advanced mathematics, astronomy and banking, law and literature. This was a culture absorbed and developed by the ancient Greeks, and whose myths were precursors to Bible stories - in short, a culture without which our lives today would be unrecognizable. The Library of Ancient Wisdom unearths a civilization at once strange and strangely familiar: a land of capricious gods, exorcisms and professional lamenters, whose citizens wrote of jealous rivalries, profound friendships and petty grievances. Through these pages we come face to face with humanity's first civilization: their startling achievements, their daily life, and their struggle to understand our place in the universe. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

When a team of Victorian archaeologists dug into a grassy hill in Iraq, they chanced upon one of the oldest and greatest stores of knowledge ever seen: the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, seventh century BCE ruler of a huge swathe of the ancient Middle East known as Mesopotamia. After his death, vengeful rivals burned Ashurbanipal's library to the ground - yet the texts, carved on clay tablets, were baked and preserved by the heat. Buried for millennia, the tablets were written in cuneiform: the first written language in the world. More than half of human history is written in cuneiform, but only a few hundred people on earth can read it. In The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (U Chicago Press, 2025), Assyriologist Dr. Selena Wisnom takes us on an immersive tour of this extraordinary library, bringing ancient Mesopotamia and its people to life. Through it, we encounter a world of astonishing richness, complexity and sophistication. Mesopotamia, she shows, was home to advanced mathematics, astronomy and banking, law and literature. This was a culture absorbed and developed by the ancient Greeks, and whose myths were precursors to Bible stories - in short, a culture without which our lives today would be unrecognizable. The Library of Ancient Wisdom unearths a civilization at once strange and strangely familiar: a land of capricious gods, exorcisms and professional lamenters, whose citizens wrote of jealous rivalries, profound friendships and petty grievances. Through these pages we come face to face with humanity's first civilization: their startling achievements, their daily life, and their struggle to understand our place in the universe. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/archaeology

When a team of Victorian archaeologists dug into a grassy hill in Iraq, they chanced upon one of the oldest and greatest stores of knowledge ever seen: the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, seventh century BCE ruler of a huge swathe of the ancient Middle East known as Mesopotamia. After his death, vengeful rivals burned Ashurbanipal's library to the ground - yet the texts, carved on clay tablets, were baked and preserved by the heat. Buried for millennia, the tablets were written in cuneiform: the first written language in the world. More than half of human history is written in cuneiform, but only a few hundred people on earth can read it. In The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (U Chicago Press, 2025), Assyriologist Dr. Selena Wisnom takes us on an immersive tour of this extraordinary library, bringing ancient Mesopotamia and its people to life. Through it, we encounter a world of astonishing richness, complexity and sophistication. Mesopotamia, she shows, was home to advanced mathematics, astronomy and banking, law and literature. This was a culture absorbed and developed by the ancient Greeks, and whose myths were precursors to Bible stories - in short, a culture without which our lives today would be unrecognizable. The Library of Ancient Wisdom unearths a civilization at once strange and strangely familiar: a land of capricious gods, exorcisms and professional lamenters, whose citizens wrote of jealous rivalries, profound friendships and petty grievances. Through these pages we come face to face with humanity's first civilization: their startling achievements, their daily life, and their struggle to understand our place in the universe. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a team of Victorian archaeologists dug into a grassy hill in Iraq, they chanced upon one of the oldest and greatest stores of knowledge ever seen: the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, seventh century BCE ruler of a huge swathe of the ancient Middle East known as Mesopotamia. After his death, vengeful rivals burned Ashurbanipal's library to the ground - yet the texts, carved on clay tablets, were baked and preserved by the heat. Buried for millennia, the tablets were written in cuneiform: the first written language in the world. More than half of human history is written in cuneiform, but only a few hundred people on earth can read it. In The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (U Chicago Press, 2025), Assyriologist Dr. Selena Wisnom takes us on an immersive tour of this extraordinary library, bringing ancient Mesopotamia and its people to life. Through it, we encounter a world of astonishing richness, complexity and sophistication. Mesopotamia, she shows, was home to advanced mathematics, astronomy and banking, law and literature. This was a culture absorbed and developed by the ancient Greeks, and whose myths were precursors to Bible stories - in short, a culture without which our lives today would be unrecognizable. The Library of Ancient Wisdom unearths a civilization at once strange and strangely familiar: a land of capricious gods, exorcisms and professional lamenters, whose citizens wrote of jealous rivalries, profound friendships and petty grievances. Through these pages we come face to face with humanity's first civilization: their startling achievements, their daily life, and their struggle to understand our place in the universe. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

My guest on this week's Book Club podcast is the Assyriologist Selena Wisnom, author of The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History. Selena tells me about the vast and strange world of cuneiform culture, as evidenced by the life and reign of the scholar-king Ashurbanipal and the library – pre-dating that of Alexandria – that he left to the world. She describes the cruelty and brilliance of the Ancient Near East, the uses of lamentation, the capricious Babylonian gods, the ways in which we can recognise ourselves in our ancestors there – plus, what The Exorcist got wrong about Sumerian demons.

My guest on this week's Book Club podcast is the Assyriologist Selena Wisnom, author of The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History. Selena tells me about the vast and strange world of cuneiform culture, as evidenced by the life and reign of the scholar-king Ashurbanipal and the library – pre-dating that of Alexandria – that he left to the world. She describes the cruelty and brilliance of the Ancient Near East, the uses of lamentation, the capricious Babylonian gods, the ways in which we can recognise ourselves in our ancestors there – plus, what The Exorcist got wrong about Sumerian demons.

In this mind-blowing continuation of our series, we dive headfirst into the secrets hidden within the Library of Ashurbanipal and the British Museum. With 30,000 clay tablets unearthed in the 1800s, yet locked away from public view, what truths are being preserved—and what narratives are being protected? Explore the layers of control, the monumental artifacts kept out of sight, and the shocking connections to a civilization more advanced than we've ever been told. This episode unravels the enigma of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the 53 miles of hidden texts beneath Vatican City, and the staggering 7.92 million items buried behind closed doors. Visit http://cbdistillery.com and use code: MLB -- For 20% off! Thank you all for your support of this channel! Every Subscriber, every Like, All Comments are huge in helping spread this research to new people every single week. Every Badge Member and every Patreon Member help keep this channel running. I appreciate all of the support and I can't wait for every Saturday to expose even more information to the world. And we are just getting started! ---- TO BECOME A BADGE MEMBER & HELP GROW THIS CHANNEL ---- HERE IS THE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Za5DiASIbqT8fuhiDBU6Q/join Join this channel to get access to perks! TOP EPISODES PLAYLIST: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsFQI9PYz0b27yHR3V7di34AoFxT5NXWc LINK TO RUMBLE CHANNEL: Rumble: https://rumble.com/v2q03po-his-story-not-ours-pt-5.html LINK TO TIKTOK CHANNEL: https://www.tiktok.com/@themylunchbreak LINKS: BECOME A SPONSOR OF MY LUNCH BREAK: Shout-Outs For the next Month's Episodes! Patreon: https://patreon.com/MyLunchBreak X: https://twitter.com/MYLUNCHBREAK_ LINK TO RUMBLE CHANNEL: Rumble: https://rumble.com/v2q03po-his-story-not-ours-pt-5.html We are also on TikTok, Spotify & Instagram T-shirts: https://my-lunch-break.myspreadshop.com/tartaria+my+lunch+break-A644da062cabffc5328538705?productType=111&sellable=yrpy4VgZADuvGXd0Gj02-111-22&appearance=2 Flat Earth Sun, Moon & Zodiac App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flat-earth-sun-moon-zodiac/id1440996640 This is all in my own opinion. Entertaining as always, and of course, you are free to believe whatever you want. I do not claim to know any of this to be 100% true. It is all based on my personal research and simply sharing what I find with you all. Thank you for your support. My Lunch Break Disclaimer: The content on My Lunch Break is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in the videos are those of the creators and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or institution. I strive to present accurate and well-researched information, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the content. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and exercise critical thinking. Theories discussed on this channel may be speculative, controversial, or unverified. My Lunch Break is not a substitute for professional advice, and I do not provide legal, medical, financial, or any other type of advice. Consult with qualified experts for such matters. Viewers should be aware that information and opinions may change over time, and my content may become outdated. We are not responsible for any consequences resulting from reliance on our content. By using this channel, you agree to the terms and conditions of this disclaimer. We reserve the right to change, modify, or remove content at any time. My Lunch Break disclaims any liability for actions taken based on the information provided on our channel.

The story of an 2700 year old archive, its accidental preservation, and the unprecedented—and often funny—glimpse it gives us into the daily life of an ancient king.Ancient DMs Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to ad-free new episodes and get exclusive access to bonus content.

Christopher discusses new ideas around the murder of King Sennacherib. Who really killed him and why? Was it a coup? Where was Esarhaddon and why wasn't he in Nineveh? [Much of this first section of the episode was published as part of Episode 71.  8:03-10:30 is not found there. And everything from 25:19 is also new] Next he addresses the question of how the kings of this dynasty ran their empire. What does social network analysis reveal about how they coped with information flow? Who was influential and why did that change? 2:09 prize winner3:09 regicide8:04 motives for murder10:21 what's new?15:21 who was involved?19:13 a coup22:24 propaganda25:20 dissertation27:54 how the empire functioned32:30 new power structures36:16 rise and fall of the scholars38:38 why reform?40:42 Ashurbanipal's relationship with scholars(hip)46:10 where tablets were found51:56 interpreting palace reliefsMusic by Ruba HillawiWebsite: http://wedgepod.orgYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgwEmail: wedgepod@gmail.comPatreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Psalm 76 Worksheet We come again to a question of whether or not Asaph or one of his descendants wrote this Psalm. The Greek Septuagint added the words “Regarding the Assyrian” to the title, suggesting this Psalm was written when Assyrian King Sennacherib was repelled from Jerusalem in the days of King _______________. (2 Kings 18:14-19:37; Isaiah 36-37). The famous Prisms of Sennacherib confirm the siege of Jerusalem but avoid claiming the destruction of the city or surrender of its king. The mysterious death of the Assyrian king is alluded to in the Rassam Cylinder where Ashurbanipal tells how he punished the murderers of his grandfather Sennacherib. Eusebius concurs. -Bob Alden Psalm 76 divides nicely into _______________ 3 verse stanzas; each begins with a note of praise and ends with notice of a deliverance. The God of Jerusalem is _________________________! V. 1-3 What is another name for Salem of verse 2? JeruSALEM means “city of __________________.” Who was a Priest from Salem in the Old Testament? Abraham met him in Genesis 14:18-24. What is Asaph the Psalmist doing in verse 2? The Psalmist is linking Israel's right to have Jerusalem as its capitol with Abraham's ancient meeting with _______________________. Hebrews 7:1-10 Psalm 110 Verse 3 could be a reference to a great victory like the one over Sennacherib, but it makes me think of David's ___________________________ conquest of Jerusalem. Who did David win Jerusalem from? 1 Chronicles 11:1-9 1 Chronicles 13-16 covers the saga of David bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and placing it in the Tabernacle. When he did, he got ________________ and others to lead out in perpetual praise there! God is more _________________________ than His enemies V. 4-6 Mountains here are a euphemism for proud foreign rulers who _______________ themselves against Israel, like Pharaoh, like Jebus, like Sennacherib. Israel's just cause in exiting Egypt goes along with the just cause of making Jerusalem its capitol. God is to be feared by His enemies but _______________________ the oppressed V. 7-9 The word for fear is the important Hebrew word yare, which occurs 308 times in the Old Testament. It can mean terror that evokes fear, and that's how its intended for God's enemies who refuse to repent. For those who honor God, it turns into reverence for our “__________________________” God. Verse 9 would of course fit with a great deliverance like the one in Hezekiah's day. But it also fits generally with the thought that God will have the ______________________ word in our lives – a comfort to the oppressed but a terror to the unrepentant. God is the King who will have the final word. V. 10-12 Verse 10 is the best known verse in the Psalm. People run their mouth about God all the time, but when judgment is final all will acknowledge that they were wrong and God was ___________________. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those in Heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. -Philippians 2:10-11 Who does verse 11 make us think of here at Christmas-time? Who brought gifts to God and worshipped Him? Read Matthew 2:1-11 The last verse of Psalm 76 makes us think of pretend kings like King ____________________ who will wilt in the judgment. All wise rulers will turn to Jesus!

A randomly-chosen sample from the deepest most thorough analysis that you can find anywhere of the profoundly ancient Epic of Gilgamesh, on patreon for patrons only for one year: We examine the Epic of Gilgamesh as a piece of literature, for its strange dream-like style and form, its points of similarity to Biblical and ancient Greek and European mythology, and finally, its deep levels of psychological and political allegory, ultimately revealing the love between Enkidu and Gilgamesh as a parable of the fraught relationship between civilization and the wild. Please sign up as a patron at any level to hear both of the patron-only lectures on Gilgamesh: https://www.patreon.com/posts/myth-of-month-24-114591189 Image: Gilgamesh grappling with Enkidu; illustration by Wael Tarabieh. Our previous lecture on the discovery of the Library of Ashurbanipal, where the Epic of Gilgamesh was rediscovered: Historiansplaining – Unlocked-the-great-archaeological-discoveries-pt-3-the-library-of-ashurbanipal The SOAS's recordings of scholars reading Akkadian texts: https://www.soas.ac.uk/baplar/recordings Suggested further reading: George, "The Epic of Gilgamesh"; N.K. Sandars, "The Epic of Gilgamesh"; Heidel, "The Epic of Gilgamesh and Old Testament Parallels"; Stephen Mitchell, "Gilgamesh"; Michael Schmidt, "Gilgamesh: The Life of a Poem"; Rivkah Scharf Kluger, "The Archetypal Significance of Gilgamesh."

Two randomly selected excerpts from Myth of the Month 24, on the Epic of Gilgamesh: He is the earliest human being whose name and life story are known to history. We examine the origins and contents of the most ancient narrative ever found anywhere on Earth, and trace how it has been rediscovered, re-used, and re-translated in the modern world, becoming a living and evolving text in a time of anxiety over the fate of civilization. Please sign on as a patron at any level, to hear this lecture and many others: https://www.patreon.com/posts/114062724 Image: Sumerian bas-relief sculpture of a man subduing a bull, possibly representing Gilgamesh slaying the Bull of Heaven, 2200s BC. Our previous lecture on the discovery of the Library of Ashurbanipal, where the Epic of Gilgamesh was rediscovered: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/unlocked-the-great-archaeological-discoveries-pt-3-the-library-of-ashurbanipal Suggested further reading: George, "The Epic of Gilgamesh"; N.K. Sandars, "The Epic of Gilgamesh"; Heidel, "The Epic of Gilgamesh and Old Testament Parallels"; Stephen Mitchell, "Gilgamesh"; Michael Schmidt, "Gilgamesh: The Life of a Poem."

Jason gives you a quick overview of Library of Ashurbanipal.Read the essay here: https://historywiththeszilagyis.org/hwts256 Find us on Twitter:The Network: @BQNPodcasts The Show: @HistorySzilagyi. Chrissie: @TheGoddessLivia.  Jason: @JasonDarkElf.Send topic suggestions via Twitter or on our Facebook page History with the Szilagyis.History with the Szilagyis is supported by our patrons: PatiSusan Capuzzi-De ClerckLaura DullKris HillBetty LarsenVince LockeJoin these wonderful supporters by visiting patreon.com/historywiththeszilagyis. The BQN Podcast Collective is brought to you by our listeners. Special thanks to these patrons on Patreon whose generous contributions help to produce this podcast and the many others on our network! You can join this illustrious list by becoming a patron here: https://www.patreon.com/BQN

Can you believe there's been another 100 Fan of History episodes since the last time we did this! Take a stroll back in podcast time through the past 100 episodes with Dan and Bernie as they reminisce:Ashurbanipal the OG Assyrian emperor, Dugdamus the Demon King, Nebuchadnezzar nemesis of the Jews, Cyrus the Freaking Great.... and no episode would be complete without good ole GYGES!We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed making it and the past 100 episodes!This is a podcast by Dan Hörning and Bernie Maopolski.If you like what we do you can support the Fan of History project on https://www.patreon.com/fanofhistoryContact information:E-mail: zimwaupodcast@gmail.comhttp://facebook.com/fanofhistoryhttps://twitter.com/danhorninghttps://www.instagram.com/dan_horning/Music: “Tudor Theme” by urmymuse.Used here under a commercial Creative Commons license. Find out more at http://ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/40020 Support the show and listen ad-free to all of the episodes, including episode 1-87. Click here: https://plus.acast.com/s/history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This lesson delves into the profound meaning behind Luke 22:44, where Jesus' sweat is compared to "great drops of blood." A common misunderstanding of this verse suggests that Jesus was literally sweating blood, but a closer look reveals something different. The verse vividly compares two bodily fluids—sweat and blood—not to suggest they were the same but to emphasize the intensity of Jesus' suffering and the volume of His sweat. But why would Luke include this striking detail in his Gospel when the other Evangelists did not? Join us as we uncover this passage's more profound theological significance and what Luke intended this detail to mean. We'll dive into the first-century theological ideas surrounding the First Adam and the Last Adam and how Jesus, the Last Adam, reversed the curse of the first Adam's disobedience. Discover how the term "sweat," used only twice in the entire Bible—in Genesis 3 with Adam and in Luke 22:44 with Jesus—serves as an ancient idiom for anxiety. Jesus' triumph, in the fullness of His humanity, over anxiety at the Gethsemane signifies the breaking of humanity's curse, paving the way for redemption. Don't miss this insightful lesson, which connects the dots between Genesis and the Gospels, shedding light on Christ's redemptive work and His ultimate obedience to God's will. ---------------------------------------------------------- www.figtreeteaching.com Support Fig Tree Ministries: https://donorbox.org/support-figtree-ministries Fig Tree Amazon Portal: https://amzn.to/3USMelI Class Handout - No Handout for this Lesson Blog Post: https://www.figtreeteaching.com/blog/did-jesus-really-sweat-blood YouTube: https://youtu.be/tv0HJi2tOPg Is There a Garden of Gethsemane? - https://youtu.be/6w6hXp79Jck Gezerah Shava & the Greatest Commandment: https://youtu.be/tgql4_1Qwko References: Daniel Fleming - "By the Sweat of Your Brow" - https://www.academia.edu/31549387/Fleming_Daniel_E_By_the_Sweat_of_Your_Brow_Adam_Anat_Athirat_and_Ashurbanipal_in_Ugarit_and_the_Bible_G_J_Brooke_A_H_W_Curtis_and_J_F_Healey_eds_Ugaritisch_Biblische_Literatur_11_Neukirchen_Vluyn_Neukirchener_1994_Pages_93_100

The Library of Ashurbanipal, a vast collection of cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia, reflects the scholarly ambitions of Ashurbanipal, the last Neo-Assyrian king, showcasing diverse subjects from math to epics. Despite its partial destruction after the fall of Nineveh, the library's rediscovery in the 19th century provided valuable insights into Mesopotamian culture and history, illustrating humanity's enduring pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.

Toward the end of the Assyrian empire. Thank you for listening! Please leave a 5 star review, share and subscribe!

Astounding!!! Thank you for listening! Please leave a 5 star review, share and subscribe!

Nineveh was one of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia. Situated on the eastern bank of the River Tigris, it rivalled cities like Babylon and Persepolis as the capital of the great Assyrian Empire and the seat of power for towering figures like Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal. But what were its origins, how did it become such a great city and how did it fall? In today's episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Paul Collins to tell the story of Nineveh's history from start to end. Beginning with its Stone Age origins, they discuss its conquest by the Akkadians, its golden age as Mesopotamia's foremost city, and its obliteration at the hands of the Babylonians. This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code ANCIENTS - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.

Trigger Warning for discussions of genocide, transphobia, and mention of suicide Note: There are some audio sync issues on this episode between me and Jo. Apologies for that. I'm still learning how to edit audio smoothly. I'm going to leave the episode as is though (unless its just utterly unlistenable). It's a learning experience.  Episode music can be found here: https://uppbeat.io/track/paulo-kalazzi/heros-time Day 3 will dive deep into the historic context surrounding trans identities, look at the origins of the gender binary, look at famous trans individuals throughout history, and tackle the modern manifestations of transphobia and how it all adds up to a trans genocide. Day 3 features special guest Jo Dinozzi, actor, fight choreopgrapher, and Director of A Sketch of New York. Episode notes to follow: Hey, Hi, Hello, this is the History Wizard and welcome back for Day 3 of Have a Day w/ The History Wizard. Thank you to everyone who tuned in for Day 2 last week, and especially thank you to everyone who rated and/or reviewed the podcast. I hope you all learned something last week and I hope the same for this week. This week we're going to be talking about the trans genocide that is currently ongoing in the United States, this is certainly an issue in other parts of the West, such as Canada and the UK, but I live in the US and that's the location that I am most qualified and able to speak on. As with last week we're not going to be starting with what's happening right now in 2024. We're going to dive deep into the historical context surrounding trans gender identities and their perpetual position as a marginalized community. Before we get into that though! I have something special for you this episode! Today we are joined by a guest, my good friend, Jo Dinozzi. Hi Jo, thanks so much for joining me today. So, I thought we'd start today off with an examination of the gender binary and where it all started. According to Suzzanah Weiss, a feminist writer and sexologist with a Masters of Professional Studies in Sexual Health from the University of Minnesota:  “Arguably, modern notions of the gender binary originated during the Enlightenment,” they say. “That's when scientists and physicians adopted what historians call a ‘two-sex model' when describing people's bodies.” This model treated male and female bodies as opposites, and as the only two options. “Up until that point, popular thinkers thought more along the lines of a one-sex model, where male and female bodies were homologous,” explains Weiss. Case and point: female genitalia were viewed as male genitalia turned inward, and female orgasm was deemed necessary for reproduction since male orgasm was. Indeed, the one-sex model had its own problems. Mainly, women were often viewed as incomplete men. “But the two-sex model created new problems, such as the devaluing of female sexuality and the erasure of anyone outside the gender binary,” they say. You can find more information on the one sex theory and the emergence of the two sex theory in Thomas Laqueur's book Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud. So far though we've just been looking at Western ideas of gender though, many cultures around the world have far more expansive views of gender, though many of these ideas of gender are still attached to biological features and characteristics. Some examples of these include the Hijra from Hinduism, to further underline how bigoted Western systems of power can be, the British passed a law in 1871 categorizing all Hijra people as criminals. The Bugis ethnic group of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, recognizes three genders beyond the binary. These are the Calalai, the Calabai, and the Bissu.Something interesting to note is while Bugis gender is often described as a spectrum, bissu are deemed to be above this classification: spiritual beings who are not halfway between male and female, but rather embody the power of both at once. In Mexico there is a third gender called Muxes which is deeply embedded within the indigenous Zapotec culture. Since the 1970s, every year in November, muxes celebrate La Vela de las Auténticas Intrépidas Buscadoras del Peligro, or the Festival of the Authentic and Intrepid Danger-Seekers, a day of energetic merriment to honor muxes. There's also Sekarata from the Sajalava people indigenous to Madagascar. They are viewed as both sacred and protected by supernatural powers. There is, of course, Two Spirit people. This is a pan Indigenous North American term that was coined in the 1990s as a way for the indigenous LGBTQIA+ for reject white, Western, ideas about queerness and gender identity. There has been some push back against the term Two Spirit as some see it as inherently recognizing the Western Gender binary. Many indigenous tribes such as Niitsitapi, the Cheyenne, the Cree, the Lakota, and the Ojibwe, to name just a few have their own terms for these gender identities that fall outside of the binary. Those terms are, of course, in their own languages and I think I would only insult some people with how poorly I pronounce them. So, suffice it to say, you can find more information about this on the wikipedia article for Two-Spirit under the subheading Traditional Indigenous Terms. Last culture I want to go over for today is Judiasm. Jewish law, or halacha recognizes 8 distinct genders. The two classic ones that we all know and have mixed feelings about and then 6 others Androgynos, Tumtum, Aylonit hamah, Aylonit adam, Saris hamah, Saris adam.  So, as we can clearly see, the idea of a strict gender binary of only Male and Female isn't an idea that was always widely accepted and the fact that is has crept into so many cultures around the world that had much greater levels of acceptance of diverse identities is solely the fault of western colonialism and white supremacy. Something that should be noted is that gender identity and gender presentation are two different things in a society and often for individuals. I, for example, identify as agender or gender apathetic. I don't identify with any gender at all really, but my gender presentation is decidedly masculine. In my opinion gender identity is internal and specific to each individual person, whereas gender presentation is external and based on the culture you live in and how that society views the way a specific gender traditionally looks. With that out of the way let's talk about the greatest nightmare of Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro… pronouns. You've got them, I've got them, everyone's got them. Well, that might not, actually be true. There might very easily be people who don't feel that any currently available pronoun fits their own concept of gender. I guess it's more accurate to say that I have never met anyone who doesn't use any pronouns. There's a specific set of pronouns that I want to discuss today, though we could likely do a whole other episode on just pronouns. I want to talk about they/them pronouns. Cause, those are really the ones that started this whole temper tantrum conservatives have been throwing for the past several years. They say that they/them is a plural pronoun, and always has been. As if language never changes and we were all STILL speaking Old English.  Hell, when the folks who made the King James Bible were translating it they used thee, thou, thy, and thine as singular and ye, you, your, and yours as plural. Also, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Jane Austen all used the singular they in their works. It's been in the Canterbury Tales, Hamlet, and Pride and Prejudice. So, if we're gonna be pedantic about it, I have sources to back up my pedantry and they don't. But also, language evolves! We have contronyms now! Words that are their own opposites! So, just chill and take the opportunity to grow, if you haven't already. Next thing to talk about is, of course, the difference between gender and sex. Gender is an internal identity that is based on your own relationship with the concept of gender. Sex is biological and is, frankly just based on your genitals. No one is out there doing chromosome tests on every single baby born. A doctor just looks at your crotch and decides. They'll also assign you a gender at birth based on those same characteristics, but just because you're assigned a gender doesn't mean you have to keep it. We also have to note that, just like gender, sex also exists on a spectrum. And listen, you don't have to believe me. Go watch Season 1, Episode 9 of Bill Nye Saves The World. He'll tell you too, and if you don't trust Bill Nye on Science, you're a fool of a Took. I'm actually going to turn the mic fully over to Jo at this point as she is far better informed on this topic than I am. (Insert Jo here) Now, something that we need to talk about is the Recency Illusion. There are many people that believe trans gender people are somehow a new phenomenon. That they haven't always existed throughout history. So here are some examples for you to do some more reading on, on your own. Ashurbanipal (669-631BCE) - King of the Neo-Assryian empire, who according to Diodorus Siculus is reported to have dressed, behaved, and socialized as a woman. Elagabalus (204-222 CE) - Roman Emperor who preferred to be called a lady and not a lord, presented as a woman, called herself her lover's queen and wife, and offered vast sums of money to any doctor able to make her anatomically female. Kalonymus ben Kalonymus (1286-1328) - French Jewish philosopher who wrote poetry about longing to be a woman. Eleanor Rykener (14th century) - trans woman in London who was questioned under charges of sex work Chevalier d'Eon (1728-1810) - French diplomat, spy, freemason, and soldier who fought in the Seven Years' War, who transitioned at the age of 49 and lived the remaining 33 years of her life as a woman. And, of course: Sylvia Rivera (1951-2002) - Gay liberation and trans rights pioneer and community worker in NYC; co-founded STAR, a group dedicated to helping homeless young drag queens, gay youth, and trans women Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992) - Gay liberation and trans rights pioneer; co-founded STAR with Sylvia Rivera, the woman who threw a brick to start the Stonewall Riots And, I would be remiss if we didn't talk about my favorite trans gender individual in history, the Public Universal Friend. The Public Universal Friend was originally a Quaker born in 1752. However, The Friend contracted a very serious illness, suspected to be typhus, in 1776 and nearly died. Once the Friend had recovered they shunned their original name and all gendered pronouns. Asking to be referred to only as the Public Universal Friend, the P.U.F. or simply as the Friend. Whenever someone asked if the Friend was male or female, the Friend would merely reply. “I am that I am”. The Friend would go on to form an offshoot of Quakerism called the Society of Universal friends which, unfortunately, ceased to exist in 1860, 41 years after the Friend's death in 1819. The congregation's death book records: “25 minutes past 2 on the Clock, The Friend went from here.” We're starting to make our way to more modern issues now, next on our docket is the looting of the Institute of Sexology in Berlin in 1933. On 6 May 1933, the Institute of Sexology, an academic foundation devoted to sexological research and the advocacy of homosexual rights, was broken into and occupied by Nazi-supporting youth. Several days later the entire contents of the library were removed and burned. The Institute was founded by Magnus Hischfield in 1919 and was the earliest institution to be doing research into gender affirming surgery, as well as offering contraceptive services and sexual health education. The Institute actually performed one of, if not the first, gender affirming surgery in 1931. It was bottom surgery for a trans woman named Dora Richter. She is believed to have died in the initial attack on the Institute. On May 10th, the German Student Union, a group of young Nazis, dragged every single book and bit of research out of the Institute, piled them in Bebelplatz Square and set them on fire. This was the first, and largest book burning of the 3rd Reich, with over 20,000 books burned. There is no telling how far back trans gender health research was set by this event. Hirschfield wasn't in Germany when the book burning occurred. He was on a world speaking tour and remained in Nice, France after he finished. He died there of a heart attack in 1935. We're getting closer and closer to the modern day now dear listeners. Before we get there I want to talk with you about a resource I like to use called the Pyramid of Hate. It was designed by the ADL based on the Alport Scale of Prejudice, which was created by psychologist Gordon Alport in 1954. The Pyramid illustrates the prevalence of bias, hate and oppression in our society. It is organized in escalating levels of attitudes and behavior that grow in complexity from bottom to top. Like a pyramid, the upper levels are supported by the lower levels; unlike a pyramid, the levels are not built consecutively or to demonstrate a ranking of each level. Bias at each level reflects a system of oppression that negatively impacts individuals, institutions and society. Unchecked bias can become “normalized” and contribute to a pattern of accepting discrimination, violence and injustice in society.  The second level of the Pyramid included bigoted humor as one of these hallmarks of systems of oppression. There are many people who feel that humor is somewhat sacred. That it falls outside the standard array of ethics and that anything can be joked about, because it's just a joke and there's nothing serious about it. If you are the type of person who believes that… well you probably haven't made it this far into the episode. Regardless, let me draw everyone's attention to a PhD dissertation written by former appellate attorney of the Texas 5th Circuit Court Jason P. Steed. Steed says, and I'm quoting directly from a series of tweets he made a few years ago: You're never "just joking." Nobody is ever "just joking." Humor is a social act that performs a social function (always). To say humor is a social act is to say it is always in social context; we don't joke alone. Humor is a way we relate/interact with others. Which is to say, humor is a way we construct identity - who we are in relation to others. We use humor to form groups… ...and to find our individual place in or out of those groups. In short, joking/humor is one tool by which we assimilate or alienate. We use humor to bring people into - or keep them out of - our social groups. This is what humor *does.* What it's for. Consequently, how we use humor is tied up with ethics - who do we embrace, who do we shun, and how/why? And the assimilating/alienating function of humor works not only on people but also on *ideas.* This is why, e.g., racist "jokes" are bad. Not just because they serve to alienate certain people, but also because… ...they serve to assimilate the idea of racism (the idea of alienating people based on their race). A racist joke sends a message to the in-group that racism is acceptable. (If you don't find it acceptable, you're in the out-group.) This is why we're never "just joking." To the in-group, no defense of the joke is needed; the idea conveyed is accepted/acceptable. The defense of “just joking is only ever aimed at the out group. If you're willing to accept "just joking" as defense, you're willing to enter an in-group where the idea conveyed by the joke is acceptable. If "just joking" excuses racist jokes, then in-group has accepted the idea of racism as part of being in-group. This segues us into our next topic fairly smoothly. We're going to be talking about the AIDs crisis. You might be wondering how this is a smooth segue, well that's because when the AIDs epidemic first began in the 1980s, the Reagan administration treated it as a joke. Here's the first exchange between Speakes and journalist Lester Kinsolving from 1982, when nearly 1,000 people had died from AIDS: Lester Kinsolving: Does the president have any reaction to the announcement by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta that AIDS is now an epidemic in over 600 cases? Larry Speakes: AIDS? I haven't got anything on it. Lester Kinsolving: Over a third of them have died. It's known as "gay plague." [Press pool laughter.] No, it is. It's a pretty serious thing. One in every three people that get this have died. And I wonder if the president was aware of this. Larry Speakes: I don't have it. [Press pool laughter.] Do you? Lester Kinsolving: You don't have it? Well, I'm relieved to hear that, Larry! [Press pool laughter.] Larry Speakes: Do you? Lester Kinsolving: No, I don't. Larry Speakes: You didn't answer my question. How do you know? [Press pool laughter.] Lester Kinsolving: Does the president — in other words, the White House — look on this as a great joke? Larry Speakes: No, I don't know anything about it, Lester. Because they saw the AIDs epidemic as one big joke, and because of the massive amounts of homophobia in American politics the Reagan administration did nothing about the thousands and thousands of people dying. But why, why I can hear you asking. Because AIDs, the so called “gay plague” was thought to only affect gay men. They also thought it could be spread through saliva, so there was a joke from a later press conference about the President banning kissing as a way of fighting the spread of AIDs. But I digress. AIDs was thought to only affect a specific part of the population. Gay men. A segment of the population that the Reagan administration didn't want in American society. So when they heard they were dying, instead of doing research, or raising public awareness, or even expressing compassion for the suffering of fellow humans, they did nothing and made bad, poor taste jokes, because they wanted gay men to die.  Now, many people will look at this and say that it wasn't a genocide because the deaths weren't caused by government action, but by government in action. These people are wrong. This was DELIBERATE in action, knowing and planning for that inaction to kill as many people as possible. This was, as clear as it can be, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the group, in whole or in part. Now, no one is saying that Reagan CAUSED AIDs, but he saw what it was doing and specifically did nothing to prevent any of the deaths that it caused. This, finally, brings us to the modern day and the ongoing trans genocide. We have established our historic context, we have set a historic precedent for inaction as a form of genocide. Now we can really get into it.  Remember the Pyramid of Hate that we touched on briefly earlier. Well, Level 3 is Systemic Discrimination and includes Criminal justice disparities, Inequitable school resource distribution, Housing segregation, Inequitable employment opportunities, Wage disparities, Voter restrictions and suppression, and Unequal media representation. There are, according to translegislation.com, in 2024 alone 530 anti trans laws have been placed before various state and federal legislations. I remind you that it is only April 2nd, when this episode first releases. 16 of them have passed, 87 of them have failed, and 430 are still currently active. These bills seeks to discriminate against trans people in almost all areas of life, with the 3 most prevalent categories being Education, Sports, and Healthcare. In 2024 alone 132 bills have been proposed to deny or restrict access of trans people to gender affirming care. But why is this important? Other than because healthcare is a human right that should be freely available to everyone. A new study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, using data from U.S Transgender Population Health Survey found that 81% of transgender adults in the U.S. have thought about suicide, 42% of transgender adults have attempted it, and 56% have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury over their lifetimes. If you are a trans individual and you need mental health services or support, please reach out to the Trevor Project at (866) 488-7386 or call the Trans Lifeline at (877) 565-8860. You're not alone, and you never will be. Now, to return to our regularly scheduled educational program. The US deliberately blocking people from accessing gender affirming care is genocide. Full stop. End of story. According to an article titled Suicide-Related Outcomes Following Gender-Affirming Treatment: A Review, by Daniel Jackson, which is a meta analysis of 23 different studies on the effect of gender affirming care on trans suicide rates, having access to gender affirming care greatly reduces the risk of suicide among trans youth and adults. So if you know that having access to these services will help keep a group of people alive, and you deliberately block access to that service, you are actively trying to kill them. This is, just as with the AIDs epidemic, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the group, in whole or in part. It is also, causing severe bodily or mental harm to members of the group, which is another way in which genocide can be committed. Florida even went so far as to pass a bill, SB 254, banning gender affirming care for minors. They call it child abuse, and will take children away from their parents if the parents try and get the GAC. This is “transferring children of the group to another group” which is a third way in which the US government is committing a trans genocide. There are two more things I want to talk about today. First is detransitioning. There are some people who transition from one gender to another and then go back. Conservative talking heads would have you believe that there is a massive majority of trans people feeling this regret and returning to the gender they were assigned at birth. As with all things, they are lying to you. The results published in the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that 8% of respondents reported having ever detransitioned; 62% of that group reported transitioning again and were living as a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth at the time of the survey. About 36% reported having detransitioned due to pressure from parents, 33% because it was too difficult, 31% due to discrimination, 29% due to difficulty getting a job, 26% pressure from family members, 18% pressure from a spouse, and 17% due to pressure from an employer. There will certainly be some people who will transition and then find that they don't actually identify with the gender they transitioned to, but that's a fantastically small number, and while those people deserve our empathy and support, they are not representative of the overall trans community. Also it should be noted that you don't have to medically or physically transition to be trans. Many people do this because of gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia. But surgery and/or hormones are not requirements for being trans. I'm technically trans, as I identify with a gender other than the one I was assigned at birth, but I have no intentions of taking hormones or having surgery. I'm just gonna hit the gym and get big muscles. The last thing I want to cover is the epidemic of transphobia that infects this country, and in the present day nothing exemplifies that more than the tragic death of Nex Benedict and the inattentiveness and inaction of her school in protecting her. New was a 16 year old non binary youth attending Owasso High School in Oklahoma. After a year of bullying over her gender identity Nex was attacked by 6 girls in the bathroom. They beat her into unconsciousness. Instead of calling the police or an ambulance, the school called Nex's mother Sue and told her that Nex was suspended for two weeks. Nex was examined by hospital staff, spoke with police, and then was discharged. They went to bed complaining of a sore head. The next day, when getting ready to go with their mother to Tulsa, Nex collapsed and had stopped breathing before the ambulance arrived. The Medical Examiner eventually ruled Nex's death a suicide caused by Benedryl and Prozac, stating that it had nothing to do with the beating Nex received from students at their school.  I think that's bullshit. I have nothing more to say on that other than Fuck Oklahoma and Fuck the Owasso Public School Disctict. That's it for today dear listeners. Stay angry, stay safe. Don't let the bastards get you down. Stick around for the outro. We've got some more reviews over the past week. Some of them aren't technically reviews. Spotify apparently has a Q&A feature, and defaults to “What did you think of this episode?” so I'm going to read those too. *Read Reviews* Jo, thank you so much for being here today and for providing your valuable insight and knowledge. Do you have any projects that you'd like to plug before we sign off? Alright, that brings us right up to the end. Have a Day! w/ The History Wizard is brought to you by me, The History Wizard. PLease remember to rate, review, and subscribe to Have a Day! On your pod catcher of choice. The more you do, the more people will be able to listen and learn along with you. Thank you for sticking around until the end and, as always, Have a Day and remember, Trans Rights are Human Rights.          

Episode 247 – Archeology and the Bible – Part 3 – Archeological Axioms Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: Noah was 600 years old when he went into the boat to escape the flood, and he did everything the LORD had told him to do. His wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law all went inside with him. Genesis, Chapter 7, verses 5 through 7, Contemporary English Version ******** VK: Hello! Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. Today we’re going to be doing the third episode in a new series that we are calling “Archeology and the Bible.” Some scholars estimate that there are over 4,000 different religions in the world. With that many religions out there it’s reasonable to ask whether we can be sure which of those religions, if any, is true. The good news is that we can reasonably differentiate among the competing truth claims made by the various religions using logic, reason, and evidence. And one source of evidence that demonstrates that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God is archeology. Archeology helps us to show an unbelieving world that that the Bible contains a large body of reliable history. So, to help us continue our discussion today in the studio we have RD Fierro, who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, one of the big points that we are trying to make in this that archeological finds can be a valuable source of support for the accuracy of the history that the Bible reports. In fact, the Bible’s history has been shown to be accurate even when doubted by secular historians and we talked about that in our last episode of Anchored by Truth, right? RD: Right. But before I get to a reminder of what we discussed last time I would also like to say “hi” to everyone and welcome them to Anchored by Truth. At Anchored by Truth we often say that there are four lines of evidence, at a minimum, that will help people understand that the Bible may be differentiated from all other books that claim to be the word of God. Those four lines of evidence are reliable history, remarkable unity, fulfilled prophecies, and redeemed destinies. And one way we can show that the Bible’s historical reports are accurate is through archeological finds. And there have been some pretty graphic examples of the Bible getting history right even when skeptics for centuries dismissed the Bible’s report. A case in point is the Bible’s report on the existence of the ancient kingdom of Assyria and its famous capital city, Nineveh. Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire literally disappeared beneath the sands of time in the 6th century BC and for over 2,000 years physical evidence of the once-mighty empire was missing. VK: Nineveh disappeared so completely that a Greek writer, Lucian of Samosata ([who lived from] A.D. 120-180), once lamented: "Nineveh has perished. No trace of it remains. No one can say where once it existed" ... This lack of visible evidence caused many scholars and historians as late as the 19th century to doubt that the Assyrian Empire even existed, much less was once the dominant military power on earth. RD: Yes. But then all that changed. The online Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about the rediscovery of Nineveh. “The first person to survey and map Nineveh was the archaeologist Claudius J. Rich in 1820, a work later completed by Felix Jones and published by him in 1854. … Sir Henry Layard during 1845–51 discovered the palace of Sennacherib and took back to England an unrivalled collection of stone bas-reliefs together with thousands of tablets inscribed in cuneiform from the great library of Ashurbanipal.” VK: But while secular history had lost sight of Nineveh and the Assyrians the one witness to their existence that never wavered was the Bible. The Old Testament books of Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah, Nahum, and Jonah always contained a clear record of the existence of the Assyrians even preserving names of some of its rulers and officials, the name of its capital, and even records of its conquests. Once the clay tablets were recovered from the great library by Henry Layard the Bible’s accounts were vindicated. RD: Right. No serious historian today doubts that the Assyrian Empire at one time dominated the Mideast, was a very successful military power, and posed a grave and mortal threat to kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The Bible always contained a plain record of those facts and today scholars worldwide accept those facts. So, one subject I want to discuss today is why – at one time – there was so much doubt about the Bible’s reports about Assyria and Nineveh despite the fact that the Bible record was true and accurate. VK: Well, I suppose many, maybe most people, would say “before Rich, Layard, and the others who unearthed the ruins of Nineveh from the Iraqi desert there wasn’t any evidence that the Bible’s account was accurate.” RD: I think you’re quite right –. VK: Thank you. RD: - And that’s what I want to talk about. Why do so many people doubt the Bible until one of the Bible’s accounts is confirmed by an extra Biblical source? The Bible is an ancient record – but there are a lot of ancient records from about that same time period. The Greeks in particular had some well-known historians such as Herodotus and Xenophon. The Romans had historians such as Tacitus and Pliny. The Jews had a particularly well-known historian called Josephus. But when secular scholars read those ancient historians they don’t automatically doubt their accounts unless another source or archeological find confirms it. But all too many people automatically doubt the Bible’s records unless there is an extra-Biblical source that comes along and shows the Bible is right. VK: Oh. I see the point you’re making. Even before Rich and Layard discovered the physical remains of Nineveh and the Assyrians there was in fact very good evidence of their existence - because the Bible contained a record of their existence. But today the tendency is to discount the Bible’s record as having evidentiary value unless another source is available to confirm what the Bible says. Your point is that among a lot of scholars today there seems to be an anti-Biblical bias that says, in effect, “Sure it’s in the Bible. But how do we know the Bible is true.” Yet, those same scholars don’t bring that same attitude to other historical records from the Biblical times. The way the academic community, the journalists, and the media treat the Bible is exactly the opposite of the way they treat other ancient sources. The skeptics and critics will regard other records as being accurate on their face but they regard the Bible as being inaccurate unless confirmed. This is either ironic because, in fact, the Bible is what inspired many, if not most, of those early Middle Eastern archeologists to go on their expeditions. They saw Bible as being true so they were willing to stake time and money to look for the ancient cities the Bible said had been there. If they had had the same attitude as many people today have they would never have set on their expeditions. RD: Right. A belief in the Bible’s accuracy inspired much, if not most, of the early archeological exploration in Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, etc. Some of the greatest finds in archeological history, such as the rediscovery of the city of Petra in modern day Jordan, might never have been brought to light if it weren’t for the fact that explorers knew it must be there because the Bible said it was. Petra in Greek means “rock like” or “stony” and it is, quite literally, a city carved out of rock. In the Bible that location is identified with Edom. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, who was the brother of the patriarch Jacob (also known as Israel). Esau was red haired and the city occupied by his descendants was known for the distinctly red color of the stone in that area. So, it is interesting that when it was rediscovered so much of the Bible’s text was vividly confirmed. At any rate, the point is that there is often the tendency to doubt the Bible unless confirmed, whereas the opposite attitude is taken with respect to other ancient documents. The histories compiled by Herodotus, Xenophon, etc. are accepted as being generally reliable until inaccuracies are shown. VK: Well, as you say that wasn’t the case a hundred years ago or maybe even thirty or forty years ago. So, why is it that way now. RD: In my opinion it’s because of the concerted pushback that has been occurring against Christianity and the Bible in recent decades in the west. Christianity’s values and ethics have been under attack in the western societies for a wide variety of reasons. But to effectively dispense with Christianity’s values you must dispense with the source of those values: the Bible. So, there has been a concerted effort in academia, the media, and popular culture to characterize the Bible as being filled with myth and fairy tale. Once that idea is established, whether it is true or not, much of the Bible’s magisterial authority has been eliminated. VK: This is not only sad, it is dangerous. The Bible contains the special revelation that God has given to mankind. We can no more dispense with that revelation safely and without danger than the patient can ignore the mechanic who has just told him that he has an issue with his car or truck which he should attend to. The driver can ignore the mechanic’s advice but not without risking catastrophe. With respect to ignoring the Bible it’s even more dangerous. Mechanics are human. They can be wrong. The Bible was inspired by God and God is never wrong. RD: Well said. What people need to realize is that all people, all of us, approach our lives using a set of axioms. These axioms form a lens through which we see the world. Sometimes these axioms are obvious and reasonable. Most of us tend to see the advice given to us by professionals as being useful and helpful. This means we will accept and follow the advice. But not all people operate by this axiom. VK: Recent events in America and other western nations have unfortunately caused previous trusting people to begin to doubt the advice they previously wouldn’t have questioned. This may be medical advice, advice about nutrition and health, or prescriptions involving social, political, or cultural norms. Hmmm. I see why we need to talk about this. The widespread confusion over the virus and how to deal with it has caused a lot of people to no longer trust medical advice they once would have never questioned. And sadly, tragically, something similar has happened in our culture with respect to the Bible. 20, 30, or 40 years ago you could have settled a discussion by quoting the Bible. Today, if you quote the Bible people are quite likely to say “so what?” RD: Right. We all view life through a set of axioms. Quite often those axioms have put into our lives by our families or cultures and we don’t even question them. The set of axioms that surround us tend to shape what many scholars or theologians will call our worldview. I don’t want to spend too much time on worldview today - because that would be the subject for a whole show or even series. But the collection and aggregation of our foundational axioms form our worldview. For most of us the ideas that form our worldview are unspoken and un-thought-of. Most of them seem almost self-evident. Well, interestingly enough these unseen, unspoken axioms can have a powerful role in areas of study like archeology. VK: What are you thinking about? RD: Let’s take a specific example. Chapters 6 through 9 of the book of Genesis clearly describe a worldwide flood. Despite the attempts of some critics to say that this flood was a localized, limited flood, the Genesis language is pretty clear. The flood endured by Noah and his family was worldwide and essentially reshaped the entire surface of the earth. And based on the time periods that we can derive by studying the genealogies elsewhere in Genesis we can confidently say that this worldwide flood occurred about 4,500 years ago. VK: The Amplified Bible, Genesis, chapter 7, verses 19 and 20 say this: “The waters prevailed so greatly and were so mighty and overwhelming on the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. [In fact] the waters became fifteen cubits higher [than the highest ground], and the mountains were covered.” RD: Yes. That’s pretty clear language. But, of course, despite the clarity of the language today there are a great many people, including scientists, who deny that such a flood ever happened. Deep time, uniformitarianism, and evolutionary thought rule the halls of academia, the discussions at most so-called science institutions, and popular thought. Thus, it has become a widely accepted axiom in archeological thought that the flood never happened. So, let’s think about this. If there was a worldwide flood about 4,500 years ago that reshaped the earth’s surface and deposited huge amounts of sedimentary material all of the earth then no structures that we can find on the earth today would be older than 4,500 years. VK: It’s not impossible that some artifacts or parts of buildings might be found in one of the layers deposited by all the water moving around – but with the kind of flood described in the Bible nothing would have survived intact. RD: Right. So, an archeologist who accepts the Bible’s flood account as being historical will rarely, if ever, be tempted to assign a date to ruins or an artifact older than 2,500 BC. One of the axioms which would form a part of their approach to their craft would include the presence of the flood in ancient history. They wouldn’t have any reason to try to put a date on an artifact earlier than 2,500 BC. But an archeologist who denies the historicity of the Bible’s flood account has no problem dating ruins or artifacts as being much older than 2,500 BC. And there are a number of sites around the world that have been assigned dates older than 2,500 BC. And similar older dates would be assigned to artifacts found in those ruins. Bible denying archeologists have an axiom in their worldview that says people have been around for hundreds of thousands of years and therefore ruins as old as 5,000 or 10,000 BC (or even older) are possible. The difference in the starting axioms between these two groups is going to lead to widely differing possibilities in assigning dates to ancient ruins, artifacts, or civilizations. VK: Let’s remind our listeners of something that we’ve talked about before. Historical science is not the same as operational science. In operational science hypotheses can be tested and results of experiments repeated and affirmed or refuted. One scientist boils water at sea level at 212 degrees Fahrenheit and other scientists around the world can replicate those results. That’s operational science. But that is not true for historical sciences like archeology, cosmology, paleontology, or the certain elements of geology that pertain to age. All any scientist can do is look at evidence available in the present and attempt to provide an explanation for what that evidence says about the past. And there is just about no way to dispositively confirm that explanation. The best scientists can do is provide explanations that can be tested against the evidence and determine whether that explanation is consistent or inconsistent with the evidence. RD: Agreed. Historical science can never reach the same level of certainty as operational science. Moreover – and this is really important – the number of scientists, historians, or archeologists who may accept a particular explanation does not determine the truth of that proposed explanation. VK: Or, said slightly differently, truth is not determined by majority opinion. We’ve talked before on Anchored by Truth that today geologists acknowledge that many of the great river valleys all over the world were created by truly epic floods. David R. Montgomery, a geology professor at the University of Washington, labeled the floods that created these river valleys “Noah-like” in a 2012 article for Discover magazine. But in that same article Montgomery noted that the first geologist to propose that the river valleys of eastern Washington were caused by such floods was J. Harlan Bretz. But when Bretz initially proposed his explanation in the 1920’s he was met with widespread. Yet the recognition that Bretz was correct is so widespread today that, at the age of 97, Bretz was awarded the Geological Society of America’s highest honor. When Bretz first proposed his explanation for the origin of river valleys in eastern Washington he was a minority of one. But today it is widely acknowledged that Bretz was right. RD: Exactly. And that same thing can be true for the axioms that archeologists or other scientists bring into their profession. Just because one, many, or most archeologists believe that there has never been a worldwide flood has no bearing on the truth of whether a flood actually occurred. What is important for listeners to note is that this rejection of the flood of Noah will greatly affect many of the explanations that flood-deniers offer. A specific instance of this that we will cover in greater depth is the ruins at Göbekli Tepe in south eastern Turkey. Secular archeologists date these ruins to about 11,000 – 12,000 years BC. Their assigned dating is largely due to the results of radiocarbon dating. VK: But there are well known problems with the accuracy of radiocarbon dating. Creation Ministries International has several excellent articles on their website that discuss these problems. So, we won’t go into them today, but we will mention one. Radiocarbon dating depends on a comparison between the amount of carbon-14 present in a sample such as a wood fragment with the amount of carbon-14 that is assumed to have been present when the sample was first formed. One basic problem is that we have no idea how much carbon-14 was originally present. The starting value to which the current amount is present is always an assumption. There is no way to know for sure what that starting value was. That’s one reason we say that dates to artifacts or ruins are always “assigned” not discovered. There is never any way to prove that assumptions that went into the assigned date are accurate. And it is quite common for different dating methods to differ widely in the assigned dates. RD: Yes. So, largely based on radiocarbon dating the ruins at Göbekli Tepe have been dated far older than possible when considering the date for the Noahic flood. This points out the importance of the date assigners underlying set of starting axioms. VK: So, how can we know who and what to believe? RD: By doing what we always recommend – consider the evidence and apply logic and reason. In the case of whether the Genesis flood occurred there is an abundance of scientific and historical evidence that it did. And we have covered that evidence in depth a couple of times on Anchored by Truth. And the series that discuss the flood of Noah are available from our website: crystalseabooks.com. In the case of the dating of the ruins of Göbekli Tepe one simple question to ask is whether the ruins are more consistent with a hunter-gatherer society (which is what secular archeologists tell us existed at that time) or a society that possessed some level of mathematical and construction sophistication. In the case of the ruins we now know that they were laid out with a level of mathematical precision that would be inconsistent with a society that had not supposedly even entered a settle agricultural phase. But they are consistent with a community that possessed the kind of technological sophistication described in Genesis chapters 4 through 6. VK: Let’s remember that in chapter 1 of the book of Genesis the Bible tells us that Adam was created with a sophisticated knowledge of many subjects. He possessed language, a knowledge of biology and botany, and the ability to reason and analyze comparative attributes. And, of course, Noah in the pre-flood environment was able to undertake a large naval architecture project. So, his descendants after the flood would have retained much of this knowledge. By contrast an evolutionary viewpoint says that man’s predecessors knew nothing of math and technology and had to discover everything? So, in this case what we know from the ruins is more consistent with a Biblical explanation than the alternative RD: Exactly. This line of reasoning cannot reach the level of absolute certainty but following it, in the case of the ruins at Göbekli Tepe we can make the case that the Biblical explanation for their existence and dating is at least as compelling as the flood-denying alternative. And that is what we wanted to point out in this episode. When people see reports of new and sensational archeological discoveries in the news or on the internet – that purportedly show how the Bible is wrong - they need to stop and think. They need to examine the worldview and axioms of the group making the discovery and they need to research and consider the Biblical alternative. When they do they are going to find out that the Bible holds its own in every situation. VK: Well, This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer that all of us would receive the ability to discern truth from the Holy Spirit who is the only One that can truly illuminate the human mind. God created the human mind and it would be far better for us to receive the least little bit of his infinite wisdom to guide our lives than anything that world can provide. ---- PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the Contemporary English Version) Genesis, Chapter 7, verses 5 through 7, Contemporary English Version

Episode 246 – Archeology and the Bible – Part 2 – The Resurrection of Nineveh Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: One day the LORD told Jonah, the son of Amittai, to go to the great city of Nineveh and say to the people, “The LORD has seen your terrible sins. You are doomed!” Jonah, Chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, Contemporary English Version ******** VK: Hello and welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. All of us at Anchored by Truth are excited to be with you at the start of a New Year and a new series. As we often talk, the Christian faith in America has been subjected to more challenges in the last couple of decades than it was in the first 225 years of the country’s existence. One comment that we hear frequently in the popular media – that is completely false – is that the Bible is a book filled with “myth and fairy tales.” Nothing could be further from the truth and this is a claim that is easily refuted. And one way it can be refuted is by knowing that the Bible contains a large body of reliable history. And one way to demonstrate that the history the Bible contains is reliable is by pointing to archeological discoveries. So, RD has entitled this series “Archeology and the Bible” and we have RD, who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books, in the studio today. RD, in our first episode in this series you pointed out that archeological finds can be a valuable source of support for the accuracy of the history that the Bible reports. Despite the fact that popular culture has tried to dismiss the connection the truth is the relationship between the Bible and archeology has been mutually supportive. Many scholars, including ones who weren’t Christian, have used the Bible as a source document when planning or conducting their excavations. The Bible was and is widely regarded as an important source of information about ancient peoples and cultures. The trend to dismiss the Bible’s accuracy in matters of dates and places in the Mideast has become popular among skeptics but it is completely out of sync with how the Bible was viewed among professionals. In fact, the Bible’s history has been shown to be accurate even when doubted and you said that’s something you wanted to illustrate today, right? RD: Absolutely. But before we get into that I would also like to welcome the listeners to our show. Anchored by Truth’s sole purpose is to equip believers to be able to answer the question “how can we be sure the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.” And one way to do that is to use confirmed archeological discoveries to show that the Bible’s historical reports are accurate even when they have been doubted by secular scholars. Today I want to revisit one of the most famous examples of the Bible getting history right even when skeptics for centuries dismissed the Bible’s report. VK: So, since our opening scripture was from the book of Jonah I’m guessing that today you want to talk about the discovery of the city of Nineveh in the 19th century. Nineveh was the capital of Assyrian empire and was one of the most prominent cities in the ancient world. You wouldn’t think that a city as important as Nineveh could get lost in history but it did. An article on the United Church of God’s website says this: “Nineveh, the capital city, fell to the Babylonians in 612 B.C. About 50 years after its peak, [the Assyrian Empire had] collapsed and virtually vanished from history. By the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles, no physical evidence of Nineveh could be seen. Lucian of Samosata ([who lived from] A.D. 120-180), a Greek writer, lamented: "Nineveh has perished. No trace of it remains. No one can say where once it existed" ... Such a lack of visible remains led some scholars of the 19th century to express skepticism that Nineveh or any part of the Assyrian Empire even existed, much less dominated a significant part of the world.” RD: Yes. From around 900 BC to 600 BC the Assyrian Empire was the dominant military power in the Mideast. Some scholars believe that during this time period it was the most formidable military power in the world. But as you just quoted, in the waning years of the 7th century BC, Assyria began to weaken and it ultimately fell to the Babylonians under King Nabopolassar. The fall of the Assyrian Empire isn’t all that remarkable because if we learn anything from history it’s that all empires, regardless of their power during their peak years, always weaken and ultimately fall. The Assyrians fell to the Babylonians, the Babylonians to the Persians, the Persians to the Greeks, and the Greeks to the Romans. And even the mighty Roman Empire which lasted even longer than the Assyrians or any of its predecessors ultimately collapsed under the weight of social decay and external pressures. What is somewhat remarkable is that the Assyrians disappeared so completely that secular history completely lost sight of them. VK: But, let’s be clear, in addition to the Bible recording the existence and greatness of the Assyrian Empire the Bible also had prophesied the destruction and disappearance of the Assyrian Empire. The Bible prophesied that God would use the Assyrians to punish His people because of their drift into idolatry. But at the same time God also told the Assyrians they would be punished in turn because of their arrogance. For instance, Isaiah, chapter 10, verses 15 through 19 record God saying to the Assyrians, “But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself? Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory. The LORD, the Light of Israel, will be a fire; the Holy One will be a flame. He will devour the thorns and briers with fire, burning up the enemy in a single night. The LORD will consume Assyria’s glory like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land; it will waste away like sick people in a plague. Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive — so few that a child could count them!” That’s from the New Living Translation. RD: And Isaiah was not the only Old Testament prophet to warn Assyria of their coming destruction. Why don’t you read Nahum, chapter 2, verses 11 through 13? VK: Those verses say, “Where now is that great Nineveh, that den filled with young lions? It was a place where people—like lions and their cubs— walked freely and without fear. The lion tore up meat for his cubs and strangled prey for his mate. He filled his den with prey, his caverns with his plunder. ‘I am your enemy!’ says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. ‘Your chariots will soon go up in smoke. Your young men will be killed in battle. Never again will you plunder conquered nations. The voices of your proud messengers will be heard no more.” RD: Listen to the last portion of what you read from Isaiah. God told the Assyrians that their “glorious forest” would be reduced to so few trees that a child could count them. Then in Nahum God said, “the voices of your proud messengers will be heard no more.” These are essentially poetic ways of God telling the Assyrians they would be utterly destroyed and they were. But what we want to focus on today is that after those prophesies were fulfilled, and Nineveh was destroyed by the Babylonians, it wasn’t just reduced to a vassal state – as often happened. Nineveh and the Assyrians were so devastated that they disappeared. This huge city that was located in modern day Iraq literally disappeared into the sands. As the Greek writer you quoted said, “Nineveh has perished. No trace of it remains. No one can say where once it existed." Lucian lived in the 2nd century AD – almost 1,900 years ago. At least at that time secular history remembered Nineveh. But by the 19th century AD even that memory had disappeared – or at least it was greatly doubted. The one source, though, that unequivocally preserved the memory of the Assyrians and Nineveh was the Bible. VK: Well, one reason some secular historians may have begun to doubt the existence of an actual Nineveh was because one Bible book in which Nineveh plays a prominent role is the book of Jonah. Jonah may be the most famous of the Minor Prophets because his book contains one of the best known stories in the Bible – a man is saved from drowning by being swallowed by an extremely large sea creature and then tossed up on land. That same man later preaches to a pagan city and in 3 days converts the whole city including the king. That story sound mythical. So, maybe historians reasoned that the whole book of Jonah was mythical including the existence of Nineveh and the Assyrian empire? RD: And that’s certainly possible even though Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire are also mentioned in several other books of the Bible. But one thing the skeptics could take comfort from was that until the mid-19th century there was no physical evidence of Nineveh’s existence. Physically, Nineveh had just vanished. And archeology, as we know it today, was just beginning to emerge in the 19th century. And for the opening decades of the 19th century Nineveh still remained undiscovered. But then all that changed. The online Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about the discovery of Nineveh. “The first person to survey and map Nineveh was the archaeologist Claudius J. Rich in 1820, a work later completed by Felix Jones and published by him in 1854. Excavations have been undertaken intermittently since that period by many persons. … Sir Henry Layard during 1845–51 discovered the palace of Sennacherib and took back to England an unrivalled collection of stone bas-reliefs together with thousands of tablets inscribed in cuneiform from the great library of Ashurbanipal.” VK: So, at least one of the names you just read should be familiar to any student of the Bible, right? RD: Right. Sennacherib was one of the most famous of the kings of Assyria and is mentioned in several places of the Bible. VK: Such as in the historical books of Kings and Chronicles. RD: Yes. Sennacherib is well known to Bible readers because at one point he invaded the kingdom of Judah with the intent to make it part of the Assyrian Empire. VK: Let’s remind listeners that during the time that David and his son, Solomon, were the kings of Israel the nation was unified. But when Solomon’s son took over the kingdom split in two. After that the northern kingdom was called Israel and the southern kingdom was called Judah. The northern kingdom was ruled by a series of idolatrous kings and was eventually conquered by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. The Assyrians deported the Israelites and resettled some other people into that territory. Judah remained an independent kingdom although it paid annual tributes to the Assyrians. But around 701 BC the Assyrians invaded Judah. 2 Chronicles, chapter 32, verse 1 says that the Assyrian king “laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.” RD: Right. The Assyrian king who laid siege to the cities of Judah was Sennacherib which the Bible tells us. But until the middle of the 19th century secular historians weren’t even sure that Sennacherib was a historical figure. But as the entry from the Encyclopedia Britannica told us once Sir Henry Layard discovered the great library of Assurbanipal all that changed. That library contained thousands of clay cuneiform tablets, including tablets that described Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah. And those tablets provided clear confirmation of the accuracy of the Bible’s text. VK: That same article from the United Church of God’s website says this. “Assyrian records of these events quote the King … of Assyria boasting of his devastating invasion of Judah: ‘Forty-six of [Hezekiah's] strong walled towns and innumerable smaller villages...I besieged and conquered...As for Hezekiah, the awful splendor of my lordship overwhelmed him’ … [the Assyrian records] noted that [the king] had made Hezekiah ‘a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.’” RD: Right. The article goes on to say, “The biblical record agrees with Sennacherib's account of the Assyrian invasion and notes the desperation of the kingdom of Judah as the Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem, their last surviving stronghold. However, the Bible continues the story where the Assyrian records are silent. With Jerusalem facing imminent destruction, the people of Judah, led by King Hezekiah, prayed fervently to God (Isaiah 37:15-20) and were miraculously delivered against overwhelming odds.” In both the books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles the Bible tells us that Hezekiah and the people’s prayers brought deliverance. VK: 2 Kings, chapter 19, verses 32 through 37 say this. “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So [the] king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god … his sons … killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.” [EH-SAHR-HEH-DOHN] RD: And the records that were brought back from the great library confirmed this account. Sennacherib carefully recorded a list of the cities he captured and destroyed, but one city is conspicuously absent—Jerusalem. Sennacherib talks about besieging Hezekiah in the city—not of taking it or Hezekiah, Judah's king. So, after almost 1,900 years of silence that prompted the secular world to doubt the authenticity of the Bible the Bible’s record was again proven to be true. The cuneiform tablets unearthed from Assurbanipal’s great library confirmed the Bible’s record of Sennacherib’s interactions with Judah exactly as described. VK: So, this reinforces one of the big points that we made in our first episode on “Archeology and the Bible.” One very important role archeology plays with respect to the Bible is to help affirm the reliability of the Bible’s historical reports. That’s what happened when archeologists began excavating at the site of the ancient city of Nineveh. At first they just found the ruins of the city. But when Henry Layard found the library the tablets in the library confirmed many of the details contained in the Bible’s historical records. These included the names of kings from both countries, the fact that Assyria invaded Judah and conquered many Judean cities, and that the Assyrians never conquered Jerusalem. The Assyrian records also confirmed that the invading king was murdered by two of his own sons and that a 3rd son inherited the empire. RD: Yes. Even though secular history lost sight of Nineveh for almost 2 millennia the Bible never did. But, let’s get back to the book of Jonah. We started out noting that one of the books of the Bible in which Nineveh features prominently is Jonah but some of the other elements of Jonah are so unusual that it made the book seem more fiction. But let’s show that even one of the historical details contained in book of Jonah was shown to be accurate. In Jonah, chapter 3, verse 3, Jonah gives us a detail about the city that seems unlikely. VK: Jonah, chapter 3, verse 3 says, in part, “This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.” That’s from the New Living Translation. The New International Version says, “Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.” What you’re saying is that that seems like a very large city if it takes 3 days for a person to walk across it. There aren’t that many modern cities that you couldn’t walk across in a day or two. So, a city that takes 3 days to cross seems improbable. RD: But, as improbable as it may seem, archeology has shown that even this detail from the book of Jonah is correct. Genesis, chapter 10, verses 11 and 12 tell us about the founding of Nineveh. It says, “From that land Nimrod went to Assyria, and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah, 12and [Nimrod built] Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; all these [combined to form] the great city [Nineveh].” That’s from the Amplified Bible. A Wikipedia article on the city of Nineveh notes that “The ruins of Kuyunjiq, Nimrud, Karamlesh, and Khorsabad for the four corners of an irregular quadrilateral. . The ruins of the ‘great city’ Nineveh, … [is] included within the parallelogram [formed] by lines drawn from the one to the other, [the Biblical reference in Jonah is] generally regarded as consisting of these four sites.” Furthermore, excavations have revealed that, as was common in ancient times, there were defensive fortifications in the area that lay well outside the walls of the Nineveh proper. These defensive fortifications were probably like outposts that could be used both to slow the advance of an oncoming army as well as give early warning to the main city. In walking from the outposts on one side of the region to the other archeologists found that it did indeed take a few days to cross from one outer ring of fortifications to the one on the opposite side. VK: Also, even in our day it’s common to refer to a large area by the name of a city that dominates it. If you look at a map we know that the New York City includes Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and so forth. But no one would bat an eye is someone from Florida just told their friends they were travelling to New York even though they might wind up in the Bronx. So, when the Hebrew writer said that Nineveh was a very great city that it took three days to cross the writer was just using the same kind of descriptive language we use today. RD: Agreed. In fact, the use of that kind of informal descriptive language adds to the authenticity of the book of Jonah. If someone had been contriving a pious fraud about a man being miraculously delivered by a fish from drowning before converting the capital city of his enemies it’s unlikely they would have been cavalier about describing the people who were to be converted. But someone recording a true, though remarkable, tale of conversion, whether the writer was Jonah or someone else, will write using the conversational conventions of their day. VK: What we’ve been talking about in this episode of Anchored by Truth is summed up well in the article from the United Church of God. The article says, “the only historical source in those days that verified the existence of the empire was the Bible. The Old Testament histories and prophecies spoke about Assyria. Jesus proclaimed the existence of Nineveh as a historical fact (Matthew 12:41). Yet some scholars disputed the testimony of Jesus and the prophets—that is, until ‘one spectacular decade in the middle of the nineteenth century...[when] Austen Henry Layard and Paul Emile Botta rediscovered in northern Iraq the ancient remains of three Assyrian cities [including Nineveh] and evidence of the military panoply that had crushed all resistance from the Tigris to the Nile. The Assyrian empire...in all its awesome power had been resurrected through archaeology.’” RD: So, the book of Jonah and the other books that mention Assyria and Nineveh provide a clear and easily understandable example of archeology producing evidence that demonstrated the truth of the Bible’s history – even when evidence had disappeared for a long time. Secular historians had concluded that the absence of evidence was evidence of absence. But it wasn’t. VK: The point you’re making is that is important to not discount the reliability of the Bible just because secular culture or so-called experts would like to do so. RD: Exactly. The Bible is the Word of God and as such it is trustworthy. But God has not asked us to suspend the use of ordinary human tools such as archeology, science, and logic in our pursuit of understanding the Bible. It is not unreasonable to for an honest skeptic to ask the question, “what evidence is there that the Bible is the Word of God?” That’s not an unreasonable question. What is unreasonable is for us to provide example after example of scientific fact or archeological discoveries supporting the Bible only for the skeptic to contend that the evidence doesn’t exist. There comes a point where a request for evidence dissolves into a simple unwillingness to accept what the evidence is saying. VK: So, when we encounter a book like Jonah it’s not unreasonable to approach certain parts of it – a man being swallowed and kept alive by a giant fish or whale – with an initial skepticism. Men being swallowed by giant fish isn’t an everyday occurrence for us. But the fact that it is unusual does not mean it’s impossible. And when we begin looking at elements within the book of Jonah that we can test directly we find out that a fair test tells us that the writer of Jonah was writing history not myth. RD: Right. In our first episode in this series we pointed out that another amazing story contained in the Bible, that of David and Goliath – that might on first blush look legendary – in fact is historically accurate in the details it reports. The book of Jonah reinforces the points we made in our first episode in this series. Archeology can play two very important roles in our study of the Bible and that’s why we’re doing this series. Archeology can help skeptics see that the Bible is not, in fact, a book of “myth and fairy tale.” It is a book firmly set in place and time and its reports of those places and times are trustworthy. Archeology can also help us expand our understanding of the places and times of the Bible and of the people, societies, and cultures that the Bible describes. This helps us understand the Bible’s messages more clearly. VK: Well, This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer for our friends and neighbors who have not yet come to know Christ as their savior. Just as God converted the people of Nineveh through Jonah’s preaching, we can pray that the Lord will convert the lost of our day through our own preaching. Only God can change the human heart but He most often does it by using human instruments, like us, as part of His great work of redemption. ---- PRAYER FOR THE SPIRITUALLY LOST VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the Contemporary English Version) Jonah, Chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, Contemporary English Version A Staggering Archaelogical Discovery: The Mighty Assyrian Empire Emerges From the Dust | United Church of God (ucg.org) Nineveh | History, Map, & Significance | Britannica Topical Bible: Ashurbanipal (biblehub.com) Nineveh - Wikipedia

Education Headline RoundupHappy New Year! Here are the stories we cover in our first education headline roundup of 2024:New PISA scores reveal that students worldwide have suffered major learning setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, with math scores dropping by ¾ of a year and reading by ½ year.The FTC is suing Grand Canyon University for alleged deceptive advertising and illegal telemarketing practices.New Zealand's new Prime Minister bans phones in schools to address the country's declining literacy rates.The Library of AlexandriaIn our first episode of 2024, we journey through time and sand, unraveling tales of the legendary Library of Alexandria. Was it a beacon of wisdom, a hoarding of scrolls, or a tragic victim of flames? Join us as we navigate the mysteries of this intellectual powerhouse of the ancient world.First, we dispel a common misconception: Alexandria wasn't the first library of renown. We'll pay homage to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, whose library in Nineveh housed clay tablets inscribed with epic poems and ancient wisdom. Though fiery war eventually consumed Nineveh, the baked tablets survived, offering a glimpse into the earliest organized knowledge collection.Enter the Macedonians, and fast forward to the death of Alexander the Great, an accomplished military strategist and Aristotle's pupil. His empire fractured, leaving three power blocs ruled by his former generals. We'll focus on Ptolemy I Soter, who established the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt and commissioned Alexandria's great library, a cultural melting pot where Greek and Egyptian traditions intertwined, as well as its accompanying Mouseion (a place dedicated to the Muses). The library's growth wasn't organic. The Ptolemaic kings adopted an aggressive approach to book collection, sending agents to major book fairs and even commandeering scrolls from ships in the harbor. They craved older copies, believing they were likely closer to an author's original ideas.We also address the infamous burning of Alexandria. Was it a fiery inferno consuming scrolls in a single night? Evidence points to Julius Caesar's involvement in the destruction, but did the entire library go up in smoke? Find out in this latest installment of 16:1!Sources & Resources:The British Museum - A library fit for a king by Jonathan TaylorThe Guinness World Records - First LibraryTIME - The Story of the Library of Alexandria Is Mostly a Legend, But the Lesson of Its Burning Is Still Crucial Today by Richard OvendenWikipedia - Library of AlexandriaBritannica - Battle of NinevehBritannica - Library of AlexandriaWikipedia - Alexander the GreatUniversity of Exeter - The Antigonid NetworkThe MET - The Seleucid Empire (323–64 B.C.)Wikipedia - Bibliotheca AlexandrinaWikipedia - Lighthouse of AlexandriaMarket Watch - FTC sues Grand Canyon Education, alleging ‘deceptive and abusive' marketing practices by Bill PetersCNBC - How a 40-ounce cup turned Stanley into a $750 million a year business by Nicolas Vega and Lauren Shamo.AP - Students around the world suffered huge learning setbacks during the pandemic, study findsFederal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Grand Canyon University (GCU) for alleged deceptive advertising and illegal telemarketing practices.The Journal - New Zealand to ban phones in schools under new prime ministerWikipedia - Emily Warren Roebling.

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn about the collapse of the Northern Kingdom to the Neo-Assyrians. Understand why the conquerors are “neo,” where the “lost tribes of Israel” went, and how the Samaritans' culture developed. Episode links: “House of David“ inscribed on a victory stele, (now at the Israel Museum): https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/371407-0 Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1848-1104-1 “Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat),” UNESCO World Heritage Convention, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1130/ Timeline of Nimrud Excavations: http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/nimrud/index.html Marcia Biggs, “Reduced to rubble by ISIS, archaeologists see a new day for ancient city of Nimrud,” PBS News Hour (12 April 2017): https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/reduced-rubble-isis-archaeologists-see-new-day-ancient-city-nimrud Relief of Tiglath-Pileser III from Nimrud's Central Palace (now at the British Museum): https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1856-0909-61 “Sargon II - The Ashur Charter," from the Library of Ashurbanipal (now at the British Museum): https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_K-1349 Red-Haired Archaeologist® links: https://redhairedarchaeologist.com/free https://www.facebook.com/AmandaHopeHaley/ https://www.instagram.com/redhairedarchaeologist/ https://amandahopehaley.square.site/ Learn more about my fabulous video editor, Tanya Yaremkiv, by visiting her website at ⁠https://tanyaremkiv.com⁠ and listening to her podcast, Through the Bible podcast with Tanya Yaremkiv. You can also follow her on Facebook and Instagram @tanyaremkiv

https://www.patreon.com/GnosticInformant Please Consider joining my Patreon to help finding scholars to bring on. Any amount helps me. Thank you existing Patrons. 2nd Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LateNiteGnosis Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NealSendlak1 Discord: https://discord.com/invite/uWBZkxd4UX The Theogony (from the Greek theogonia, meaning "generations of the gods") is an epic poem of 1,022 hexameter lines which describes the birth of the gods in the Greek pantheon. It is thought to have been composed c. 700 BCE (give or take a generation either side of that date). Little is known of Hesiod's life. His father emigrated from Cyme in Asia Minor and settled in Boeotia, a small state in central Greece. It is assumed that the poet was a farmer; a fact garnered from the early verses of the Theogony. He may also have been a rhapsodist, a reciter of poetry, where he learned the technique and vocabulary of heroic songs. Although there are some who question whether or not Hesiod actually wrote the Theogony, most classicists believe he did. However, parts of the work may have been added by later poets and there is a definite similarity in some aspects to earlier Mesopotamian literature. The Enuma Elish (also known as The Seven Tablets of Creation) is the Babylonian creation myth whose title is derived from the opening lines of the piece, "When on High". The myth tells the story of the great god Marduk's victory over the forces of chaos and his establishment of order at the creation of the world. All of the tablets containing the myth (also known as Enuma Elis), found at Ashur, Kish, Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh, Sultantepe, and other excavated sites, date to c. 1200 BCE. Their colophons, however, indicate that these are all copies of a much older version of the myth dating from long before the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon (1792-1750 BCE), the king who elevated the god Marduk to patron deity of Babylon. The poem in its present form, with Marduk as champion, is thought to be a revision of an even older Sumerian work. the Sumerian Ea/Enki or Enlil is thought to have played the major role in the original version of the story, which is dated to the 3,500 BCE Hesiod's "Theogony" and the Enuma Elish are both ancient epic poems that explore the creation of the universe and the origins of the gods in different mythological traditions. While they come from different cultures and time periods, there are several similarities between the two works: Creation of the universe: Both "Theogony" and the Enuma Elish describe the process of creation and the establishment of order in the cosmos. They present elaborate cosmogonies that explain how the world came into existence and how the gods emerged. Primordial deities: Both poems feature primordial deities who precede the main pantheon of gods. These primordial beings represent abstract concepts and forces of nature. For example, in "Theogony," Chaos (the void) is the initial entity from which everything else originates, while in the Enuma Elish, Tiamat represents the primeval sea. Genealogy of gods: Both works provide genealogies of the gods, tracing their lineage and relationships. They present a hierarchy of gods and goddesses, with different generations of deities and their interactions shaping the world and its divine order. Divine conflicts: Both poems depict conflicts among the gods that lead to the establishment of order. In "Theogony," the Titans rebel against their father Uranus, and later the Olympian gods overthrow the Titans. In the Enuma Elish, the younger gods, led by Marduk, battle against the primordial goddess Tiamat and her forces. #gnosticinformant #genesis #bible --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gnosticinformant/message

每天学点历史，从每日一宝开始，今天给大家介绍的是来自伊拉克北部的亚述巴尼帕尔北宫的浮雕（Panel from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal, from northern Iraq） 高160厘米，宽162.56厘米。现收藏于大英博物馆。

Unlocked after one year for patrons only: One moonlit night in 1853, an Iraqi excavator named Hormuzd Rassam and his team snuck into the hills outside of Mosul and began to uncover the massive palace of the last ancient Assyrian emperor, Ashurbanipal. Inside the palace was the largest trove of surviving documents from the ancient world that has ever been found. The massive library of over 30,000 tablets illuminated what had been the most mysterious empire of the Iron Age, brought to light the ancient masterpiece of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and provided the first window into the lost Near Eastern mythology that influenced the Biblical book of Genesis. While the discovery provided the greatest triumph of British imperial antiquarianism, in recent times Saddam Hussein and other Arab nationalists have attempted to reclaim its legacy by building a modern Library of Ashurbanipal. Suggested further reading: Damrosch, "The Buried Book." Image: relief sculpture showing Ashurbanipal slaying a lion with a writing stylus tucked into his belt Please become a patron to support this podcast, and to hear all patron-only lectures as soon as they are posted, including the latest, "Myth of the Month 22: Culture" -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

This week Beau and Carl continue to discuss the Assyrian Empire, focusing on the reigns of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal. The last two great kings of the Assyrian world reach what is arguably the zenith of their empire's fortunes. Yet despite - and perhaps because of - their continued policies of genocidal annihilation, the Assyrians eventually accumulate too many enemies, and their own downfall and destruction falls upon them with surprising swiftness.

The Near and Middle East saw a great many empires throughout Antiquity, but perhaps one of the greatest was that of Assyria. At its height, it stretched from Egypt in the West to Persia in the East and was ruled by a man who's since come to be known as its greatest king. Ashurbanipal was one of many in a long line of Assyrian royalty, but what made him stand out? Find out in this new episode! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/historylovescompany/support

Note: Last week's lesson from Feb 26 was not published due to technical difficulties. It was addressed in this week's lesson. Summary: Mark Lanier continued the study of the Minor Prophets with Nahum. An oracle to Nineveh in the Assyrian Empire. Mark reviewed: What in the world was going on? The reign of Ashurbanipal - 668-627 BC called himself the King of the World, the King of the Underworld. He had military might, great cities, postal system, and Eunuch's as governors. God prophesied thru Nahum his kingdom would be destroyed. How did Nahum plug in? He prophesied the destruction of Nineveh. God considered Ashurbanipal vile, contemptible, and a lightweight. Nahum quotes Isaiah in 1:15 Points for home - History is developed one day at a time. Keep the faith. - God doesn't tolerate evil. Let's seek God's will on earth as it is in heaven. Listen to Mark teach us how to keep the faith, trust and obey, and be authentic followers of God.

The crusades, jihad, and wars in defence of intangible ideals all have their origins in a short-lived conflict in the 6th century BC. Read by Leighton Pugh. Stone relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal, A detail from the battle of Til Tuba. Teumman the Elamite king is trying to escape but his chariot crashes. His horses panic, while he is trying to escape with an arrow in his back, supported by his son. Assyrian. Late Assyrian, c 645 BC. Nineveh, Assyria, Ancient Iraq. (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Consisting of over 30,000 texts from the 7th century bc, these are invaluable for Biblical archaeology. From the 20 most famous archaeological finds of all time on know insiders dot com. Thank you for listening! Please w, share, and leave a five star review! It helps people find us!

This program explores the history of the ancient city of Babylon and the land once known as Babylonia.  We'll uncover the story of this great city over the course of fifteen centuries and learn about its impact and why it was so beloved as well as hated by so many in the ancient world.   We'll also meet an interesting and rather eclectic cast of kings including Hammurabi, Zimri-Lim, Rim-Sin, Samsu-iluna, Marduk-apla-iddina II, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Ashurbanipal, Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar I & II, Nabonidus, Cyrus the Great and many more. Contents:00:00 Introduction04:00 Before Babylon: The Fall of the Neo-Sumerian Empire05:30 Ibbi-Sin and Ishbi-Erra09:27 Letter of Puzur-Numushda to Ibbi-Sin12:21 Fall of Ur and the Birth of Babylonian Civilization15:11 Dynasties of Isin and Larsa (Isin-Larsa Period)19:00 The First Dynasty of Babylon26:32 Hammurabi of Babylon27:48 Zimri-Lim of Mari29:48 War with Eshnunna30:46 The Sukkalmah of Elam33:12 War with Elam35:51 Hammurabi and Rim-Sin39:41 Hammurabi and Zimri-Lim42:24 The Law Code of Hammurabi46:07 Rebellions during the Reign of Samsu-iluna52:30 The Last Four Kings of the First Dynasty55:29 The Hittite Invasion of Babylonia58:03 The Kassites take Control01:03:45 The Kassites Reunite Babylonia 01:06:30 Rivalry with Assyria 01:09:05 Assyria show Babylon who's Boss01:11:40 Tukulti-Ninurta's Conflict with the Kassites01:14:35 The Second Sack of Babylon01:18:37 Elamite Incursions01:20:10 Babylon Bounces Back01:22:36 The End of the Kassite Era01:25:55 The Second Dynasty of Isin01:27:23 Nebuchadnezzar I Avenges Babylon 01:33:50 Life under the Second Dynasty of Isin01:34:56 Literary Works: Enuma Elish and Sakkiku01:37:24 More Assyrian Meddling 01:43:43 Dark Age and Mysterious Dynasties of Babylon01:44:40 Second Dynasty of the Sealand01:47:43 The Bazi Dynasty01:48:11 The Elamite Dynasty 01:49:10 Dynasty E01:53:52 Tiglath-pileser III and the Neo-Assyrian Era of Babylon02:01:48 Marduk-apla-iddina II of Babylon and Sargon the II of Assyria02:11:19 Sennacherib 01:24:50 The Destruction of Babylon02:27:50 Esarhaddon Rebuilds Babylon02:33:12 Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shumu-ukin02:39:40 Nabopolassar and the Fall of Assyria02:46:54 Nebuchadnezzar II 02:53:10 Nabonidus, the Last Babylonian King02:56:40 Cyrus the Great and the Persian Conquest of Babylon03:01:04 End of an Era03:07:27 Thank You and PatronsSupport the show

Anna and Amber can't help you with your real medical complaints, but they're here with a whole batch of knowledge* about what people used to do for their sniffles (and worse). So grab your tea, lozenges, and a mouthful of miscellaneous herbs and shuffle along with us as we explore ways in which diseases have been diagnosed and treated over the millennia. *Not medical knowledge! Go see a doctor!To learn even more, check out: Neanderthal healthcare practices crucial to survival (AAAS)Prehistoric 'Aspirin' Found in Sick Neanderthal's Teeth (National Geographic)Neandertal birth canal shape and the evolution of human childbirth (PNAS)Watching Ancient Hominins Giving Birth (written by Anna for Sapiens)Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus (Nature)I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria (British Museum)Medicine and Doctoring in Ancient Mesopotamia (Grand Valley Journal of History)Ugarit (Metropolitan Museum of Art)The Clay Models Used to Analyze Entrails in the Ancient World (Atlas Obscura)Origin and Development of Ayurveda (A Brief History) (Ancient Science of Life)A glimpse of Ayurveda – The forgotten history and principles of Indian traditional medicine (Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine)25 Ancient, Proven Home Remedies With Science Behind Them (Nursing Assistant Guides)Weapon salve, tooth hangers and other ‘sympathetic' cures (Marieke Hendriksen)

James II was Britain's shortest-reigning monarch of the entire early modern age -- yet his brief rule caused a dramatic rupture, which in turn opened the door to the transformation of the kingdom into the constitutional, commercial, imperial state that we know as modern Britain. Was it because of his Catholic faith? His resolute -- or pig-headed -- personality? His determination to rule absolutely, like his ally Louis XIV? Or, as some have argued, was James too far ahead of his time in his belief in freedom of conscience? We consider the complex life and personality of the ill-fated king, as well as the class conflicts and ideological shifts that let to the so-called "Glorious Revolution" and the beginnings of the modern state. Please sign up as a patron to hear patron-only lectures, including the previous installment of "Doorways in Time" on The Library of Ashurbanipal: www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Despite his royal pedigree, Ashurbanipal was not even expected to become heir to the throne at all, thanks to having more eligible brothers in front of him. As a result, he was able to tackle scholarly pursuits away from his father's court, which gave him the opportunity later to tell us in his own words that aside from learning how to read and write, he also had stuff like mathematics and oil divination under his belt. Emeritus Professor of Assyriology at University of London, writes: “Like few Mesopotamian kings before, he mastered all scribal and priestly knowledge and was able to read Sumerian and obscure Akkadian scripts and languages.” Wiseman also mentions that Ashurbanipal had two tutors who influenced him, one of who interested him in history and literature. This brings us to the heart of Ashurbanipal's legacy. Ashurbanipal built and maintained the first known systematically organized library in the ancient Middle East. (I'd like to say it's the world's first modern library, but the sources I've found hesitate to do so, and always just say “in the ancient Middle East,” while at the same time pointing out the cataloging practices exercised in Ashurbanipal's library would not reach Europe until centuries later.

We examine the so-called "zero point of history," the "first temple," the "world's oldest building," the massive and deeply ancient complex of stone-age megalithic monuments on a hilltop in Turkey, which since being uncovered in the 1990s, has dramatically overturned received ideas about the beginnings of civilization. Please sign up as a patron to hear patron-only lectures, including the previous installment of "Doorways in Time" on The Library of Ashurbanipal: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

In the Season 12 Finale, we are exploring the Library of Ashurbanipal For images and sources: https://www.accessiblearthistory.com/post/podcast-episode-70-the-library-of-ashurbanipal --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/accessiblearthistory/support

From 1763 to the 1840s, Florida was repeatedly tossed and traded among the British, Spanish, and American empires, as all sorts of adventurers -- from Greek and Turkish indentured workers, to Scottish speculators, to Seminole warriors, to West African widows, to British Army deserters, to Mexican pirates, to "Cracker" cattle-herders -- attempted to establish themselves and exploit the subtropical landscape. Under American rule, two societies take shape in the Florida Territory -- one of cotton plantations and the other of backcountry homesteads -- and come to loggerheads over questions of development and ultimately, the idea of statehood. Join as a patron to hear the latest lecture on the Library of Ashurbanipal in Iraq, the largest archaeological discovery of ancient texts ever made -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/67307781

We take stock of the growth of "Historiansplaining," which has brought together listeners and guests, ranging from scholars and critics to regular working people, from America to Asia and Australia. We consider the different lectures that have proved most popular and attracted the attention of journalists, and we preview possibilities for the future, such as videos and series on music in history, which may be realized with enough patron support. Finally, we hear the names of all current active patrons, and an excerpt from the latest patron-only lecture, examining the largest discovery ever made of texts and documents from the ancient world, the Library of Ashurbanipal, in Mosul, Iraq. Please sign up on Patreon to hear patron-only lectures, including "The LIbrary of Ashurbanipal" -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

We make Ashurbanipal even MORE dead, another eunuch goes wild, and a new force is rising in Babylonia!This is a podcast by Dan Hörning and Bernie Maopolski.If you like what we do you can support the Fan of History project on https://www.patreon.com/fanofhistoryContact information: http://facebook.com/fanofhistoryhttps://twitter.com/danhorninghttps://www.instagram.com/dan_horning/Music: “Tudor Theme” by urmymuse. Used here under a commercial Creative Commons license. Find out more at http://ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/40020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How did the Assyrian dominance over the Ancient Near East put in motion a series of events that led to the writing of the stories of Genesis? Mass deportations, the Library of Ashurbanipal, the rise of scribes - all these lead to Genesis in Gil's first summary episode for the book. Support the podcast https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon! Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.