Tag: Egypt

Episode 16: Pharaoh Cambyses

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of PersiaLeave a comment
  • Le roi Cambyse au siège de Péluse, 1872. Paul-Marie Lenoir’s bizarre depiction of the Battle of Pelusium in which he takes the legend of the cat shields a step beyond Polyaenus’ description.
  • A map of the eastern Mediterranean and major locations for this episode.
  • A map of Ancient Egypt and Kush with the locations of named locations and battles marked. Image from Jeff Dahl via Wikimedia Commons under GNU Free Documentation License

In 525 BCE, the Persian army crossed into Egypt, in what seems to have been the culmination of years of antagonism between the the new empire and the last great kingdom of the Near East. To accomplish his task, the new King of Kings, Cambyses, mustered all his resources. He assembled a huge land army, constructed Persia’s first navy, and formed alliances from the Greek islands in the Aegean to tribal kings in Arabia. Over the following three years, he established and consolidated Persian rule over the kingdom of the two lands, bringing one of the oldest civilizations in the world under Persian domination.
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Archaeologists May Have Found 2,500-year-old Persian Military Base in Northern Israel

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Episode 13: Kingship 101

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of PersiaLeave a comment
One of the possible locations for Cambyses’ tomb: a ruined tower at Pasargadae, also called the Prison of Solomon. Credit to Soroush90gh via Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

What did it mean to be an early king of Persia? They were divine, but not quite. Warriors and economists. The king of Persia, but also Babylon, Egypt, and many other lands. Legitimacy came in many forms, and this episode explores them.

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Episode 9: Who Are You Again?

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of Persia1 Comment
  • The remains of Palace S. The first Palace constructed at Pasargadae. Credit: Bernard Gagnon
  • A sketch of the Seal of Cyrus I from Anshan, featuring the king mounted with a spear in a combat scene. Credit: Livius.org
  • Left: The winged genius at Pasargadae, Gate R, as it stands today. Right: a sketch depicting how the same relief may have looked while intact. Credit: Pontecelo and John Henry Wright
  • The Tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae. Personally I really like this particular picture because it’s one of the few with people in the shot to give a sense of how large the structure is. Credit: Wright.one

Gallery of art and architecture described in the episode, click on a picture to see it full size. Left to right: Palace S at Pasargadae, the Seal of Cyrus I sketched, side by side Gate R today and restored sketch. Bottom: Tomb of Cyrus the Great. Captions posted as a comment on each image All images from Wikimedia Commons via Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

This time we’re taking a break from the narrative for a bit. Now that this show has all of Cyrus’s major conquests under its belt, its probably worth getting a sense of what these Persians were actually like. This episode covers art, architecture, clothing, and the major cultural influences of the early Persian period, under the Teispid kings. Let’s see what the world around Cyrus the Great might have looked like.

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Episode 3: Babylonians and Medes

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of PersiaLeave a comment

Map of the Near East under Babylon and Media. Originals by WillemBK and Szajci, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported. Battle sites, Halys River, new cities, and key by Trevor Culley, 2019

We’re bringing the stories from the last two episodes together now. The Medes and the Babylonians joined forces, beat the Assyrians and the Egyptians, and then divided up the Near East between themselves as they built their own empires. After this, I promise there will be some actual Persians on this History of Persia Podcast. 
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Episode 1: Assyria and Setting the Stage

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of Persia3 Comments

My homemade map of the Near East between the Bronze Age Collapse and the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Pre-Collapse Map on the “Maps” page.

Here we go, episode 1! Now, as much as I want to get to Persian history, we should probably know at least a little bit about the world before the Persians got there, so this is you lightspeed tour of the Near East, from about 1200 BCE to 616 BCE. Maps for everything are available on the website.
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