Babylon
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 26 January 2023
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
One of the most famous cities in history - Babylon is shrouded in mystery and myth. Located in ancient Mesopotamia, now modern Iraq, it was one of the epicentres of ancient culture, architecture, and the home of famous figures such as Hammurabi. But what do we actually know about Babylon - and what can we learn from ancient sources and modern archaeology?
In this episode, Tristan is joined by Oxford scholar Stephanie Dalley who helps us separate fact from fiction. Looking at famous sites such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Ziggurat of Ur - what can we learn about Babylon, and what legacy has it left behind?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the entrance on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes your host and in today's |
| 0:17.7 | podcast well it's a big one. We're talking all about one of the most well-known cities |
| 0:24.8 | from ancient history. The prestigious wealthy beautiful city that was Babylon. |
| 0:33.3 | Situated in ancient Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, |
| 0:38.9 | it has an amazing yet quite enigmatic ancient story. In a so much history attached to it, |
| 0:47.8 | there's legends from the Tower of Babel to of course the mysterious hanging gardens of Babylon. |
| 0:53.7 | It's got remarkable figures from Hammurabi to Nebuchadnezzar II. It has got thousands of years |
| 1:02.2 | of history attached to it. And in today's podcast episode, we're only going to be scratching the |
| 1:08.4 | surface of Babylon's history because as mentioned there's so much and yet we're going to give you |
| 1:14.5 | at the same time a deep dive, a wonderful deep dive into the latest research into what we know |
| 1:21.7 | right now about ancient Babylon and how we're certainly going to be learning more about this city |
| 1:28.1 | and its people in antiquity over the following years and decades. To explain all about this, |
| 1:35.6 | I was delighted to head up to Oxford a month or so ago to interview a leading light, a brilliant |
| 1:43.3 | expert on ancient Babylon on the ancient Near East, the wonderful Dr. Stephanie Dalley. |
| 1:51.2 | Stephanie, she's an author, she has presented TV documentaries, she's a retired teaching fellow |
| 1:57.2 | from the Oriental Institute at Oxford. She is brilliant, she's a fountain of knowledge |
| 2:03.2 | when it comes to all things ancient Babylon. And I've got no doubt that that will come across |
| 2:09.7 | in today's episode. It was great fun to record. It was an absolute privilege to meet Stephanie |
| 2:15.2 | and to interview her all about this. So I really do hope you enjoy. So without further ado, |
| 2:20.1 | to talk all about Babylon, here's Stephanie. Dr. Dalley, it is an honor to have you on the podcast |
| 2:29.2 | today. Thank you, it's an honor to be invited. And it is a pleasure to be talking about this topic. |
| 2:34.6 | Babylon, we've done a few episodes on Mesopotamia recently, including with your good friend Dr. Paul |
... |
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