First off I really hope you’ve been enjoying “The Ancient World – Carchemish.” From the beginning I’ve touted this as a series on the Neo-Hittite kingdoms. But since the first Neo-Hittite kingdom was centered on Carchemish, I thought it’d be fun to start the series with the original Hittite conquest of the city under Suppiluliuma I. Which gave me an excuse to do a deep dive into Late Bronze Age Hittite history. And to say Suppiluliuma a lot. Suppiluliuma. Try it, it’s just really fun to say.

The first arc of this series will be 6 episodes, taking us all the way from the conquest of Carchemish through the immediate aftermath of the Bronze Age Collapse. Episode C5 just posted, and the last episode of this arc (Episode C6) will be posting a week late – so look for it on Friday June 25. After that the real series starts: the story of the life and death of the Iron Age Neo-Hittite Kingdoms. Though they’re typically relegated to an occasional punching bag of the Neo-Assyrians, the Neo-Hittites have their own very interesting history – one I’m looking forward to digging into.

When will the next arc of the series start up? That’s the part I’m not too sure about. I’m hoping to get at least 6 more episodes out sometime later this year. But I’m balancing that with working on the book (yes, that’s still happening, slowly, in the background) – as well as my day-job and lots of other stuff. So please stay subscribed and hopefully I’ll have an update for you soon.

In the meantime – and I swear this is my last big push – I do happen to have a new 15 to 20-episode series launching on June 27 – which is right after I post episode C6. It’s my “The Bronze Age” course on avid.fm. It’ll be two half-hour episodes per week for around 8 to 10 weeks total. Tons of brand-new material, discount pricing, 100% satisfaction guarantee, all that good stuff. Along with the Near Eastern regions you’re used to hear me talking about, I’m also going to be making broader linkages to other civilizations outside the Near East – including the northern steppe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia – then see how those influences feed into Near Eastern civilization. You get a deeper dive on the Hurrians, an introduction to the Oxus Civilization – again just lots of new content.

So if you’ve ever wanted to help out the show, or just want to hear an updated and expanded version of my early podcast episodes, please go sign up right now at avid.fm/ancient. I hate promoting myself, but I’m also really proud of the course and I really think you’ll enjoy it.

That’s it for now. Take care and thanks again for listening!

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From Bronze to Iron