Episode A16 - Contact

Synopsis: The Sintashta way of life and death seeds aspects of Vedic Aryan Hinduism and Iranian Zoroastrianism, while their quest for a lucrative market for metals brings them into contact with the Oxus Civilization and – through them – the larger Near Eastern world. In post-Ur III Sumer, Amorite chiefs and military leaders begin to flex a newfound power and prestige.

“The robe they spread upon the Horse to clothe him,

The upper covering and the golden trappings,

The halters which restrain the Steed, the heel-ropes, -

All these, as grateful to the Gods, they offer.”

– Rig-Veda, Book 1, Hymn 162, The Horse

Map of the Pontic-Caspian Steppe c. 2100 BC:

https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/PCS2100.jpg

Map of the Near East c. 1950 BC:

https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Near_East_1950.jpg

Episode Images:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/75506172@N07/albums/72177720335716108/