The Phoenicians

In Our Time: History

02/06/14

•

41m

About

Comments

Featured In

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Phoenicians. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote about a people from the Levant who were accomplished sailors and traders, and who taught the Greeks their alphabet. He called them the Phoenicians, the Greek word for purple, although it is not known what they called themselves. By about 700 BC they were trading all over the Mediterranean, taking Egyptian and Syrian goods as far as Spain and North Africa. Although they were hugely influential in the ancient world, they left few records of their own; some contemporary scholars believe that the Phoenicians were never a unified civilisation but a loose association of neighbouring city-states. With: Mark Woolmer Assistant Principal at Collingwood College, Durham University Josephine Quinn Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Oxford Cyprian Broodbank Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology at University College London Producer: Thomas Morris.

Previous Episode

Sources of Early Chinese History

January 23, 2014

•

42m

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the sources for early Chinese history. The first attempts to make a record of historical events in China date from the Shang dynasty of the second millennium BC. The earliest surviving records were inscribed on bones or tortoise shells; in later centuries, chroniclers left detailed accounts on paper or silk. In the last hundred years, archaeologists have discovered a wealth of new materials, including a cache of previously unknown texts which were found in a sealed cave on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Such sources are are shedding new light on Chinese history, although interpreting ancient sources from the period before the invention of printing presents a number of challenges.

With:

Roel Sterckx Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History at the University of Cambridge

Tim Barrett Professor of East Asian History at SOAS, University of London

Hilde de Weerdt Professor of Chinese History at Leiden University

Producer: Thomas Morris.

Next Episode

Chivalry

February 13, 2014

•

42m

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss chivalry, the moral code observed by knights of the Middle Ages. Chivalry originated in the military practices of aristocratic French and German soldiers, but developed into an elaborate system governing many different aspects of knightly behaviour. It influenced the conduct of medieval military campaigns and also had important religious and literary dimensions. It gave rise to the phenomenon of courtly love, the subject of much romance literature, as well as to the practice of heraldry. The remnants of the chivalric tradition linger in European culture even today.

Miri Rubin Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History and Head of the School of History at Queen Mary, University of London

Matthew Strickland Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow

Laura Ashe Associate Professor in English at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Worcester College

Producer: Thomas Morris.

If you like this episode you’ll love

In Moscow's Shadows

No Man's Land: A True Crime Horror Podcast

The Warrior Next Door Podcast

Classic Influence: Timeless Lessons from the Legends

Government That Doesn't Suck

Promoted

‌