Cyrus' propaganda aimed at the Jewish people promised that Persians would allow them to return to their homeland. This message was coupled with promises of positive change in religious traditions among other things.
The podcast hosts discuss the history of human desire to understand the world and the potential consequences of forgetting to shoot a duck.
The looting of god statues was a common practice in ancient times. In this particular instance, the Babylonians needed their god statue back before they could rebuild after it was sacked by invaders, and it was eventually taken as loot by the Elamites and used as a trophy of their victory.
This podcast episode discusses the concept of making the most of your time and legacy, inspired by books like The Four-Hour Body and Tools of Titans, and encourages listeners to consider what they want to be remembered for.
The discussion touches on the negative aspects of focusing primarily on geopolitics and Assyrian foreign policy when studying Assyrian violence, as well as the difficulty historians face in classifying royal concubines and wives.