Fall of Civilizations Podcast

In the far east of the Eurasian steppe, the sound of hoofbeats is growing...

In this episode we travel along the vast grassland corridor of the steppe, to hear one of the most remarkable and unlikely stories from medieval history – the story of the Mongol Empire. Find out how this group of nomadic horse riders united the peoples of the Mongolian steppe, and forged them into a truly unique kind of state. Discover how they conquered much of the lands of Eurasia, and brought the distant cultures of China, Persia, the Middle East and Europe into contact. And hear the story of how the world’s largest land empire finally came apart, and left the world as we know it in its wake.

Voice Actors:

Michael Hajiantonis
Henry Stenhouse
Lachlan Lucas
Alexandra Boulton
Simon Jackson
Tom Marshall-Lee
Chris Harvey,
Nick Denton
Amrit Sandhu
Sebastian Balzarolo
Matt Bidulph
Paul Casselle

Readings in Arabic were performed by Oussama Taher.
Readings in Chinese were by Richard Teng.
Readings from the secret history of the Mongols in Mongolian were performed by Uiles

In the far east of the Eurasian steppe, the sound of hoofbeats is growing...

In this episode we travel along the vast grassland corridor of the steppe, to hear one of the most remarkable and unlikely stories from medieval history – the story of the Mongol Empire. Find out how this group of nomadic horse riders united the peoples of the Mongolian steppe, and forged them into a truly unique kind of state. Discover how they conquered much of the lands of Eurasia, and brought the distant cultures of China, Persia, the Middle East and Europe into contact. And hear the story of how the world’s largest land empire finally came apart, and left the world as we know it in its wake.

Voice Actors:

Michael Hajiantonis
Henry Stenhouse
Lachlan Lucas
Alexandra Boulton
Simon Jackson
Tom Marshall-Lee
Chris Harvey,
Nick Denton
Amrit Sandhu
Matt Bidulph
Paul Casselle

Readings in Arabic were performed by Oussama Taher.
Readings in Chinese were by Richard Teng.
Readings from the secret history of the Mongols in Mongolian were performed by Uiles

Far in the distance, three colossal shapes tower over the desert horizon…

In this episode, we travel to the Nile Valley, and tell the story of one of the most iconic cultures ever produced by humankind – the civilizations of ancient Egypt. I want to show how this series of related cultures grew up in the floodplains of their great river, and built some of the most enduring and recognizable structures in the world. And I want to tell the story of what happened to bring the age of the Pharaohs finally and cataclysmically to an end.

Credits:

Michael Hajiantonis
Nick Denton
Paul Casselle
Alexandra Boulton
Tom Marshall-Lee
Rhy Brignell
Peter Walters
Lachlan Lucas

Narrated and produced by Paul Cooper
Sound engineering by Alexey Sibikin
Readings in Arabic by Nassim El-Boujjoufi
Readings in reconstructed ancient Egyptian by Seqnenra (Mohammad Habib) and Doha Abd Allah Amin

Buried beneath the city streets of the Tunisian capital of Tunis, an ancient city lies forgotten...

In this episode, we look at one of the most dramatic stories to come down to us from the ancient world: the rise and fall of the empire of Carthage. Find out how this city rose out of the Phoenician states of the Eastern Mediterranean, and set out on voyages of discovery and settlement that put them at the centre of the ancient world. And hear how the city of Carthage was destroyed, and its memory nearly wiped from the earth.

SOURCES: https://www.patreon.com/posts/sources-for-17-81369494?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Credits:

Written and produced by Paul Cooper
Sound engineering by Alexey Sibikin

Voice actors:

Michael Hajiantonis
Lachlan Lucas
Alexandra Boulton
Simon Jackson
Tom Marshall-Lee
Chris Harvey,
Nick Denton
Paul Casselle

In the lowlands of Burma lie the remains of thousands of crumbling temples...

In this episode, we tell one of the most colourful stories of civilizational survival: the story of the Bagan Empire of Myanmar. Find out how this kingdom rose up in the Irrawaddy river valley of central Myanmar, and built one of the most remarkable series of monuments to have survived from the medieval world. Discover what life was like for the people who lived there, and find out what happened to cause its sudden and complete collapse.

In the deserts of Jordan, a city lies hidden for centuries in a valley of rose-red stone...

In this episode, we look at one of the most peculiar stories of civilizational survival to come down to us from the ancient world, the story of the Nabataeans. Find out how these once humble traders rose to become masters of the desert sands, and to defy empires. And discover what happened to finally bring down the empire of Nabataea.

On the rocky banks of South India's Tungabhadra River, an enormous ruined city lies crumbling...

In this episode, we look at the Vijayanagara Empire of Southern India, a civilization that has all but faded from memory in many parts of the world.

Find out how this remarkable society rose up out of an age of conflict and fragmentation, how it built one of the largest and most impressive medieval cities in the world, and developed an identity that was both South Indian in nature, and global in its outlook. With readings in Sanskrit, and the sounds of traditional Carnatic music, find out what happened to bring the great stone temples of Vijayanagara crashing down in fire and flame.

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Credits:

Voice actors:

Peter Walters
Michael Hajiantonis
Kim Heron
Nick Denton
Paul Casselle

Sound engineering by Alexey Sibikin

Original music performed and composed by Aruna Sairam.

In the lowlands of Northern Iraq, a series of enormous cities lies crumbling in ruins...

In this episode, find out about one of the most remarkable ancient civilizations: the society known today as the neo-Assyrian Empire. Discover how the Assyrians built their empire out of the ashes of the Bronze Age, and built an empire of iron that lasted for centuries. Explore the extraordinary flourishing of art and technology that they fostered. And finally, discover what happened to cause their final, devastating collapse.

High up on the craggy peaks of the Urubamba Canyon, a lost city lies wreathed in cloud...

In this episode, we explore the mountains of the Andes, and tell the story of the Inca Empire. Find out how these mountain people built the largest empire in the Western Hemipshere, in one of the toughest terrains on earth. With Inca poetry, Quechuan hymns and authentic Andean instruments, discover the unique culture of the Inca. And find out what happened to bring their society crashing down around them.

Sound engineering: Thomas Ntinas & Alexey Sibikin

Voice actors:

Annie Kelly
Jamie Tanner
Gerald Condlin
Lachlan Lucas
Peter Walters
Jimmy Lai

Original music by Pavlos Kapralos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Also heard: “Andean illusion” by Kanti Quena (Carlos Saldana) and
"Ollantay" by Leandro Alviña.
Kanti Quena (Carlos Saldana): Quena, Quenacho, Tarkas, Bombo, Charango
Phaxsi Coca (Jeanettte Rojas): Siku Malta, Siku Zanka, Jach'a Siku, Bombo, Chajchas
Ana Maria Ramirez Bautista: Quena
Maya McCourt: Cello
Pavlos Kapralos: Chajchas, Palo de Lluvia

On the outskirts of modern Istanbul, a line of ancient walls lies crumbling into the earth...

In this episode, we look at one of history’s most incredible stories of survival - the thousand-year epic of the Byzantine Empire. Find out how this civilization suffered the loss of its Western half, and continued the unbroken legacy of Rome right through the middle ages. Hear about how it formed a bridge between two continents, and two ages, and learn how the impregnable walls of Constantinople were finally brought crashing to the ground.

This episode we're joined by members of the St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral Choir in London, and a number of musicians playing traditional Byzantine instruments.

Support Fall of Civilizations on Patreon: http://patreon.com/fallofcivilizations_podcast

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Nicolas Rixon
Joey L
Annie Kelly
Cleo Madeleine

Original Compositions and music supervision:

Pavlos Kapralos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Chanters of The St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral:

Michael Georgiou
Alexandros Gikas
Matthew Tomko
Stephanos Thomaides
Pavlos Kapralos

Traditional Musicians:

Monooka (Monica Lucia Madas), vocals
Alexandros Koustas, Lyra (other names: Byzantine Lyra/ Lyra of Istanbul/ Kemence)
Konstantinos Glynos, Kanonaki (other names: qanun; in Byzantine Greek: psaleterion)
Theofilos Lais, Cretan Lyra
Dario Papavassiliou, Santouri (other name: Greek Santur)
Pavlos Kapralos, Oud

Other music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: incompetech.com/

Title theme: Home At Last by John Bartmann. https://johnbartmann.com/