The Persian Gulf
4/30/202659 min
Near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital commercial chokepoints, lies an ancient trade route that powered civilisation 4,000 years ago: the Persian Gulf - where goods and ideas flowed between the great cities of Mesopotamia, Arabia and beyond to the far flung cities of the Indus Valley and the Indian subcontinent.
In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Steffen Laursen and Dr Lloyd Weeks to uncover the story of this Bronze Age superhighway. How did this narrow sea connect such distant civilisations? What kinds of goods travelled its waters, and who controlled these vital routes? From the thriving Bahraini port of Dilmun to the wider networks beyond the Gulf, discover how this region became a crossroads of trade, culture and power, and why it still matters so much today.
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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
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First 90 secondsTristan Hughes· Host0:00
Ever wondered why the Romans were defeated in the Teutoburg Forest? What secrets lie buried in prehistoric Ireland? Or what made Alexander truly great? With a subscription to History Hit, you can explore our ancient past alongside the world's leading historians and archeologists. You'll also unlock hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a brand new release every single week, covering everything from the ancient world to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com/subscribe. [instrumental music plays] It's been called the first commercial superhighway. The body of water that connected the great cities of Bronze Age Mesopotamia, Ur, Uruk, and later Babylon, with faraway cultures in Oman, Arabia, and the Indus River Valley some 4,000 years ago. Trading goods like textiles, ceramics, carnelian, and of course copper, the metal which was so vital for the Mesopotamian cities making bronze. Here in the West, many know it as the Persian Gulf. In Arabia, it's known as the Arabian Gulf. And back in Babylonian times, they called it the Lower Sea. Whatever you call it,