A supplementary episode covering the entire 'Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor.'

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This episode covers the maritime exploits of the Middle Kingdom. From the reopening of trade routes by Hannu, to the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor, to the Dashur boats found in pits near a pyramid, we'll cover the brief revival of maritime trade during the Middle Kingdom.

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Today's episode will focus on the scope of Egypt's maritime reach during the Old Kingdom's fifth and sixth dynasties. Topics include the development and refinement of maritime technology like the sail and the hogging truss, the discovery of an ancient harbor at Wadi el-Jarf, and the mysterious land of Punt as it relates to the story of Harkhuf, the boy pharaoh Pepi II, and a pygmy from Nubia.

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In this episode we meet the Fourth Dynasty pharaohs, their pyramids, and a magnificent ship buried next to Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza. From the story of its discovery and restoration, to the intricate construction methods used on the ship, down to the theories about the ship's original purpose, this episode looks at what may be the world's finest surviving example of ancient maritime technology.

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In this episode we'll focus mainly on the predynastic depictions of papyrus boats, wooden boats, the earliest depictions of the sail, and one important petroglyph. Then, we'll consider the validity of a theory that has connected ancient Egypt with ancient Mesopotamia. We'll conclude by looking at a magnificent discovery at Abydos where some of the oldest wooden planked boats to have ever been found were buried in their own graves in the Egyptian desert.

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In this episode we'll get to meet two of the more well known merchants from Mesopotamia: Ea-nāşir who lived during the time of the first Babylonian king, Hammurabi, and Lu-Enlilla from the Third Dynasty of Ur. We'll also look at some of the economic factors at play in the world of the Mesopotamian merchants, and we'll see how the earliest law codes had an effect on the trade of the shipping merchants.

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Although this episode will cover a greater span of time than the first two episodes covered, we'll still slow down and see how a Sumerian moon-god named Nanna-Suen and a Mesopotamian Royal Hymn called “Shulgi and Ninlil’s Boat” can help us better understand maritime history; how Sargon of Akkad forged one of the world's first large empires and used that power to influence trade; and eventually how transition and turmoil within Mesopotamia led to a decline of trade that began with Hammurabi and lasted for centuries.

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We'll witness the expansion of Sumer from a scattered farming society into the world’s first true civilization and see how society became less egalitarian with the emergence of a ruling class. Then, surplus grain and the ambitions of the rulers combined to spur on long distance trade that reached south into the Persian Gulf and beyond.

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In which we meet the Ubaid people and see how they became the first inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia and used their natural resources to construct basic reed boats.

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Thanks for dipping your toes in the figurative waters here with the Maritime History Podcast! I'm Brandon Huebner and I'll briefly introduce the podcast and explain why I think maritime history is an integral and overlooked facet of world history. It makes for many a fascinating story, and the podcast here will cover as many of those as we can, so hop aboard and join us for the voyage!

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