Thin End of the Wedge

Gioele talks about the PlANET Project (Plants in the Ancient Near East Texts). How do texts and archaeobotanical evidence combine to explain the economic and functional roles of plants? And what symbolic values did they have? To what extent did they play active roles?
3:27  the PlANET project
5:23  what do we know about plants?
7:57  combining sources
11:13  project goals
13:35  attitudes to environmental change
15:18  interdisciplinary
17:30  identifying plants
21:07  environmental humanities
26:15  plants as actors
29:06  gender studies in plant studies
32:59  BioANE project and PlANET project
33:49  analogical thinking
37:43  current research
40:59  favourite plant
PlANET at La Sapienza 
Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: wedgepod@gmail.com
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

David Kertai explains all about Neo-Assyrian palaces. What, and who, would we find there? How did they function? What do their design and decoration tell us about how they were used? How visible was the king? 

David's museum page

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: wedgepod@gmail.com
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

International Association for Assyriology awards prizes to early career scholars annually. The for 2025 awards went to: 
Best PhD dissertation in the field of Assyriology and Mesopotamian Archaeology: Adeline Reynaud, for “Les diagrammes mathématiques paléo-babyloniens : catalogue, propriétés matérielles, rôles dans les raisonnements”
Best article in Assyriology and Mesopotamian Archaeology: 
Laureate: Jon Beltz, for “Everyday Magic? Four Sumerian zi…pa₃ Incantations on Amulets,” in Journal of Cuneiform Studies 77: 97-121.
Runner-up: Andrew Pottorf, for “un-il₂ (“Menials”) as a Serflike Social Stratum during the Ur III Period,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History 12/1: 83-113. 
Jon and Andrew join us to talk about their prize-winning research. 
2:00 What is a zipa incantation?
2:54 amulets and tablets
3:55 practical magic
5:27 main argument
6:29 structures
8:13 place in research
9:10 what's next
11:42 status groups in Ur III
15:52 state of research
20:52 the "people"
22:30 how to become UN.IL2
26:59 social security?
28:50 place in research
30:43 what's next

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: wedgepod@gmail.com
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Lisa Wilhelmi discusses the international system in the ancient Middlle East. The 14th century BC tablets from Amarna in Egypt, and tablets from the royal archives in Hattusa (Türkiye), reveal diplomatic exchanges between the great powers that ruled the region. What did they want from each other? Who and what moved around, and why?
2:00 what does "international" mean?
3:09 what sources our sources say?
5:22 were the letters preserved or did they just survive?
6:50 what language do they use?
8:37 were they equal partners?
10:34 do resources buy membership of the great powers club?
12:15 how did they talk to each other?
14:35 what messages are they sending each other?
16:38 political theatre?
18:32 how princesses were chosen
19:40 did princesses take part in the correspondence?
20:13 why was cuneiform the method of communication?
23:51 cultural exchange
26:52 lost in translation?

Lisa's university page

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: wedgepod@gmail.com
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Gina Konstantopoulos, Andrew Deloucas, Gabriel Moshenska, and Steven Garfinkle discuss internet favourite, Ea-nasir. What do we know about the Dilmun traders and their role in the supply of copper to the kingdoms of Babylonia? Who were his customers and what did they want his copper for? How did he become famous in the 21st century, and what jokes do people make about him? What possibilities does this offer assyriology?
Andrew Deloucas's university page
Gina Konstantopoulos's university page
Gabriel Moshenska's university page
Steven Garfinkle's university page

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: wedgepod@gmail.com
Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod