The Earliest Sieges in History (and How they Worked)

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When did the first sieges take place, what did they look like, and what siege equipment was used? In this video, we address these questions and search for verifiable traces of the earliest sieges in history.
Are you interested in reading more on military history? Do you like the artwork in our videos? Then have a look at the various books that Zinnfiguren.com offers. They allow us to use some of their artwork in our videos and have an abundance of other books that might interest you: www.zinnfigur.com/en/Books-Me...
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Some must read mlitary history books:
Ambrose, S. E., Band of Brothers: E Company, 2001. amzn.to/438ltvZ
Baime, A. J., The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman, 2017. amzn.to/3TcDGUj
Beard, M., Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World, 2023. amzn.to/49L2olR
Bevoor, A., Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943, 1999. amzn.to/4a4rqwe
Beevor, A., The Second World War, 2013. amzn.to/3wNFITu
Brennan, P+D., Gettysburg in Color, 2022. amzn.to/48LGldG
Clausewitz, C., On War, 2010. amzn.to/3Vblf5
Kaushik, R., A Global History of Pre-Modern Warfare: 10,000 BCE-1500 CE, 2021. amzn.to/49Mtqt7
McPherson, J., Battle Cry of Freedom, The Civil War Era, 2021. amzn.to/3TseYAW
Tsu, S., The Art of War, 2007, amzn.to/3TuknHA
Sledge. E. B., With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, 2008. amzn.to/439olIK
Pomerantsev, P., How to Win an Information War, 2024. amzn.to/3Ts0YqQ
#history #documentary #education
Intro: 00:00-01:11
Learn languages with Babbel: 01:11-02:51
The First Sieges in History 02:51-05:06
Chapter 1: The Earliest Sieges 05:06-08:32
Chapter 2: Piecing Together Bronze Age Sieges 08:32-13:47
Chapter 3: Bronze Age Siege Engines 13:47-18:32
Epilogue 18:32-19:40
Bibliography
Armstrong, Jeremy/Trundle, Matthew, Sieges in the Mediterranean World, in: idem (eds.), Brill's Companion to Sieges in the Ancient Mediterranean, Boston/Leiden 2019.
Burke, Aaron, Walled Up to Heaven: The Evolution of Middle Bronze Age Fortification Strategies in the Levant, Boston/Leiden 2008.
Edwards, I. E. S./Gadd, C. J./Hammond, N. G. L. (eds.), The Cambridge Ancient History vol. 1 p. 2 (Early History of the Middle East), Cambridge 2008.
Genz, Hermann, Attacking and Defending Fortified Sites in the Early Bronze Age Levant: The Role of Archery, in: Blum, Stephan et Al. (eds.), From Past to Present. Studies in Memory of Manfred O. Korfmann, Bonn 2020, pp. 25-32.
Heagren, Brett H., The 'Development' of Egyptian Assault Warfare (Late Predynastic Period to Dynasty XX), in: Armstrong, Jeremy/Trundle, Matthew, (eds.), Brill's Companion to Sieges in the Ancient Mediterranean, Boston/Leiden 2019, p. 69-110.
Köpp-Jünk, Heidi, Wagons and Carts and their Significance in Ancient Egypt, in: Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 9 (1016), pp. 14-58.
Mourad-Cizek, Anna-Latifa, Siege Scenes of the Old Kingdom, in: Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 22 (2011), pp. 135-158.
Schrott, Raoul, Gilgamesh, Munich 2001.
Schulman, Robert A., The Battle Scenes of the Middle Kingdom, in: JSSEA 12 (1982), pp. 163-185.
Stager, Lawrence E., The Massive Middle Bronze Fortifications-How did they Work?, in British Archaelogical Records 17:30 (1991).
Wilson, Peter, Summary: Under Siege? Defining Siege Warfare in World History, in: Fischer-Kattner, Anke/Ostwald, Jamel (eds.), The World of the Siege. Representations of Early Modern Positional Warfare, Leiden/Boston 2019, pp. 288-306.
Winlock, Herbert E., The Slain Soldiers of Neb-hepet-Re' Mentu-hotpe, New York 1945.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel 🎉. Get up to 60% OFF your subscription ➡Here: go.babbel.com/t?bsc=sandrhomanhistory-jan2024&btp=default&KZbin&Influencer..Jan-2024..USA-TATAM..1200m60-youtube-sandrhomanhistory-jan-2024 Are you interested in reading more on military history? Do you like the artwork in our videos? Then have a look at the various books that Zinnfiguren.com offers. They allow us to use some of their artwork in our videos and have an abundance of other books that might interest you: www.zinnfigur.com/en/Books-Me...

[@death-istic9586]

Love your videos!💚

[@lumburgapalooza]

Your timestamps are off.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thanks. Now it should be correct! @@lumburgapalooza

[@jokekopter2509]

​@@SandRhomanHistoryI suggest that you do a video on Sige of Siget

[@GrippyClips]

I'd use babbel but it doesn't have Greek :(

[@orktv4673]

The battering ram wouldn't have any effect if the walls were made of rubber.

[@ghostttriddder]

Not very effective from other forms of attack.

[@anamationmax]

the bouncy castle is the truest form of defensive

[@anamationmax]

​​@@Ghostrex101they could possibly be making a joke? who knows 🤔

[@mariushunger8755]

Most fortresses were probably very similar to bouncy castles…

[@raulpetrascu2696]

Flaming rubber, it would also keep the folk warm in winter. I see no cons

[@attemptedunkindness3632]

Ogg: "I am no leaving cave, you come in me bonk you and eat you." Krugg: "Good. Me stay out here and bonk anything and eat it. Even from cave." Ogg: "Fug. I didn't think of that." Fug: "Dis new warfare Ogg. Times change."

[@kleinenfuchse5365]

Fridolin: "you sound like you got a shovel up your skrop sideways 😭"

[@johntitor_ibm5100]

Krugg would later on commission a series of cave paintings in his tribe's new cave. The work, "How to Bonk", is the first recorded military manual.

[@ultraranger1286]

Hi SandRhoman could you please consider doing an episode about life under siege? For both the civilians and soldiers? It's very hard to find things covering this topic. Tyvm 🙏

[@SandRhomanHistory]

cool idea

[@jankoodziej877]

I know this is not exactly what you're are asking, but I found "Victus: The Fall of Barcelona" by Pinchez to be a great description of a siege from the point of people who had to survive it, even if it's fiction.

[@5thMilitia]

@@SandRhomanHistory There is a whole diary of somebody during the Siege of Den Bosch (1629) I believe

[@edwardofchide]

If Empire Earth taught me anything, you need a guy named samson lugging around a log to conduct a siege in the bronze age.

[@bgt2848]

The first siege “ HA you can’t get in!” “ yeah well you can’t get out!” “ so? We’re inside!” “ I mean eventually you’ll need to have things brought in or you’ll die, right?” “……….. well you’re not gonna stay out there that long!” “ I bet we will!” “F@&$ you!” “No F@&$ you!” “No F@&$ you!” “No F@&$ you!”

[@ionicafardefrica]

i would guess the long sticks were not for dislodging bricks, but rather used to hinder the defenders from shooting effectively at the workers directly beneath the wall, building a ramp or trying to fill the moat. it's kinda hard lo lean over and shoot down when there's a giant fly swatter swinging in front of you

[@stephenkenney8290]

Besieged Archer: Will you kindly stop putting that stick in my face! Stick Wielding Besieger: Why don't you come out and make me!

[@ionicafardefrica]

@@stephenkenney8290haha, yea, pretty much

[@Thraim.]

Interpreting the depictions of these millennia old clay tablets must be one hell of a work.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

reading Cuneiform is not exactly fun either !

[@noone4700]

Babe wake up SandRhoman dropped a new vid

[@taka7369]

The ramps that brought down Massada can still be seen... after two millennia!

[@Bzhydack]

More even, they can still be used!

[@sdhflkjshdfskdhfskljdhf582]

An intuitive case for the frequency of sieges in early warfare over battles, which may be completely redundant to literature: These would be states without standing armies, and without any of the modern amenities of communication. Rulers would probably become aware of an invading army when fleeing refugees from the outskirt villages that got burned on the march start showing up, at least close enough that an official passes on the report to the centre. IIRC this happened with the arrival of the Spaniards in Mesoamerica for a much, much later proof of concept. You don't have radar stations, you don't have regular scouts - at most you have regularly manned border forts. If one of these is invested without a messenger getting out, you don't know you're being invaded until you see em on the horizon. SO! Given all this, and the lack of a standing army, and the processes involved in raising a levy army - you don't often have a *chance* to offer pitched battle. Meanwhile a defensive posture in fortifications mitigates some of your disadvantages and forces the male population to commit to participation, for cities.

[@sdhflkjshdfskdhfskljdhf582]

*without standing armies as we understand them from the modern era on. I'm a simple former potsherd-digger-upper, not a military history guy and just going off my gut here, I'm sure someone could correctly note the presence of professional corps of palace guards etc large enough to form the cores of armies as far back as Mesopotamia/Egypt. Also forgot to note the prolonged nature of a siege gives you time to bring the spears and shields out of storage and distribute them among the peasant-serfs.

[@jankoodziej877]

I think you are right in that first and most important reason of those early fortifications was to prevent quick raids by enemy, which just have been the main way of eating wars before. I think I read somewhere it was actually very common for defenders to meet the enemy in a battle outsider of the walls. Why? Because in the age of city states there was no help coming and the enemy could pillage everything outside of the walls while you slowly starve to death. If you could, you would at least try to prevent that. So walls stopped the raid and gave defenders enough time to gather the troops, which would then match outside the city. Unless they were vastly outnumbered by the attackers, I imagine.

[@sreardonatpfg]

The first siege probably occurred when a wondering tribe came across the first fortified town. The date, name and location of which has most likely been whipped out of existence by time.

[@mansashaka]

Imagine the horror of that day.

[@thenextbondvillainklaussch3266]

Fair assumption to be fair

[@Kalseifer16]

A wondering tribe wouldn't just consider sieging a city for a few months for no reason Maybe if it's rival tribes then yes but otherwise I disagree

[@sreardonatpfg]

@@Kalseifer16 I genuinely have no idea. Ether scenarios are plausible.

[@hansofaxalia]

The first siege did indeed happen when the first siege took place, that is correct

[@erhanozaydin853]

I am from a town quite close to ancient Hattusa, in Turkey. Fortifications, underground escape tunnels, intricate design of the walls and those giant slabs of rocks impress me every time. Sometimes I stand by the sloped polished rocks over the hill which the citadel stands and fathom myself a hostile soldier approaching to attack, which would be quite a scary experience. Even today, in order to design, carry, place that kind of heavy items require a lot of time and energy with contemporary technology. Considering the security aspect of those logistics take quite some time. Just think about it, if you drop even one of those 5-10 ton rocks, you would break not only that item, but hurt people, other structures and deal with A LOT of cleaning up. This kind of projects require close to perfect organizational planning, let alone technology. They did it thousands of years ago. Blows my mind. Those fortifications had been there even when indo-europeans first conquered it somewhere around 18th century BC. In fact the tablets describing these events are the first indo-european written records ever, if you are interested search Anitta (king) in wikipedia. Anitta was very upset about the siege of Hattusa.

[@samdoorley6101]

You left off one siege method: Treachery. Never underestimate the power of human greed. Even a LAVISH bribe would be much cheaper than maintaining an army in the field.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

That's classified as a ruse or strategem.

[@IPlayWithFire135]

RIP Melos

[@billmiller4972]

We now have evidence of fortifications that are even older. Even before the time humans developed agriculture. In Siberia there were fortifications when there were only hunters.

[@johnpijano4786]

This is a late comment, but of all the pike-and-shot formations you have not talked about, you have missed the New Model Army made during the English Civil war. I really hope you can make a video on them because some say they are the best itteration of the Pike-and-Shot model ever made

[@5thMilitia]

It never proved itself against a continental power so that would be a questionable statement

[@RealEvilLordExdeath]

The bronze age and its warfare is so interesting please more

[@TheEmperorsChampion964]

From iron cometh strength From strength cometh will From will cometh faith From faith cometh honor From honor cometh iron This is the Unbreakable Litany. May it forever be so Iron within iron without

[@buwanbuwaya6927]

Man, Peter Turbo was stupid with killing his sister After destroying his home

[@ScarletRebel96]

These animations you put in your vids always makes this one of my top fav history channels on KZbin

[@JeffBilkins]

sweet sunday siege day

[@clintmoor422]

staggeringly sweet Sunday siege day

[@raulpetrascu2696]

Sufferin succotash! Say, 's a staggeringly sweet n saintly Sunday siege day, seldom seen

[@thomasmalacky7864]

Really love the video, but the expression, the first sieges is wrong. The first seiges actually date to the Neolithic. The chalcolithic (copper age) has characteristic large sieges, for example Siege of Susa 4300 BC.

[@mauzekoni5196]

Thanks for giving me a new thing to look up. (Seriously, I am severely addicted to new information on military history.)

[@thomasmalacky7864]

@@mauzekoni5196 Your channel is great stuff and I will subscribe my friend. Thank you for the reply. The late Neolithic and Chalcolithic is pre literary of course, but that has driven a current bias in the archaeological and historical community until recently. Where via battlefield archaeology we observe there were proto-empires even in the era of non literacy. Ie Uruk Period, Eridu during the Ubaid potentially. One important part which really gets forgotten is the hypothesised semitic invasions on Mesopotamian in the late half of the 4th Millennium BC. It seems they were pushed out by the earliest Indo European migrations, the one to Anatolia c. 4000 BC. The power of Uruk is remembered even in the Bible, where it seems it can be compared to the fall of Rome. 5th Millennium BC and the 4th Millennium BC are underrated.

[@shrimpofdeath5199]

The screaming slinger is literally me

[@thenextbondvillainklaussch3266]

Excellent break down of the information , and excellent Graphics to help with the explanation 10/10

[@amtmannb.4627]

I love your animations here and the topic of the video is really interesting and exciting. So many questions and so much to learn. I never heard about early sieges.

[@robertsansone1680]

Excellent. Thank You

[@sarahsidney1988]

Great video as always

[@uelibinde]

staggering!

[@notthefbi7932]

Build a city and someone will want to take it 😢

[@lobstereleven4610]

great video! thank you

[@mariushunger8755]

I wonder how they moved all the earth for building a ramp or digging a tunnel? Must have been enormously difficult with just soft bronze tools

[@robo5013]

Bronze, while not as 'hard' as iron or steel, is nowhere near 'soft.'

[@rahowherox1177]

You should see what the viet cong achieved with tin cans or Nigerians and Maori with wooden tools.

[@clintmoor422]

this is pure quality. great content. other youtubers could learn something here in my opinion.

[@corro202]

Great video.

[@OHA97]

Oh thank you so much for the video I am very interested in this topic

[@RosinDaddy5280]

You mention to many places in my homeland of Souria Syria Right infront of my mlthets front door in Masyaf Hama syria is a giant castle where the Hashashins where

[@barbariancataphract5103]

I actually really wanted to read about Bronze Age sieges, you made my day

[@m.wagner7008]

Awesome video. Thanks

[@Metachris155]

Absolutely great video for this interesting topic! But I did have a problem trying to stay focused on the discussion when a town or location was being pinged on the map. The sound used was unfortunately really distracting. Otherwise, love your content and hope to see more soon!

[@bigsarge2085]

Always learn something new!

[@isshin725]

Please create a video about castles/ fortresses, how and what they were made of from the earliest times

[@raulestebanrojasramirez7913]

Great video!

[@WissHH-]

Oh man u guys just made my day.

[@The_ZeroLine]

If a siege has discoverable evidence leftover, it’s not the first siege ever. It’s just the oldest one we have evidence of.

[@darbyohara]

Then it’s the first. No others exists prior to it if no evidence exists.

[@The_ZeroLine]

@@darbyohara lol, that’s now how it works. The oldest human remains found isn’t the first human ever and no scientist would ever argue so. He was only phrasing it like that because English isn’t his first language.

[@michael9433]

I rhink what freaks me out is what must have been going on in the minds of the fighters. That their last stand that won the battle would be remembered through history, only for the sands of time to erase them. That their mighty conquest would be spoken of for all time, only for their tales to be long forgotten. So many glories and triumphs, so much tragedy and loss, all erased to but a few fragments of scattered documents, reliefs.

[@boysenberrydracula3599]

who are you man

[@fluffycomputer4032]

I will remember this next time

[@NormanInAustralia]

Thanks!

[@DerakosZrux]

Man the more I learn the more fun games like Civ, CK and M&B are!

[@charleswyler4268]

I wouldn't be so quick to relegate the Trojan Horse to myth, after all, how many myths have in recent years been proven to come from fact, including the most famous example of this, Troy itself.

[@danielfincher8439]

I heard the city was real but we have virtually zero proof of the war. I know nothing.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

The city of Troy definitely existed, but invincible soldiers and 60,000 man campaigns in the bronze age did not

[@si4632]

course they did@@samsonsoturian6013

[@OK-yy6qz]

​​​​@@samsonsoturian6013 Invincible Soldiers didn't exist sure. As I'm also Certain the War didn't happen because Aphrodite Bribed the Judge to get a Golden Apple. But i wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the Siege itself existing including the Size of the Armies. A lot of people undermine how large some ancient Civilizations could have been. Even though they had massive Cities and were capable of Building Mega-structures and Historians would often Report Massive Battles that modern Historians just decide to Ignore for no reason. If bronze Age Civilizations were capable of Building the Pyramids I wouldn't put 60.000 men sieges beyond them. Egypt already had 50.000 men Campaigns in the Bronze Age (Conquest of Syria). And the Achaemenid Empire and Greece would have a War Involving at Least 100.000 Each in an era that's generally believed that Greece was weaker than in the Mycenae era

[@IPlayWithFire135]

What myths are you talking about? It’s not controversial that Troy was real. The Iliad may have been based on one or more real conflicts but the details are fictional.

[@fatherofhistory]

From Bronze Age brutality to tactical evolution. Battering rams & cunning warriors. Defenders' last stand & ingenious escape routes. A glimpse into the history of warfare, shaped by ever-evolving tactics and technology. ⚔

[@wiktorberski9272]

A really interesting piece of human history. So thank you very much

[@jacktribble5253]

The heavier projectiles were meant to do more damage but not necessarily to the walls.

[@volleyballftw]

well to be fair, in the movie (Troj) they never tried to (a) surround the city (b) showed ladders or any other siege equipment (c) build a ramp or tunnel. Hence, we have to assume they planned to look incompetent by design to use a sneak :D yeye I know, movie

[@Llamasondeck]

🤓

[@user-vf1zw3wn3m]

I hope we find a way to learn about the history in these days and how everything worked. The different alliances and cities ect. I want to watch movies or play games in these eras. It’s sad that a lot of history is completely lost

[@JohnSmith-nh2te]

It’s like you delve into my mind for videos I’d want to watch :)

[@iseeyou5061]

There seems to be a school of thought that dismiss Siege Tower to climb enemy wall. Siege Tower being an archer platform makes sense but it looks like Siege Tower also have function to climb the wall instead of just purely shooting device. But i dunno, i'm not historian so my word lacks legitimacy.

[@xPlatiinHD]

I’ve been in the Forum Romanum more than 5 times and the Arch of Titus always amazes me

[@Jason-fm4my]

Times were tough before the invention of tunnel bears.

[@scarecrow559fresno]

a counter to being undermined?

[@Jason-fm4my]

@@scarecrow559fresno In the Third Mithridatic War, during the Siege of Themyscira. Yes.

[@scarecrow559fresno]

i cannot imagine a greater terror

[@jankoodziej877]

Siege is not the same as assault. Most sieges, at least in more known later history, didn't actually end with an assault. Treachery, terror, disease and hunger were the most effective methods to win a siege. I'm a bit surprised the video didn't talk about that at all, but then maybe in bronze age it was different...?

[@MM22966]

Nah, but how many kings & potentates are going to commission stella and other inscriptions talking about how they sat on their asses around a town for 6 months until the others guys gave up?

[@konstancemakjaveli]

​@@MM22966those that were inside and still won, probably

[@jankoodziej877]

@@MM22966 yeah, I think it's a good point. Dramatic assaults are much more likely to be remembered and documented.

[@MM22966]

@@konstancemakjaveli Remember the Alamo-Ur!

[@kamikazetsunami9137]

What is the image at 15:21? It looks like an ancient martial arts manual.

[@badart3204]

Wrestling

[@LeonardoFSI]

Babe wake up, new Sandrhoman video just dropped!

[@MrN3rvedamage]

Troy is FAR older than

[@MagnumGreenPanther]

Love the content I really appreciate that you still use the traditional BC

[@benjaminloyd6056]

Now I want a video about the siege of Jerusalem! I know in the Bible both sides are described as using dart-throwing engines.

[@John14-6...]

Are you sure? I've never heard that before. If you know the verses please let me know

[@BrBetim]

@@John14-6... 2 Kings, 25 mention siege walls, but i also haven't found anything about dart-throwing engines in the siege itself, but 2 Chronicles 26 does mention "devices designed to stand on the towers and at the angles of the walls to shoot arrows and cast large stones" built in Jerusalem by Uzziah who reigned almost 2 centuries before, so i guess there is a possibility?

[@MM22966]

Not a criticism, but one thing not mentioned was the use of incendiaries. Flaming brush to create smoke, hot oil, etc...I imagine the lack of catapults/trebuchets would make the classic "throw fire into the town" a little harder, but these weren't big towns for the most part, either. Somebody with a bow and some burning tarred thatch could probably do some damage.

[@robo5013]

As far as I know, and I've studied Bronze Age history extensively, there is no mention of that. Boiling oil being used by defenders is largely a myth. The 1st and one of only a few records of it come at the siege of Jerusalem that was mentioned at the beginning of the video. Same with flaming arrows, mostly a Hollywood myth.

[@AlbertaGeek]

That's more Hollywood than history.

[@Jerown]

@@robo5013 As much as flaming arrows are bullshit, how come in contemporary (medieval) texts they are mentioned quite often? It must have come from somewhere? (Genuinly curious)

[@Bzhydack]

Middle eastern architecture was made mostly from bricks /clay, and this material is fireproof. Actually, wood and timber were rather luxurious.

[@robo5013]

@@Jerown What are your sources that mention them quite often? Not once in my forty years of studying history have I come across the use of flaming arrows in the middle ages. Now I don't read the actual source material very often as I don't read Latin or Old English, etc., but I'm sure that even in translations or general histories if flaming arrows were a thing it would be mentioned. So if you have some easily accessible sources that describe their use I'm genuinely interested. The main use of fire that I've come across, other than Greek Fire by the Byzantines, is the use of fire brands, or throwing torches. And I can only recall a couple of mentions of this and they were Roman sources.

[@AHersheyHere]

If you remove the 'mystical' element from the Siege of Jericho, it reads like a distraction before the signaling of horns. The Hebrew tribes circling the city would generate dust and disguise the movement of their warriors. The city of Jericho being unable to fully man all of it's walls would have weak points, which the tribes could identify in their procession. Then the blasting of all the horns signals the attack.

[@URProductions]

Damn, you're right.

[@Kaiyanwang82]

Could the Trojan Horse a mythologized transformation of the siege tower? Interesting.

[@richardstriz5337]

Great job ! Sounds like its time for some Troy Total War ;)

[@HeyNonyNonymous]

There is a debate as to whether the structure found in Jericho (known as "the Jericho Tower") was part of a fortification system: it doesn't seem to be constructed in a wa6 that would offer protection from an advancing army. The current leading view is that it was a religious site dedicated to the diety of the sun and a local mountain. This is based on the angle in which the sunrise is viewed as emerging from the top of the mountain when observed from the tower in winter solstice.

[@specialnewb9821]

Highly skeptical you'd bring a giant horse into your walls in the middle of the siege. Odysseus otoh was known to tell some fibs...

[@pvlgs]

Ha, the turfship of Breda.

[@specialnewb9821]

@pvlgs I think that's very different. 🤷

[@pvlgs]

@@specialnewb9821 same idea, and inspired by Homer.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

It was amongst the loot left in the Achaean camp, allegedly

[@specialnewb9821]

@pvlgs very different circumstances. The peat was needed for warmth, regularly let into the city. It wasn't a one-time monument for unbelievable reasons (Greeks for no reason decided to lose when they were close to winning).

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Correction: Babylon did not exist in the Bronze Age. The biggest city in that region at the time was Akkad, and even then only in the late bronze age. The reason for the changing center of population is because the Tigris and Euphrates have shifted course many times.

[@theprancingrat]

It existed in the late bronze age. It did speak Akkadian, though.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Mesopotamia has only had one largestcity at a time@@theprancingrat

[@konstantinriumin2657]

17:15 SUS? SUS !!!??

[@LaatiMafia]

Did the tunnel miners try to collapse large parts of a wall by removing the supporting ground underneath?

[@michaelpaliden6660]

Sapers

[@LMvdB02]

​@@michaelpaliden6660Sapers

[@alfredct602]

@@LMvdB02sappers

[@xxjr8axx]

Yes

[@philRminiatures]

First class video on a fascinating subject!

[@twonumber22]

cool

[@cameronmealing3622]

That thumbnail looks like he had a giant dooby

[@mattheide2775]

❤

[@malenlhewig]

Babble is all nice and good...but it ain't have the language I wanna learn

[@Roger-ws8rj]

I used babble for about a month, learned a few words but thats it. Got pimsleur and i was speaking Spanish the same day

[@abotaweela1]

What language is that? Shmoney?

[@kallmannkallmann]

English?

[@Clinicallyconfused9]

I have so many things to do. My social life is in ruin, grades slipping, money non-existent, and my mental and physical health are deteriorating. But here I am in ignorant bliss watching a video about Bronze Age seizes.

[@jpaulc441]

Well at least it's something educational and not just cat videos!

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

@@jpaulc441 absolutely considering the state of internet and social media you could absolutely be doing much worse and rotting your brain, instead you're watching an informative, educational, engaging video. Better than TikTok by any measure

[@adambrande]

​@@jpaulc441Seriously. This guy can at least use this knowledge to be a great history teacher. What are cats and anime gonna do for you?

[@unhingedninja8565]

@@adambrande higher chance of making a career making/reviewing cat vids and anime than tryna find a job as history teacher now

[@adambrande]

@@unhingedninja8565 death before dishonour

[@jjb2004mk2]

The guy with the sling looks like James May. He's defending his cheese supply from invaders.

[@ImperadorLucius]

impressive how in bronze age we had such marvels of engineering and techknowledge. But simple vanishes without explanation and society takes a set back that lasts for thousand of years.

[@jacobkeltz3584]

What do you mean? We see all of this stuff (excepting slings since they eventually became obsolete) plus more that changed warfare in the middle ages (steel, maille armor, plate armor, stirrups, heavy cavalry, the trebuchet, crossbows, more advanced polearms, cannons, etc.) in addition to different tactics employing these things.

[@ImperadorLucius]

@@jacobkeltz3584 this is high middle ages, there is a gap wich the population not only lost the knowledge but also shrinked

[@brunojames4626]

@@ImperadorLuciusyou see this also in art (in Europe) we go from the Greeks and Romans to much simpler art. Both sculpture and architecture

[@ImperadorLucius]

@@brunojames4626 wich makes it even weirder...

[@Sltarfish]

The Bronze Age collapse is a well researched event. It vanished due to a famine, popular discontent, and invasions from the west.

[@aepacrisodium]

Which is the most relevant siege in history?: A) Constntinople. B) Baghdad. C) Stalingrad. D) Ram ranch.

[@Jiub_SN]

D D D D D D D D D D D D

[@user-cd4bx6uq1y]

This whole time I'm just thinking "this would make a perfect mobile game"

[@wb5872]

Can’t believe a siege lasted 3,500 years!

[@armchairwarrior963]

Chinese built walls differently than the West. Chinese build earth back walls much thicker etc.. Later on when Europe got used to Gunpowder they started to build similar to Chinese style walls. Earth Back rise etc...Not free standing wall types.

[@thrifikionor7603]

Could be a reason why the chinese never got that much into siege cannons (compared to europeans) because their fortresses were already relatively safe against them while in europe there was a transitional time when cannons were extremely effective during sieges until the fortifications were widely to the new technology. Its sometimes quite interesting to see that development in castles that were originally built before gunpowder came into use but were still serving a military role when gunpowder was used.

[@armchairwarrior963]

@@thrifikionor7603 only thing i know is Europe stop building new castles and started to build forts with earth back walls, when gunpowder weapons gotten more powerful. Eventually almost all those type of defenses were gone. it all become trench/ditch defense Instead. Cheapest and faster to build.

[@elshebactm6769]

🗿👍

[@normtrooper4392]

Interesting video. Sieges seem to get worse and worse over history.

[@darekbaird]

worse as in more BRUTAL or worse as in more INCOMPETENT?

[@Julio_ap]

You could make some videos about Portugal's warfare, people tend to forget a lot about them, but the Portuguese have many great achievements in their history, they were the first European super power and were the first to control the oceans and there are many great battles that they won most of them at a numerical disadvantage

[@confusedturtle2275]

Super power is most definitely the wrong word to use, and if we are using the word superpower for Portugal, then I'm pretty sure a lot of other European countries were superpowers before Portugal

[@Julio_ap]

@@confusedturtle2275 in fact, Portugal was the first country in Europe to control the world as the greatest naval power in the modern age

[@confusedturtle2275]

@@Julio_ap control the world? hardly. Portugal managed to create a large but really only coastal empire. It had a large and modern navy, thats for sure, but it was not a superpower. Also you seem to forget that they were not exactly a powerful land nation, they would have struggled on land against empires like spain or france. it was a comerce and maritime empire, not a military one. Calling them the greatest naval power in the moder age is an interesting take, although I am guessing that you mean in the 15-16th century, and not modern time. Their admitedly large empire, was stretched way to much compared to how much their population and economy could handle, hence why it collapsed. Their empire existed purely because they invented their ships first, and not because they were this almighty nation. in an actual war against spain they would have been stomped on.

[@Julio_ap]

@@confusedturtle2275 "whoever controls the seas controls the world" is a famous phrase that reflects the reality of the world after the great navigations, because countries fought to control the seas since they were the greatest source of wealth at the time, in the book sea power you sees that the author recognizes those who controlled the sea as great super powers, so much so that it does not recognize Spain as a super power because it never actually had control of the sea.

[@confusedturtle2275]

@@Julio_ap spain at its greatest extent and at its most powerful would absolutely be a super power. Controlling the seas doesnt matter if you cant defend your own borders, and said control over the sea would probably matter a lot more if portugal had been an island. No matter what way you phrase it, portugal was never a superpower, a great power for certain, but not a superpower. its two different things really. Portugal could easily deploy its vast navy against an adversary, and probably cause great harm to any nations economy by doing so, but if you cant land on the shores of that nation, and if you cant control their land or fight against their armies, then it doesnt matter. And claiming that spain wasnt a superpower because they didnt control the seas is like claiming the mongols werent a superpower because they didnt control the seas. both a false.

[@RextheRebel]

What is your accent? I can't place it.

[@paulbukowiecki1213]

Swiss apparently i never would have guessed that. Should have know since hes a pike and shot fan.

[@Nitidus]

​@@paulbukowiecki1213It's Swiss German, to be precise. Since there are four different official languages in Switzerland, you get four kinds of very different native speakers who each have a distinct accent. A Swiss who grew up speaking Romansh will obviously have a different accent than our narrator here, yet they're both equally "Swiss" accents.

[@themingwarrior6391]

​@@Nitidus So true Swiss? Germanic Tongue. National Speech.

[@MW_Asura]

@@themingwarrior6391 There's no "true Swiss". You're implying the French, Italian and Romansh speakers aren't Swiss lol

[@ashiinsane90]

There is no way Egyptians built the pyramids without the wheel, thats my opinion.. Egyptians since middle kingdom had siege weapons and so is the composite bow, Ahmose I the king that kicked the hyksos out had a composite bow and you can see it today..

[@timmysvensson4902]

What are you on about egyptianas not having wheels? Heard of chariots? Not that is it would be that helpful with wheels building a pyramid since it is alot easier dragging blocks on top of wood placed over the sand.

[@havable]

@@timmysvensson4902 Probably had pulleys too, of which wheels are a component.

[@timmysvensson4902]

@@havable yeah ancient people obviously knew how a wheel work, so its not like someone went oh i invented the wheel - they knew round things rolled better. That about the wheel must be some weird thing that caught on because most of South America didnt use it, so people went "they hadnt invented the wheel". Well obviously they had made circles and "wheels" for thing, but they didnt had a need for it in the Jungle to build a carriage.

[@ashiinsane90]

@@timmysvensson4902 Chariots according to historians were manufactured only in the new kingdom, certainly not in old kingdom where pyramids were built.. not sure what your comment is for..

[@timmysvensson4902]

@@ashiinsane90 First documented or found chariots. Scientists doesnt state what they cant confirm, but it would be likely that the date could be pushed back abit. Also Chariot may be a stretch, since those were like super expensive tanks for the time, so lets say wagon instead. "The oldest example of a wheel for transportation dates to around 3130 BC and was found in Slovenia. The Great Pyramid of Giza dates to around 2600 BC." If first FOUND was 3130bc, aint hard to think egyptians also had it.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

You overstate the scale of sieges during this period as by all accounts populations appear tiny, especially in the early and middle bronze age when national governments did not exist either. Most states had kings that were also sherrif, judge, and army captains and most states praised how tall and mighty the king was rather than praise how efficient he ran a government. It is likely sieges were the norm of warfare because battles mostly consisted of fights between individuals and the urban siege was the only conventional fight in existence.

[@di3727]

You truly speak like someone who got lucky to live in this age, sieges were so demoralizing that the population, in hunger(because they weren't getting food inside at all) and fear of being entirely executed, that they could turn on their leaders and open the doors themselves to avoid total destruction.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

That has nothing to do with what I just said@@di3727

[@OK-yy6qz]

Idk man for small population they sure had massive cities and structures. They were also pretty advanced technologically and in terms of Science. But sure because they praised how tall and Mighty the king was (it's not like that's something that happens to this day with politicians flaunting their personality more than any efficiency Ex:Obama and Trump) that means they had small populations and wars were basically just street fights

[@amorbis4210]

hi guys

[@iztokgrof9395]

$Your Babbel 60% off offer gives the price for 1 year as 90$, while when I check it independently it says its 72$ for a year with supposedly 50% discount.

[@acehigh31]

urgh, the Horse wasn't a gift for the Trojans, it was an offering to Poseidon with the intent of the Trojans stealing away, invoking the wrath of Poseidon who was already mad it the Trojans too, yadda yadda yadda Odysseus takes a million years to get home

[@polymathart]

God, not the art 😕

[@asenkulev]

Много лош опит за обяснение на обсадите. Солницата е България за първи път чувам да е била под обсада да не говоря за датировката на такава.

[@thanos6080]

And where exactly does "Roman" mythology mention the siege of Troy?

[@clintmoor422]

aneid, virgil. it's literally the founding moment of the roman culture because aneas, the grand grand grand... father of romulus and remus flees troy and travels to italy.

[@lost6516]

The romans also repeatedly saw themselves as the heirs of Troy (at least in the early days)

[@eliasbernzen433]

read a book man

[@geoffwitt4227]

Now go and get it: Pharaoh: Total War. The best way to experience Bronze Age siege battles.

[@nilsggr]

But arguably one of the worst ways to experience a total war game...

[@Tonyx.yt.]

possibily the worst total war ever

[@JoshuaKevinPerry]

😂 Best Joke All Day

[@geoffwitt4227]

I'm serious. This game is very good and will soon be excellent with the Ganossa mod and Sea People DLC.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Screw those games and everything they stand for

[@jeffsirloin2558]

the siege of leningrad is on a scale that is unfathomable. the amount of Soviet lives lost to save the world from nazis is a cost that the whole world should help repay. if the world were to give 1 minute of silence for every Soviet life given to defend freedom, the world would be silent for 50 years.

[@galgamekthegreatlord4823]

This smells of Russian propaganda

[@Verynormaltagname]

a rusbot on yt? kek

[@Faienian_empire]

If every single casualty lived 40 years, how long would it be total

[@freethinkmafia1672]

It’s true the Soviets are almost solely responsible for defeating the Nazis in terms of blood split, but seeing as they were as bad if not worse in terms of human rights they’ll get nothing but a warrior’s due respect from me.

[@RTWPimpmachine]

@@freethinkmafia1672 People that don't know anything about WW2 should just stfu. The Soviets would never have been able to defeat the Germans on their own. Nor were the contributions of the Western Allies particularly small. The Western Allies inflicted about ~40% of the KIA and POW numbers on Germany, defeated Italy, and defeated Japan. Their naval blockade ensured Germany would be defeated. Among other things.

[@Demun1649]

Switzerland has two languages, French and German cantons. If you didn't speak French, it is because YOU OPTED OUT OF THE LESSONS. YOUR FAULT. Comprend?

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Switzerland has four languages, actually. Most Swiss German speakers don’t speak a lot of French. Most Frech speakers don’t speak a lot Swiss German. Same for Italian speakers although they are often good at French. Most Romansh speakers are kinda forced to learn one of the other languages. School is not sufficient for most Swiss.

[@Demun1649]

@@SandRhomanHistory Perhaps I judge harshly, maybe because I find languages relatively easy to learn. I speak native English, Welsh, Latin, French, Turkish, and I am learning Polish, with Tamil coming along a bit later.

[@Demun1649]

@@SandRhomanHistory And I only spoke school French until I joined the French army, in the best infantry regiment in the world.

[@martinzihlmann822]

just shows that French lessons in most swiss schools are a waste of time. i always thought im bad at learning languages, nope, just had bad classes. they teach you formal writing and all kinds of advanced grammar rules, without giving you any feeling for the language and without training speech at all. i became fluent in Chinese within a year after that. why? because grammar and vocabulary is easy to teach and easy to test.

[@macree01]

@@Demun1649Now, learning a dead language. There’s a true waste of time 🙄

[@islammehmeov2334]

Poor europeans have no Bronze Age history are Battle to speke so they try to still Middle Eastern Bronze age History)

[@domca4617]

Well, at least they still have their old culture, language and identity unlike people from the Middle East.

[@islammehmeov2334]

@@domca4617 what the F are you taking about the people of france were 1 Celtics then the Roman's conqueror them and forsee them to speak there language and culture then the Germanic Frank's conqueror and assimilate so 🖕🏻

[@jankoodziej877]

Uhm, there is archeological evidence of Bronze Age fortified settlements all over Europe, I don't know what you are talking about.

[@twonumber22]

nice strawman dummy

[@benjaminloyd6056]

Poor middle easterner can't spell.

[@IslamisGay]

Omelette du fromage. That’s all the French u need, dude.