Hello Foreign Exchanges listeners, and welcome back to our periodic podcast series! This time out it’s my privilege to welcome Eckart Frahm, Professor of Assyriology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University, to talk about his book, Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Empire. We’ll talk about what Assyria was and the place it occupies in the tapestry of great Bronze and Iron Age Near Eastern states, as well as the challenges of studying Assyria and the role the empire plays in the Hebrew Scriptures. Enjoy! Many thanks to Jake Aron of American Prestige for producing the show, and as always our music is Cambodian Odyssey by Kevin Macleod (CC by 3.0). Please pick up Professor Frahm’s book, available now in hardcover and paperback as well as audiobook. And if you haven’t checked out Foreign Exchanges please do that too! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe