The Story of Ancient India
Long before anyone called it a gap year, a civilization along two rivers planned its cities with drains, invented a placeholder for nothing, and somehow made that the most valuable number in history.
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Some of the topics covered in this episode
- The planned cities and quiet mysteries of the Indus Valley civilization
- The sacred hymns and philosophy found in the Vedas
- The spiritual rise of Buddhism and Jainism in ancient India
- The golden age of the Maurya Empire and the reign of Ashoka
- The scientific and artistic achievements of the Gupta Empire
- The invention of zero and early advances in mathematics
- Timeless epics and the wisdom of ancient Indian sages
Picture a city of perfectly planned brick streets, plumbing included, built thousands of years ago by people whose language we still can't read, and let that gentle mystery carry you off to sleep. May tonight bring you the kind of unhurried, deep rest that a slow river valley seems to promise.