About this episode

This episode discusses the historical deforestation caused by ancient civilizations and its impact on the environment.

The symbol on the national flag of Lebanon is the cedar tree. The problem is, there aren’t many cedar trees in Lebanon anymore. In the ancient world, wood was used as a building material and a source of fuel, and there weren’t many alternatives.  As civilizations and empires grew, they had an insatiable demand for wood and agricultural land, which led to the systematic destruction of ancient forests. Learn more about deforestation in the ancient world in this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Shop the store at Shop.Everything-Everywhere.com Sponsors Hexclad Get 10% off your order at hexclad.com/DAILY Mint Mobile Save 50% on Unlimited premium wireless plans starting at $15/month at MintMobile.com/EED Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! DripDrop Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code EVERYTHING for 20% off your first order! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon…

People in this episode

Host: Gary Arndt

Topics covered

• deforestation
• ancient civilizations
• cedar trees
• wood usage
• environmental impact

Keywords

• deforestation
• ancient world
• cedar tree
• Lebanon
• wood demand
• environmental history

Sponsors

Hexclad, Mint Mobile, Quince, DripDrop

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Hexclad, Mint Mobile, Quince, DripDrop

Places: Lebanon

More episodes of Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

• The History of Petra · July 21, 2026 · 16 min
• Stalingrad: The Bloodiest Battle in History (Encore) · July 19, 2026 · 16 min
• All About ePaper · July 18, 2026 · 16 min
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg · July 17, 2026 · 16 min
• The History of Batman · July 16, 2026 · 15 min
• The World in the Year 500 · July 15, 2026 · 16 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More podcast page.