The Scythians, skilled horsemen and nomadic conquerors, built a feared empire in the vast Eurasian steppe between the 9th and 3rd centuries B.C. All that remains are their graves: the Kourganes. In April 1999, a 2400 year-old Scythian tomb was discovered in Kazakhstan. It contained, among other treasures, twelve horses completely harnessed in gold, suggesting high social status.
Forensic experts scan Pompeii’s victims to investigate why they didn’t escape the eruption.
In this gripping investigation, archaeologist Pepi Papakosta is on a hunt for Alexander the Great's lost tomb, and she makes an extraordinary discovery.
This historical drama tells the story of Qin Shihuang, who unified China's vast territory and declared himself emperor in 221 B.C. During his reign, he introduced sweeping reforms, built a vast network of roads and connected the Great Wall of China. From the grandiose inner sanctum of Emperor Qin's royal palace, to fierce battles with feudal kings, this film re-creates the glory and the terror of the Qin Dynasty, including footage of Qin's life-sized terra cotta army, constructed 2,200 years ago for his tomb.
What is true and what is false in the hideous stories spread about the controversial figure of the Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (12-41), nicknamed Caligula? Professor Mary Beard explains what is accurate and what is mythical in the historical accounts that portray him as an unbalanced despot. Was he a sadistic tyrant, as Roman historians have told, or perhaps the truth about him was manipulated because of political interests?
5000 years ago the ancient Elamites established a glorious civilization that lasted about three millennia. They created marvelous works in architecture and craftsmanship. These works of art depict the lifestyle, thoughts, and beliefs of the Elamites.
La Cité oubliée de Ramsès II
For centuries Troy was believed to be a mythical city. Now, a leading team of American archaeologists have discovered an ancient thriving city, and evidence of a real Trojan War.
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb is revealed for the first time in color, thanks to colorization of black-and-white newsreel and photographs.
The 1st queen of the king dies in child birth, the prince survives. After the 2nd queen, gives birth to a new prince, she plots to kill the 1st prince, so that her son would get the crown after the king. A soldier senses this danger and ousts the prince to a rural village for survival. The village headman adopts the child without knowing the origin of the child. The prince gradually forgets his royalty, and grows up as a skillful and handsome farmer. After the death of the king, the soldier and religious leaders plan to bring the real prince to the crown.
An examination of how Africa's mythological stories have served as the basis for the world religions that came after, especially in Western civilization.
Maya legend tells us that there is a hidden underground cave below Chichen Itza, now high tech archaeologists are here to find the buried truth.
Starting from the colonial city of Trujillo, this documentary reveals natural and archeological features along the north coast of Peru, where the Moche culture thrived from the 1st Century BC to the 6th Century AD.
In the Formative Period 4,000 years before the Incas and the arrival of the Conquistadors, Peru’s earliest civilizations - the Chavín, Caral, Ventarrón, Sechin, Cupisnique, and Cajamarca cultures - built centers of learning and technological achievements, including the largest work of hydrological engineering in the ancient Americas: the Cumbemayo canals.
In the heart of the Jordanian desert, the ancient city of Petra is full of mysteries. How was this architectural wonder created over 2,000 years ago? The technical prowess of Petra, an ancient city in southern Jordan, which was a wonder in the middle of the desert.
With more than seven million visitors a year, its massive structure and awesome architecture testify to the genius of ancient Roman building techniques, earning it a place not only among UNESCO's World Heritage sites but as one of the new seven wonders of the world. The Roman Colosseum is an emblem of the power of a bygone empire.
In 16th century feudal Japan the war between the Iga clan and the Kouga clan continues unabated. Typically for such violent disputes it is the women who suffer the most – in this case lowly castrated Kouga clan ninjas are kidnapping woman from their rivals’ lands and transporting them back to their own, with the intent to use them as concubines. Unfortunately for a trio of inept Kouga ninjas, one of the women they’ve kidnapped is Kisaragi (Rina Takeda), a skilled ninja with a long standing vendetta since her mother was kidnapped when she was just a baby.
This explores the mysterious and catastrophic collapse of ancient civilizations during the late Bronze Age, from the Hittites to the Mycenaeans and the Egyptians, revealing the tumultuous events that brought an end to a thriving era of human history, and warns we may be facing similar threats today.
A documentary about Hagia Sophia. But somewhere nobody seen or filmed before. Cisterns, wells and passages beneath the Hagia Sophia
Professor Bettany Hughes takes viewers on a journey of discovery as she investigates 10 of the greatest and most intriguing Egyptian mummies - and the secrets that lie beneath the bandages. Having remained in their tombs for thousands of years, wrapped, embalmed and buried with treasure, each mummy tells the story of the criminals, priests, children and pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.