Over the past 50 years, thousands of exquisitely painted Maya vases, almost all looted from tombs, have flooded into public and private collections. These amazing works of art, filled with humor and mystery, have opened an extraordinary window on the Maya past. But the race to unearth these treasures has destroyed temples and palaces, culminating in the takeover of entire ancient cities by looter armies. OUT OF THE MAYA TOMBS (formerly titled DANCE OF THE MAIZE GOD) enters the world of the vases to explore the royal life and rich mythology of the Maya, as well as the tangled issues involved in the collection and study of Maya art. The story is told by villagers, looters, archaeologists, scholars, dealers and curators. For each, these vases have a radically different value and meaning.
In this explosive episode, Steve Quayle, Timothy Alberino, and Tom Horn pick up the trail of the Anasazi Indians in the Desert Southwest of the United States. Their groundbreaking investigation reveals a dark and gruesome secret concerning the sudden annihilation of this mysterious tribe, and a cover-up of gigantic proportions. What they discover will demand the re-writing of American history! Join Timothy Alberino as he explores the enigmatic island of Sardinia in the Western Mediterranean Sea where the skeletal remains of giants are still being extracted from the tens of thousands of megalithic towers and tombs all over the island, and hear the jaw-dropping testimony of those who were hired by the government to dig them out. Discover why Sardinia was ground-zero for the man-eating Canaanite giants that ravished the Promised Land before their expulsion by “Joshua the Robber”.
In 1959, the mutilated bodies of nine hikers were found in the Ural Mountains. Fifty years on, speculation surrounding the story endures.
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?
William Shatner explores the theory that the U.S. government is involved in a cover-up of visiting alien spacecraft. Based on a book by Erich von Däniken, this documentary contains evidence of extraterrestrial life here on earth. Proof discovered through photographs taken by scientists and evidence of actual voyages found by archaeologists.
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.
La Cité oubliée de Ramsès II
The 'Hidden Faith of Our Founding Fathers' is perhaps the first and only documentary to go where no film has ever gone before: into the hidden faith of America's founding fathers. Many founders were involved in secret societies, and yet it is often claimed these men were Christians who were trying to build a Christian nation. But was their faith the true faith of the Bible? And is it possible, as some claim, that the exact opposite is true? What did the founders believe about the Person of Jesus Christ? Were they fighting for Christianity, or against it? Moreover, is it possible that the events of the American Revolution have a much darker significance in the pages of Bible prophecy than most church leaders are aware?
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb is revealed for the first time in color, thanks to colorization of black-and-white newsreel and photographs.
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.
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.
Berlin’s Museum Island, the cultural center of the German capital on the Spree river, houses a large number of art pieces from all over the globe, from the Stone Age to the present day. A walk through their great institutions to marvel at their masterpieces.
An examination of how Africa's mythological stories have served as the basis for the world religions that came after, especially in Western civilization.
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.
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.
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.
Out of the spiritual chaos of the 1960s, more strange cults and unorthodox messiahs have emerged than ever. Charles Manson is seen as the annoying result of libertarianism of the 1960s - the Cain who murdered the Abel from The Love Generation. Or in the words of one commentator; "the Elvis of alienation."
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.