A clay cylinder covered in Akkadian cuneiform script, damaged and broken, the Cyrus Cylinder is a powerful symbol of religious tolerance and multi-culturalism. In this enthralling talk Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, traces 2600 years of Middle Eastern history through this single object.
It's another sweltering morning in Memphis, Egypt. As the sunlight brightens the Nile, Peseshet checks her supplies. Honey, garlic, cumin, acacia leaves, cedar oil -- she's well stocked with the essentials she needs to treat her patients. Elizabeth Cox outlines a day in the life of an ancient Egyptian doctor.
Gregory Heyworth is a textual scientist; he and his lab work on new ways to read ancient manuscripts and maps using spectral imaging technology. In this fascinating talk, watch as Heyworth shines a light on lost history, deciphering texts that haven't been read in thousands of years.
Welcome to the world of Lucius Popidius Secundus a 17-year old living in Rome in 73 AD. His life is a typical one of arranged marriages coming-of-age festivals and communal baths. Take a look at this exquisitely detailed lesson on life of a typical Roman teenager two thousand years ago.
Rather than demo another new technology, Tom Wujec reaches back to one of our earliest but most ingenious devices -- the astrolabe. With thousands of uses, from telling time to mapping the night sky, this old tech reminds us that the ancient can be as brilliant as the brand-new.
Hattusa also Ḫattuša or Hattusas, (Hittite: URUḪa-at-tu-ša) was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Before 2000 BCE, the apparently indigenous Hattian people established a settlement on sites that had been occupied even earlier and referred to the site as Hattush. The Hattians built their initial settlement on the high ridge of Büyükkale.
A circa 1962 newsreel, explaining the plans for relocation of the twin temples of Abu Simbel. The footage inclueds a brief animation of relocation as well.