1 00:00:16,984 --> 00:00:18,884 HOST: NO MATTER WHAT WE LOOK LIKE TODAY, 2 00:00:18,953 --> 00:00:21,053 WE'RE ALL DIRECTLY DESCENDED 3 00:00:21,122 --> 00:00:24,823 FROM ANCESTORS WHO EVOLVED ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT. 4 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,695 THE OLDEST HUMAN POPULATION EMERGED IN AFRICA. 5 00:00:30,898 --> 00:00:32,364 AFRICA IS THE HOME OF THE WORLD'S 6 00:00:32,433 --> 00:00:34,533 MOST ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS. 7 00:00:35,970 --> 00:00:38,504 FAR TOO OFTEN, AFRICA HAS BEEN THOUGHT OF 8 00:00:38,572 --> 00:00:40,706 AS ISOLATED AND STATIC, 9 00:00:40,775 --> 00:00:43,942 BUT NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. 10 00:00:44,011 --> 00:00:47,079 THE ROOTS OF EVERY FAMILY TREE 11 00:00:47,148 --> 00:00:50,349 TRACE HERE TO AFRICA. 12 00:00:50,418 --> 00:00:53,318 AND SO DOES THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. 13 00:00:53,387 --> 00:00:55,988 IN THIS SERIES, WE'LL BE GOING ON A JOURNEY 14 00:00:56,057 --> 00:00:59,158 THROUGH 200,000 YEARS OF HISTORY. 15 00:01:00,995 --> 00:01:02,961 WE'LL EXPLORE GREAT CITIES 16 00:01:03,030 --> 00:01:05,998 BUILT ALONG AFRICA'S EXTENSIVE TRADE NETWORKS, 17 00:01:06,067 --> 00:01:08,667 DISCOVER ART OF UNPARALLELED BEAUTY 18 00:01:08,736 --> 00:01:11,136 AND TECHNICAL BRILLIANCE, 19 00:01:11,205 --> 00:01:13,038 AND MARVEL AT THOUSANDS OF YEARS 20 00:01:13,107 --> 00:01:15,107 OF BREATHTAKING ARCHITECTURE. 21 00:01:16,544 --> 00:01:18,877 DRIVING ALL THIS WERE AFRICANS 22 00:01:18,946 --> 00:01:22,147 WHO PROSPERED, CREATED, AND SUFFERED 23 00:01:22,216 --> 00:01:24,316 THROUGH THEIR RICH, SOMETIMES TRAGIC, 24 00:01:24,385 --> 00:01:26,785 YET ENDLESSLY FASCINATING HISTORY. 25 00:01:28,856 --> 00:01:32,291 THIS IS A SELDOM-TOLD STORY OF HOW AFRICANS, 26 00:01:32,359 --> 00:01:35,094 BY SHAPING THEIR OWN WORLDS, 27 00:01:35,162 --> 00:01:37,796 SHAPED THE LARGER WORLD AS WELL. 28 00:02:11,952 --> 00:02:14,853 AFRICA'S GREAT RIFT VALLEY. 29 00:02:14,922 --> 00:02:18,757 THIS IS WHERE HUMANITY'S STORY MOST LIKELY BEGINS. 30 00:02:24,365 --> 00:02:27,900 HOMO SAPIENS, ANATOMICALLY MODERN HUMANS, 31 00:02:27,968 --> 00:02:31,236 HAVE LIVED HERE FOR ABOUT 200,000 YEARS. 32 00:02:34,275 --> 00:02:36,241 THIS GREAT GEOLOGICAL FAULT, 33 00:02:36,310 --> 00:02:39,078 STRETCHING 3,000 MILES THROUGH AFRICA, 34 00:02:39,146 --> 00:02:41,213 FROM ETHIOPIA TO MALAWI, 35 00:02:41,282 --> 00:02:43,415 WITH ITS GREAT LAKES AND SAVANNAHS 36 00:02:43,484 --> 00:02:45,050 FULL OF ANIMAL LIFE, 37 00:02:45,119 --> 00:02:48,187 GAVE OUR ANCESTORS THE PERFECT ENVIRONMENT 38 00:02:48,255 --> 00:02:49,888 IN WHICH TO EVOLVE. 39 00:02:52,526 --> 00:02:56,328 MAN: THE RIFT VALLEY, IT'S LIKE A CRUCIBLE, 40 00:02:56,397 --> 00:02:58,430 LIKE IN A CHEMISTRY LAB, 41 00:02:58,499 --> 00:03:01,400 WHERE HUMANS HAVE BEEN TESTED. 42 00:03:01,469 --> 00:03:04,069 BECAUSE NATURE CONSTANTLY TESTS 43 00:03:04,138 --> 00:03:06,238 DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE SPECIES. 44 00:03:06,307 --> 00:03:10,209 THOSE WHO CAN FIT THE ENVIRONMENT OR THE SITUATION 45 00:03:10,277 --> 00:03:13,779 THAT IS AROUND SURVIVE AND CONTINUE, 46 00:03:13,848 --> 00:03:17,316 AND THE OTHERS, YOU KNOW, GET REPLACED. 47 00:03:20,488 --> 00:03:23,255 [THUNDER] 48 00:03:23,324 --> 00:03:26,725 HOST: IN 1997, THE RAINS FELL HEAVILY 49 00:03:26,794 --> 00:03:30,129 IN ETHIOPIA'S NORTHERN RIFT VALLEY. 50 00:03:30,197 --> 00:03:32,698 LAYERS OF SEDIMENT DISLODGED, 51 00:03:32,766 --> 00:03:35,601 REVEALING AN EXTRAORDINARY FIND-- 52 00:03:35,669 --> 00:03:37,669 A HUMAN SKULL. 53 00:03:37,738 --> 00:03:40,806 IT'S ONE OF THE OLDEST HOMO SAPIEN REMAINS 54 00:03:40,875 --> 00:03:43,275 TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. 55 00:03:43,344 --> 00:03:47,746 SCIENTISTS NAMED THE SKULL IDALTU, MEANING FIRSTBORN, 56 00:03:47,815 --> 00:03:50,082 AND IDALTU WALKED THESE VALLEYS 57 00:03:50,151 --> 00:03:52,818 160,000 YEARS AGO. 58 00:03:52,887 --> 00:03:55,787 DR. BERHANE ASFAW WAS ONE OF THE SCIENTISTS 59 00:03:55,856 --> 00:03:57,322 WHO MADE THE DISCOVERY. 60 00:03:57,391 --> 00:03:59,825 THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW SPECIMENS 61 00:03:59,894 --> 00:04:04,329 THAT WE FOUND ALMOST COMPLETE. 62 00:04:04,398 --> 00:04:07,399 THE WHOLE, THE FACE AND THE BRAIN CASE. 63 00:04:07,468 --> 00:04:10,702 AND THE MOST IMPRESSIVE THING ABOUT THIS IS 64 00:04:10,771 --> 00:04:13,472 EVEN AT THIS EARLY AGE, 65 00:04:13,541 --> 00:04:16,108 THE FACE IS MODERN HOMO SAPIEN, 66 00:04:16,177 --> 00:04:18,443 THE BRAIN CASE IS MODERN HOMO SAPIEN, 67 00:04:18,512 --> 00:04:21,313 THE SHAPE FROM THE BACK IS A MODERN HOMO SAPIEN. 68 00:04:21,382 --> 00:04:23,215 IT'S EXACTLY US. 69 00:04:27,154 --> 00:04:30,189 HOST: THE ANATOMY AND AGE OF IDALTU'S SKULL 70 00:04:30,257 --> 00:04:32,391 PROVIDED THE STRONGEST EVIDENCE YET 71 00:04:32,459 --> 00:04:34,726 THAT ANATOMICALLY MODERN HUMANS 72 00:04:34,795 --> 00:04:36,261 EMERGED IN AFRICA. 73 00:04:38,132 --> 00:04:39,831 MAN: EACH STAGE OF THE EVOLUTION 74 00:04:39,900 --> 00:04:41,800 TOWARD MODERN HUMANS, 75 00:04:41,869 --> 00:04:43,468 IT TAKES PLACE IN AFRICA. 76 00:04:43,537 --> 00:04:45,704 ASFAW: WHEN WE FOUND HOMO SAPIEN IDALTU, 77 00:04:45,773 --> 00:04:50,976 IT'S VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT PUSHES THE TIME FAR BACK. 78 00:04:51,045 --> 00:04:54,179 IT MEANS ANATOMICALLY MODERN HOMO SAPIENS 79 00:04:54,248 --> 00:04:56,748 STARTED WALKING ON THIS PLANET 80 00:04:56,817 --> 00:04:59,551 MUCH EARLIER THAN WE THOUGHT, 81 00:04:59,620 --> 00:05:01,820 AND THE INTERESTING THING IS 82 00:05:01,889 --> 00:05:06,825 AT THE SAME TIME, EUROPE WAS PACKED WITH NEANDERTHALS, 83 00:05:06,894 --> 00:05:09,027 WHICH ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM HOMO SAPIENS. 84 00:05:13,133 --> 00:05:16,602 HOST: ONE OF AFRICA'S MOST RESPECTED PALEOANTHROPOLOGISTS 85 00:05:16,670 --> 00:05:18,604 IS DR. RICHARD LEAKEY. 86 00:05:18,672 --> 00:05:21,740 HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES HAVE MADE GROUNDBREAKING DISCOVERIES 87 00:05:21,809 --> 00:05:26,044 ABOUT HOW OUR SPECIES EVOLVED ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT. 88 00:05:26,113 --> 00:05:30,215 I'VE COME TO MEET HIM AT HIS INSTITUTE IN NAIROBI, KENYA. 89 00:05:30,284 --> 00:05:31,717 HOW DO WE KNOW 90 00:05:31,785 --> 00:05:34,453 THAT THE FIRST HUMAN BEINGS 91 00:05:34,521 --> 00:05:36,855 EVOLVED ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT? 92 00:05:36,924 --> 00:05:39,424 THE FOSSIL EVIDENCE AND THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE 93 00:05:39,493 --> 00:05:41,960 THAT'S COME TO LIGHT IN THE LAST 20, 30 YEARS 94 00:05:42,029 --> 00:05:44,296 IS VERY, VERY SUBSTANTIAL, 95 00:05:44,365 --> 00:05:46,231 TESTABLE, AND REAL. 96 00:05:46,300 --> 00:05:48,200 WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IDEA 97 00:05:48,269 --> 00:05:50,502 WAS SO DISTURBING IN SOME QUARTERS? 98 00:05:50,571 --> 00:05:53,205 HISTORICALLY, THE SCIENCE OF PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 99 00:05:53,274 --> 00:05:57,109 OR ANTHROPOLOGY CAME INTO EXISTENCE AT A TIME WHEN 100 00:05:57,177 --> 00:05:59,645 WE REALLY KNEW VERY LITTLE. 101 00:05:59,713 --> 00:06:03,248 AFRICANS WERE CONSIDERED PRIMITIVE, HEATHEN, WHO KNOWS. 102 00:06:03,317 --> 00:06:08,920 AND THE ORIGINS OF THE SUBHUMAN STATUS OF AFRICANS 103 00:06:08,989 --> 00:06:10,689 BEGINS, REALLY, IN THE 18TH CENTURY. 104 00:06:10,758 --> 00:06:12,457 IN THE ENLIGHTENMENT, IRONICALLY ENOUGH. 105 00:06:12,526 --> 00:06:15,427 THEY WEREN'T REALLY CONSIDERED TO BE 106 00:06:15,496 --> 00:06:17,829 ONE OF OUR SPECIES. 107 00:06:17,898 --> 00:06:20,365 HOST: CONTINUING ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS 108 00:06:20,434 --> 00:06:23,101 AND NOW MAJOR SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS 109 00:06:23,170 --> 00:06:26,571 HAVE CONFIRMED THAT AFRICA ABSOLUTELY 110 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,241 WAS THE CRADLE OF HUMANITY. 111 00:06:29,310 --> 00:06:31,410 MAN: IT'S LIKE IF WE'RE EXPLORING OUR PAST 112 00:06:31,478 --> 00:06:33,612 AND LOOKING AT WHERE OUR ROOTS ARE SUNK DOWN, 113 00:06:33,681 --> 00:06:35,881 WE'LL FIND THAT THEY'RE THE DEEPEST IN AFRICA, 114 00:06:35,949 --> 00:06:38,216 AND THAT'S WHERE WE GET MOST OF OUR GENETICS. 115 00:06:40,287 --> 00:06:41,753 HOST: GENETICISTS HAVE IDENTIFIED 116 00:06:41,822 --> 00:06:45,223 AN ASTONISHING LINK TO OUR EARLIEST HUMAN RELATIONS 117 00:06:45,292 --> 00:06:47,426 THROUGH OUR DNA. 118 00:06:47,494 --> 00:06:50,162 EVERY LIVING PERSON SHARES A COMMON DIRECT 119 00:06:50,230 --> 00:06:51,997 MATERNAL ANCESTOR. 120 00:06:52,066 --> 00:06:55,367 SHE'S KNOWN AS MITOCHONDRIAL EVE. 121 00:06:55,436 --> 00:06:58,403 WE BELIEVE THAT SHE WAS PART OF A SMALL GROUP OF HUMANS 122 00:06:58,472 --> 00:07:00,839 WHO LIVED IN THIS REGION OF AFRICA 123 00:07:00,908 --> 00:07:03,742 AROUND THE TIME OF THE IDALTU SKULL. 124 00:07:03,811 --> 00:07:07,412 MAN: OUR COMMON ANCESTRY THROUGH THE MITOCHONDRIAL EVE 125 00:07:07,481 --> 00:07:10,048 MEANS THAT OUR GENETIC DIFFERENCES 126 00:07:10,117 --> 00:07:11,917 ARE LITERALLY SKIN DEEP. 127 00:07:11,985 --> 00:07:14,920 THAT AT THE BOTTOM, WE ARE ALL 128 00:07:14,988 --> 00:07:17,222 DESCENDED FROM THE SAME FAMILY. 129 00:07:17,291 --> 00:07:20,258 HOST: MITOCHONDRIAL DNA, FOUND IN OUR CELLS, 130 00:07:20,327 --> 00:07:23,362 IS THE GENETIC SIGNATURE PASSED DOWN THROUGH FEMALES 131 00:07:23,430 --> 00:07:24,963 FROM MOTHER TO CHILD. 132 00:07:25,032 --> 00:07:27,666 WHAT IT MEANS IS THAT THIS WAS A WOMAN, HYPOTHETICALLY, 133 00:07:27,735 --> 00:07:29,501 WHO LIVED 200,000 YEARS AGO, 134 00:07:29,570 --> 00:07:32,838 WHO HAD ENOUGH DAUGHTERS IN A CONTINUOUS CHAIN, 135 00:07:32,906 --> 00:07:36,007 STRAIGHT BACK SO THAT HER MITOCHONDRIAL DNA SURVIVED. 136 00:07:36,076 --> 00:07:37,409 ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. 137 00:07:39,980 --> 00:07:42,614 AND ALL OF US TODAY, NO MATTER WHAT WE LOOK LIKE, 138 00:07:42,683 --> 00:07:46,251 ARE DESCENDED FROM BLACK ANCESTORS? 139 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:47,586 YEAH, THAT IS EXACTLY, 140 00:07:47,654 --> 00:07:48,920 THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED. 141 00:07:48,989 --> 00:07:51,523 ALL THE HUMANS, ALL THE HOMO SAPIENS 142 00:07:51,592 --> 00:07:56,194 ALL OVER THE WORLD, BE IT YELLOW, WHITE, BLACK, 143 00:07:56,263 --> 00:07:59,231 WE ARE DESCENDED FROM A COMMON ANCESTOR 144 00:07:59,299 --> 00:08:01,066 IN AFRICA. 145 00:08:01,135 --> 00:08:03,301 WHAT WOULD LIFE FOR HUMAN BEINGS 146 00:08:03,370 --> 00:08:06,972 200,000 YEARS AGO HAVE BEEN LIKE IN THIS VALLEY? 147 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,074 200,000 YEARS AGO, I WOULD IMAGINE 148 00:08:09,143 --> 00:08:11,476 THE GROUPS WERE QUITE SMALL. 149 00:08:11,545 --> 00:08:12,511 MM-HMM. 150 00:08:12,579 --> 00:08:15,280 THE DANGERS AROUND, WE HAD PREDATORS, 151 00:08:15,349 --> 00:08:16,715 THINGS LIKE HYENAS 152 00:08:16,784 --> 00:08:19,151 AND GROUPS OF CARNIVORES ALL AROUND. 153 00:08:19,219 --> 00:08:20,419 MM-HMM. 154 00:08:20,487 --> 00:08:22,721 IT'S DIFFICULT FOR US TO IMAGINE 155 00:08:22,790 --> 00:08:26,391 PREHISTORIC LIFE OR A WORLD WITHOUT 156 00:08:26,460 --> 00:08:30,228 ANY TRAPPINGS OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE 157 00:08:30,297 --> 00:08:32,731 COME TO DEFINE HUMANNESS OVER THE LAST 10,000 YEARS, 158 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,367 AND SO, IN THE MODERN ZEITGEIST, 159 00:08:35,436 --> 00:08:36,601 THE ONLY THING THAT COMES CLOSE 160 00:08:36,670 --> 00:08:38,737 IS ACTUALLY THE POST-APOCALYPTIC 161 00:08:38,806 --> 00:08:40,539 ZOMBIE SHOWS, FOR EXAMPLE. 162 00:08:42,342 --> 00:08:45,310 YOU HAVE SMALL BANDS OF PEOPLE 163 00:08:45,379 --> 00:08:47,679 ROAMING THE LANDSCAPE, WORKING TOGETHER, 164 00:08:47,748 --> 00:08:50,715 FIGHTING OFF PREDATORS THAT ARE TRYING TO EAT THEM, 165 00:08:50,784 --> 00:08:54,286 AND WORRIED ABOUT THE OTHER GROUPS OF HUMANS 166 00:08:54,354 --> 00:08:55,921 THAT THEY MIGHT BUMP INTO. 167 00:08:55,989 --> 00:08:57,456 SO, THERE ARE A LOT OF INTERESTING PARALLELS 168 00:08:57,524 --> 00:08:59,925 THAT COULD BE DRAWN. 169 00:08:59,993 --> 00:09:01,593 HOST: MODERN HOMO SAPIENS 170 00:09:01,662 --> 00:09:04,029 INITIALLY LIVED ONLY IN AFRICA, 171 00:09:04,097 --> 00:09:06,364 SLOWLY SPREADING ACROSS THE CONTINENT 172 00:09:06,433 --> 00:09:08,767 OVER 120,000 YEARS. 173 00:09:10,671 --> 00:09:13,171 BUT BETWEEN 80,000 AND 50,000 YEARS AGO, 174 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,841 THEY BEGAN SUCCESSFULLY TO POPULATE 175 00:09:15,909 --> 00:09:17,342 THE REST OF THE WORLD. 176 00:09:20,047 --> 00:09:21,847 HOST: SO, WHAT HAPPENED 80,000 YEARS AGO? 177 00:09:21,915 --> 00:09:23,381 LEAKEY: WELL, I WISH WE KNEW WHAT HAPPENED, 178 00:09:23,450 --> 00:09:24,883 BUT THERE'S NO DOUBT AT ALL 179 00:09:24,952 --> 00:09:26,451 THAT A VERY SMALL POPULATION 180 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,220 SOMEWHERE IN THAT TIME ZONE 181 00:09:28,288 --> 00:09:30,555 CAUGHT SOME ADAPTATION THAT GAVE THEM A HUGE ADVANTAGE. 182 00:09:30,624 --> 00:09:32,791 I HAVE A FEELING IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN SPEECH. 183 00:09:32,860 --> 00:09:34,259 I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS. 184 00:09:34,328 --> 00:09:36,428 BUT THEY SPREAD VERY QUICKLY OUT OF AFRICA. 185 00:09:36,497 --> 00:09:38,430 SO, 80,000 YEARS AGO, 186 00:09:38,499 --> 00:09:41,199 THE HUMAN COMMUNITY WAS BLACK. 187 00:09:41,268 --> 00:09:43,869 WHEREVER THEY WERE IN THE WORLD. 188 00:09:43,937 --> 00:09:45,837 HOST: BUT WHEN THOSE EARLY HUMAN BEINGS 189 00:09:45,906 --> 00:09:47,606 MIGRATED OUT OF AFRICA, 190 00:09:47,674 --> 00:09:49,841 THEY WEREN'T TRAVELING ALONE. 191 00:09:49,910 --> 00:09:52,978 THEY WERE CARRYING SOMETHING WITHIN THEM. 192 00:09:53,046 --> 00:09:57,282 AND THAT SOMETHING HAD DEVELOPED SLOWLY, OVER MILLENNIA. 193 00:09:57,351 --> 00:09:59,017 IT WAS CULTURE. 194 00:09:59,086 --> 00:10:01,086 THAT CULTURE WOULD DEVELOP TO INCLUDE 195 00:10:01,154 --> 00:10:05,490 THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS OF HUMAN CREATIVITY, 196 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,694 AND IT BEGAN HERE ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT. 197 00:10:13,534 --> 00:10:17,869 IN 1991, ARCHAEOLOGIST CHRISTOPHER HENSHILWOOD, 198 00:10:17,938 --> 00:10:20,305 EXPLORING HIS GRANDFATHER'S LAND, 199 00:10:20,374 --> 00:10:22,541 DISCOVERED THE OPENING TO A CAVE 200 00:10:22,609 --> 00:10:24,142 ON A CLIFF FACE 201 00:10:24,211 --> 00:10:25,544 ABOVE THE CRASHING WAVES 202 00:10:25,612 --> 00:10:29,781 WHERE THE ATLANTIC AND INDIAN OCEANS COLLIDE. 203 00:10:29,850 --> 00:10:33,752 TODAY, WE CALL THIS THE BLOMBOS CAVE. 204 00:10:33,820 --> 00:10:38,523 INSIDE IS EVIDENCE OF OVER 140,000 YEARS 205 00:10:38,592 --> 00:10:40,492 OF HUMAN HABITATION, 206 00:10:40,561 --> 00:10:44,763 AND SIGNS OF THE FIRST FORM OF HUMAN CREATIVE EXPRESSION. 207 00:10:44,831 --> 00:10:46,831 BEFORE THIS DISCOVERY, WE THOUGHT 208 00:10:46,900 --> 00:10:49,067 THE EARLIEST EXAMPLES OF ARTWORK 209 00:10:49,136 --> 00:10:52,037 WERE FOUND IN THE LASCAUX CAVES IN FRANCE, 210 00:10:52,105 --> 00:10:55,273 DATING BACK ONLY 35,000 YEARS AGO. 211 00:10:55,342 --> 00:10:58,276 HAWKS: WHEN PEOPLE BEGAN MAKING DISCOVERIES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA, 212 00:10:58,345 --> 00:11:00,745 LIKE AT BLOMBOS CAVE, THEY REALIZED 213 00:11:00,814 --> 00:11:04,249 THAT ACTUALLY, THIS RECORD OF ARTISTIC PRODUCTION 214 00:11:04,318 --> 00:11:06,952 GOES BACK MUCH FURTHER THAN ANYONE GUESSED. 215 00:11:07,020 --> 00:11:09,921 IN FRANCE, CAVE PAINTINGS 30,000 YEARS OLD, 216 00:11:09,990 --> 00:11:11,790 35,000 AT THE OLDEST. 217 00:11:11,858 --> 00:11:13,525 IN SOUTHERN AFRICA, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 218 00:11:13,594 --> 00:11:16,828 90,000, 100,000 YEARS. 219 00:11:16,897 --> 00:11:20,398 WOMAN: BLOMBOS CAVE IS A RELATIVELY RECENT DISCOVERY, 220 00:11:20,467 --> 00:11:25,470 SO, THE MORE RESEARCH WE DO IN AFRICA, 221 00:11:25,539 --> 00:11:29,574 AND ALSO THE MORE DATING WE CONDUCT, 222 00:11:29,643 --> 00:11:33,111 THIS WILL CHANGE PEOPLE'S MINDS OF HOW 223 00:11:33,180 --> 00:11:35,080 WE SAW HUMAN HISTORY, 224 00:11:35,148 --> 00:11:37,549 AND THE EVIDENCE SHOWS 225 00:11:37,618 --> 00:11:41,252 THEY WERE ALREADY ASSESSING THE COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR 226 00:11:41,321 --> 00:11:45,557 THAT WE SEE AS DEFINING THE MODERN HUMAN 227 00:11:45,626 --> 00:11:48,093 BEFORE THEY LEFT AFRICA. 228 00:11:48,161 --> 00:11:52,297 HOST: SMALL OCHRE BLOCKS FOUND IN THE BLOMBOS CAVE 229 00:11:52,366 --> 00:11:54,633 COMPLETELY CHANGED HOW WE UNDERSTAND 230 00:11:54,701 --> 00:11:58,003 THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CREATIVITITY. 231 00:11:58,071 --> 00:12:01,673 ONE OF THESE BLOCKS, COVERED IN CURIOUS MARKINGS, 232 00:12:01,742 --> 00:12:06,044 IS NOW HOUSED IN THE IZIKO MUSEUM IN CAPE TOWN. 233 00:12:06,113 --> 00:12:08,947 WOMAN: IT'S UNIQUE IN TERMS OF 234 00:12:09,016 --> 00:12:10,315 FIRSTLY WHERE IT WAS FOUND 235 00:12:10,384 --> 00:12:11,850 AND THE DATE-- IT'S PRETTY OLD. 236 00:12:11,918 --> 00:12:13,818 77,000 YEARS AGO. MM. 237 00:12:13,887 --> 00:12:16,521 WHAT IS INTERESTING IS THE ETCHING. 238 00:12:16,590 --> 00:12:19,924 IT'S ALMOST A HASHED ETCHING ON THE ONE EDGE, 239 00:12:19,993 --> 00:12:22,027 AND THAT IS DONE WITH PURPOSE. 240 00:12:22,095 --> 00:12:23,895 I'VE OFTEN THOUGHT THAT IF 241 00:12:23,964 --> 00:12:25,263 PIGMENT WAS PUT ON IT, 242 00:12:25,332 --> 00:12:26,865 YOU COULD USE IT AS A STAMP, 243 00:12:26,933 --> 00:12:30,268 WHICH TO ME SCREAMS ARTISTIC EXPRESSION. 244 00:12:30,337 --> 00:12:31,770 MM-HMM. MEANING. 245 00:12:31,838 --> 00:12:34,205 MEANING. SYMBOLIC MEANING. 246 00:12:34,274 --> 00:12:37,342 SO, THIS WOULD MAKE IT ONE OF THE EARLIEST 247 00:12:37,411 --> 00:12:40,045 ARTISTIC ARTIFACTS THAT WE HAVE. 248 00:12:40,113 --> 00:12:43,448 THIS IS A SIGN OF A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO 249 00:12:43,517 --> 00:12:47,585 HAD MANAGED TO EMERGE ABOVE 250 00:12:47,654 --> 00:12:49,487 IMMEDIATE CONCERNS FOR FOOD 251 00:12:49,556 --> 00:12:52,090 AND BASIC HUMAN SURVIVAL. 252 00:12:52,159 --> 00:12:54,993 THAT SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT AFRICA AND AFRICANS. 253 00:12:55,062 --> 00:12:56,895 I THINK SO. IT SHOWS THAT 254 00:12:56,963 --> 00:13:00,999 THESE PEOPLE WERE COGNIZANT OF THEIR SURROUNDINGS. 255 00:13:01,068 --> 00:13:03,835 THEY WERE SOCIALLY AWARE. 256 00:13:03,904 --> 00:13:05,804 IT SHOWS THE BIRTHPLACE 257 00:13:05,872 --> 00:13:09,307 OF A VERY RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE 258 00:13:09,376 --> 00:13:13,111 THAT HAS IN THE PAST NOT BEEN RECOGNIZED. 259 00:13:13,180 --> 00:13:15,914 THIS IS ARTWORK. 260 00:13:15,982 --> 00:13:18,183 HOST: ALONGSIDE THE OCHRE BLOCK, 261 00:13:18,251 --> 00:13:19,784 A PAINTING KIT WAS FOUND. 262 00:13:21,054 --> 00:13:23,655 THAT OCHRE BLOCK WAS NOT ONLY DECORATED, 263 00:13:23,724 --> 00:13:27,425 IT WAS GROUND DOWN, MIXED WITH WATER AND MINERALS, 264 00:13:27,494 --> 00:13:29,994 AND USED AS PAINT. 265 00:13:30,063 --> 00:13:34,199 LEWIS: ONCE A GROUP IS INTO SYMBOLIC EXPRESSION, 266 00:13:34,267 --> 00:13:36,367 WHETHER IT BE VIA BEADS OR 267 00:13:36,436 --> 00:13:39,504 USING COLORANTS TO PAINT THE BODY OR TO PAINT WALLS, 268 00:13:39,573 --> 00:13:42,373 THAT'S GONNA BE ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT BEHAVIOR 269 00:13:42,442 --> 00:13:46,111 TO USE FOR COMMUNICATING COMPLEX SETS OF IDEAS 270 00:13:46,179 --> 00:13:49,914 ABOUT GROUP IDENTITY AND ALSO TO HELP TRANSMIT INFORMATION 271 00:13:49,983 --> 00:13:52,784 TO OTHER MEMBERS OF YOUR IMMEDIATE GROUP. 272 00:13:52,853 --> 00:13:55,854 HOST: MUCH OF THIS EARLY ART HAS PERISHED WITH TIME, 273 00:13:55,922 --> 00:13:59,324 BUT CAVE ART PROVIDES US WITH THE ONLY SNAPSHOTS 274 00:13:59,392 --> 00:14:04,329 OF HOW EARLY HUMAN BEINGS LIVED, HUNTED, AND EVEN LOVED. 275 00:14:04,397 --> 00:14:06,631 HAWKS: WE JUST GET THE DURABLE ELEMENT, 276 00:14:06,700 --> 00:14:08,366 BUT WHEN YOU'RE PAINTING YOUR SKIN, 277 00:14:08,435 --> 00:14:10,568 WHEN YOU'RE PAINTING HIDES THAT YOU MIGHT BE WEARING, 278 00:14:10,637 --> 00:14:14,272 WHEN YOU'RE USING FEATHERS AND OTHER KINDS OF 279 00:14:14,341 --> 00:14:17,442 REALLY SPECIAL OBJECTS BUT PERISHABLE OBJECTS, 280 00:14:17,511 --> 00:14:19,477 YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT SOCIETIES TODAY, 281 00:14:19,546 --> 00:14:21,412 THEY HAVE THIS INCREDIBLE RANGE 282 00:14:21,481 --> 00:14:23,047 OF THINGS THAT WOULD NEVER SURVIVE 283 00:14:23,116 --> 00:14:24,482 IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD. 284 00:14:26,753 --> 00:14:28,753 HOST: DEEP IN THE LIBYAN DESERT, 285 00:14:28,822 --> 00:14:31,289 IN A REMOTE CAVE AT WADI SURA, 286 00:14:31,358 --> 00:14:34,325 MILES FROM ANY LUSH VEGETATION TODAY, 287 00:14:34,394 --> 00:14:38,396 A STUNNING VISUAL RECORD REVEALS A QUITE SURPRISING PICTURE 288 00:14:38,465 --> 00:14:43,234 OF DAILY LIFE IN THE SAHARA 7,000 YEARS AGO. 289 00:14:43,303 --> 00:14:45,970 THE WALLS OF THE CAVE TEEM WITH DEPICTIONS 290 00:14:46,039 --> 00:14:49,040 OF PEOPLE SWIMMING AND ANIMALS GRAZING, 291 00:14:49,109 --> 00:14:52,610 GLIMPSES INTO A LONG-LOST LANDSCAPE. 292 00:14:52,679 --> 00:14:55,713 MIRE: YOU HAVE THE CAVE OF SWIMMERS. 293 00:14:55,782 --> 00:14:59,083 THERE YOU HAVE YOUR HISTORY RECORDING, IF YOU LIKE, 294 00:14:59,152 --> 00:15:02,787 WHERE WE ARE GETTING AN IDEA OF 295 00:15:02,856 --> 00:15:05,990 A PLACE WHERE WE TODAY CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE 296 00:15:06,059 --> 00:15:07,725 ANY LIFE SURVIVING. 297 00:15:07,794 --> 00:15:12,263 WE HAVE LAKES AND THE DEPICTIONS OF THE SWIMMERS 298 00:15:12,332 --> 00:15:18,736 AND VERY ABUNDANT WILDLIFE THRIVING IN THE SAHARA, 299 00:15:18,805 --> 00:15:22,874 A PLACE NOW WE KNOW FOR SAND DUNES. 300 00:15:24,277 --> 00:15:26,177 HOST: HOWEVER, THE SAHARA WAS ONCE 301 00:15:26,246 --> 00:15:28,413 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT, 302 00:15:28,481 --> 00:15:32,183 CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING THESE EMERGING HUMAN COMMUNITIES. 303 00:15:32,252 --> 00:15:34,786 TODAY, THE SAHARA IS VERY BARREN AND DRY, 304 00:15:34,855 --> 00:15:36,654 BUT FROM ROCK ART, WE FIND THAT THERE ARE 305 00:15:36,723 --> 00:15:40,758 A LOT OF AQUATIC FAUNA, HIPPO, CROCODILE, GIRAFFES. 306 00:15:40,827 --> 00:15:42,894 A VERY VIBRANT BIODIVERSITY. 307 00:15:42,963 --> 00:15:44,195 HOST: SO, IN THIS CASE, 308 00:15:44,264 --> 00:15:47,332 ART VERIFIES ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE. 309 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:49,667 YES. IT TELLS US MORE ABOUT HOW 310 00:15:49,736 --> 00:15:50,902 THE LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED 311 00:15:50,971 --> 00:15:52,503 OR HOW THE ENVIRONMENT HAS CHANGED. 312 00:15:54,608 --> 00:15:56,074 ABAKA: OVER 10,000 YEARS AGO, 313 00:15:56,142 --> 00:15:59,377 THE SAHARA WAS ACTUALLY A GREEN SAVANNAH. 314 00:15:59,446 --> 00:16:04,449 THERE WERE ANIMALS, FISHES, LAKES, RIVERS, 315 00:16:04,517 --> 00:16:07,285 AND RIGHT ACROSS WHAT IS NOW THE SAHARA, 316 00:16:07,354 --> 00:16:10,021 THE ENVIRONMENT WAS GREEN. 317 00:16:10,090 --> 00:16:11,823 EHRET: THIS WAS THE KIND OF ENVIRONMENT 318 00:16:11,892 --> 00:16:14,225 THAT ATTRACTS THE GREAT HERBIVORES, 319 00:16:14,294 --> 00:16:16,961 THE LARGE HERDING ANIMALS. 320 00:16:17,030 --> 00:16:19,797 THE HIPPOPOTAMUSES, RHINOS. 321 00:16:19,866 --> 00:16:21,199 THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A TIME WHEN THOSE 322 00:16:21,268 --> 00:16:22,934 WERE THE IMPORTANT ANIMALS. 323 00:16:23,003 --> 00:16:24,369 HOST: ALTHOUGH EARLY HUMANS 324 00:16:24,437 --> 00:16:26,638 CONTINUED TO BE HUNTER-GATHERERS, 325 00:16:26,706 --> 00:16:29,974 OVER TIME, THEY BEGAN TO CULTIVATE PLANTS, 326 00:16:30,043 --> 00:16:32,176 AND AROUND 10,000 YEARS AGO, 327 00:16:32,245 --> 00:16:34,646 ACROSS AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST, 328 00:16:34,714 --> 00:16:37,582 THEY BEGAN TO BREED ANIMALS AS LIVESTOCK 329 00:16:37,651 --> 00:16:39,450 AND DOMESTICATE CATTLE. 330 00:16:39,519 --> 00:16:41,519 THE SAHARA BECAME THIS BAND 331 00:16:41,588 --> 00:16:44,689 WHERE THESE PEOPLE SPREAD THEIR LIVESTOCK GRAZING. 332 00:16:44,758 --> 00:16:46,724 MIRE: EVERYWHERE ACROSS THE SAHARA, 333 00:16:46,793 --> 00:16:50,595 YOU HAVE VAST SCENES OF PAINTINGS OF THESE ANIMALS, 334 00:16:50,664 --> 00:16:54,832 BUT ALSO, I THINK, IT KIND OF ALSO SHOWS THAT 335 00:16:54,901 --> 00:17:00,305 THIS IS THEM GOING TOWARDS THE DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS 336 00:17:00,373 --> 00:17:04,409 AND SETTLE IN A SEDENTARY SOCIETY. 337 00:17:04,477 --> 00:17:08,246 HAWKS: WHEN YOU LOOK AT AFRICA, IT'S THE CRADLE OF MANKIND, BUT 338 00:17:08,315 --> 00:17:11,316 LOOKING INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 339 00:17:11,384 --> 00:17:13,985 IT BECOMES A CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION. 340 00:17:14,054 --> 00:17:15,987 [MAN SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] 341 00:17:16,056 --> 00:17:19,824 EHRET: BETWEEN 4,800 AND 4,200 B.C., 342 00:17:19,893 --> 00:17:23,428 MORE THAN 1,000 YEARS BEFORE THE RISE OF ANCIENT EGYPT, 343 00:17:23,496 --> 00:17:26,064 IN THE AREAS WEST OF THE NILE, 344 00:17:26,132 --> 00:17:30,268 THE FIRST COMPLEX AFRICAN SOCIETY FORMS. 345 00:17:30,337 --> 00:17:33,671 IT'S NOT A SETTLED SOCIETY OF TOWNS, 346 00:17:33,740 --> 00:17:36,674 BUT IT'S PEOPLE WHO RAISE GREAT HERDS OF CATTLE. 347 00:17:38,511 --> 00:17:41,846 HOST: FOR 3,000 YEARS, THESE COMMUNITIES, 348 00:17:41,915 --> 00:17:43,514 AND THE WORLD AROUND THEM, 349 00:17:43,583 --> 00:17:45,717 CONTINUED TO EVOLVE. 350 00:17:45,785 --> 00:17:49,387 FARMING DEVELOPED, AND POPULATIONS GREW. 351 00:17:49,456 --> 00:17:51,856 BUT BY 4,000 B.C., 352 00:17:51,925 --> 00:17:54,425 VAST AREAS OF THE LUSH SAVANNAH 353 00:17:54,494 --> 00:17:57,128 HAD TURNED INTO DESERT. 354 00:17:57,197 --> 00:17:59,130 LIFE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE GREEN SAHARA 355 00:17:59,199 --> 00:18:00,965 IS BRUTALLY TRANSFORMED. 356 00:18:01,034 --> 00:18:03,501 EVERYTHING CHANGES, 357 00:18:03,570 --> 00:18:05,937 SETTING CIVILIZATION IN AFRICA 358 00:18:06,006 --> 00:18:08,306 ON A RADICAL, NEW PATH. 359 00:18:09,576 --> 00:18:12,643 WOMAN: THERE WAS A SLOW CHANGE IN CLIMATE, 360 00:18:12,712 --> 00:18:16,781 THUS MAKING TRADITIONAL PASTORAL WAYS OF LIFE 361 00:18:16,850 --> 00:18:18,649 FAR MORE DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE. 362 00:18:21,521 --> 00:18:23,855 HOST: IN THE FACE OF THIS CLIMATE CHANGE, 363 00:18:23,923 --> 00:18:27,825 THE POPULATIONS OF THE SAHARA DISPERSED. 364 00:18:27,894 --> 00:18:30,962 AND MANY PEOPLE MIGRATED TOWARDS THE FERTILE LANDS 365 00:18:31,031 --> 00:18:33,331 OF THE NILE VALLEY, 366 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,501 BECOMING THE ANCESTORS OF BOTH THE EGYPTIANS 367 00:18:36,569 --> 00:18:37,935 AND THE NUBIANS. 368 00:18:40,940 --> 00:18:43,374 ABAKA: THE VERDANT VALLEY OF THE NILE 369 00:18:43,443 --> 00:18:46,944 WAS AN ATTRACTIVE PLACE FOR COMMUNITIES TO SETTLE. 370 00:18:47,013 --> 00:18:50,148 HAWKS: THE NILE IS LIKE THIS GREEN RIVER THROUGH THE DESERT, 371 00:18:50,216 --> 00:18:54,118 AND THE REGULAR FLOODS CREATE THIS INCREDIBLE SOIL, 372 00:18:54,187 --> 00:18:57,522 SO THAT ONCE YOU HAVE THE DOMESTICATION OF PLANTS, 373 00:18:57,590 --> 00:19:01,292 THIS BECOMES THE BREADBASKET OF THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN, 374 00:19:01,361 --> 00:19:04,495 AND YOU'VE GOT THAT HAPPENING 375 00:19:04,564 --> 00:19:08,499 AS PEOPLE ARE DEVELOPING VILLAGES AND STATES. 376 00:19:08,568 --> 00:19:11,836 EHRET: THERE'S PRESSURES THAT ARISE AS POPULATION GROWS 377 00:19:11,905 --> 00:19:15,339 THAT LEADS TO FOUNDATION OF MORE COMPLEX SOCIETIES. 378 00:19:15,408 --> 00:19:17,909 BRADSHAW: THE POPULATION BECOMES DIVIDED 379 00:19:17,977 --> 00:19:19,510 BETWEEN THE FOOD-PRODUCING GROUPS 380 00:19:19,579 --> 00:19:21,412 AND THE NON-FOOD-PRODUCING GROUPS, 381 00:19:21,481 --> 00:19:23,748 AND WHAT WE SEE WITH THE NON-FOOD-PRODUCING GROUPS 382 00:19:23,817 --> 00:19:26,851 IS THAT THEY BECOME ARTISANS, PROFESSIONAL BUILDERS, 383 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,720 SO THEY HAVE A SURPLUS OF FOOD, 384 00:19:29,789 --> 00:19:31,289 AND THIS IS THE POINT AT WHICH 385 00:19:31,357 --> 00:19:35,493 WE START SEEING THINGS THAT WE MIGHT CALL CIVILIZATION. 386 00:19:35,562 --> 00:19:37,795 HOST: BURIAL PITS IN THE NILE VALLEY 387 00:19:37,864 --> 00:19:40,765 HAVE BEEN THE SOURCE OF RARE AND UNIQUE ARTIFACTS 388 00:19:40,834 --> 00:19:44,402 DATING BACK MORE THAN 6,000 YEARS. 389 00:19:44,471 --> 00:19:48,005 THEY SHOW A RICH, CREATIVE CULTURE. 390 00:19:48,074 --> 00:19:51,943 THESE PRESTIGE ITEMS WERE CRAFTED BY ARTISANS 391 00:19:52,011 --> 00:19:54,612 TO BE ENJOYED BY ELITES. 392 00:19:54,681 --> 00:19:55,813 HOST: HOW OLD IS THIS? 393 00:19:55,882 --> 00:19:59,550 SO, THIS DATES ABOUT 3,600 B.C. 394 00:19:59,619 --> 00:20:02,887 REALLY? THIS IS 6,000 YEARS AGO. 395 00:20:02,956 --> 00:20:03,888 YEAH. 396 00:20:03,957 --> 00:20:05,423 SO, THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS 397 00:20:05,492 --> 00:20:07,625 BACK IN THE NILE VALLEY 398 00:20:07,694 --> 00:20:10,061 WERE COMBING OUT THEIR HAIR WITH AN AFRO COMB. 399 00:20:10,130 --> 00:20:14,565 YES. JUST LIKE AFRO COMBS, THESE LONG, THICK COMBS 400 00:20:14,634 --> 00:20:16,734 WOULD'VE BEEN PERFECT FOR AFRICAN HAIR, 401 00:20:16,803 --> 00:20:18,703 AND THIS IS AN ITEM THAT WOULD PROCLAIM 402 00:20:18,771 --> 00:20:22,773 STATUS AND IDENTITY AND MAKE A STATEMENT. 403 00:20:22,842 --> 00:20:24,542 THEY'RE OFTEN FOUND IN THE BURIAL 404 00:20:24,611 --> 00:20:27,044 STILL IN THE HAIR, VERY PROMINENTLY PLACED, 405 00:20:27,113 --> 00:20:29,981 SO THESE SYMBOLS WOULD'VE BEEN VISIBLE. 406 00:20:30,049 --> 00:20:32,016 JUST THE WAY BLACK PEOPLE WEAR THEM TODAY. 407 00:20:32,085 --> 00:20:33,451 ABSOLUTELY. 408 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,753 BLACK PEOPLE WERE COMBING THEIR HAIR WITH AFRO COMBS. 409 00:20:35,822 --> 00:20:37,255 I THOUGHT WE INVENTED THIS IN THE SIXTIES. 410 00:20:37,323 --> 00:20:38,623 [LAUGHTER] 411 00:20:38,691 --> 00:20:41,192 AMAZING. SO, THE BURIALS AT THAT DATE 412 00:20:41,261 --> 00:20:42,894 WERE PIT BURIALS. 413 00:20:42,962 --> 00:20:45,096 IN THE DRY SAND, OFTEN IT PRESERVES 414 00:20:45,165 --> 00:20:46,898 ORGANIC MATERIALS. 415 00:20:46,966 --> 00:20:48,533 WE CAN ACTUALLY DO AN ARCHAEOLOGY 416 00:20:48,601 --> 00:20:50,334 OF HAIRDOS AND HAIRSTYLES. 417 00:20:50,403 --> 00:20:51,602 OH, WHAT KIND OF HAIRSTYLES? 418 00:20:51,671 --> 00:20:53,171 THEY'VE GOT ALL SORTS. 419 00:20:53,239 --> 00:20:55,006 THEY'VE GOT THE USE OF HENNA AND FAKE HAIR 420 00:20:55,074 --> 00:20:56,774 AND BIG BOUFFANTS. 421 00:20:56,843 --> 00:20:58,042 THERE'S EVEN A SUGGESTION WE'VE GOT 422 00:20:58,111 --> 00:20:59,610 SOME MOHAWKS AS WELL. 423 00:20:59,679 --> 00:21:01,045 THAT'S ASTONISHING. 424 00:21:01,114 --> 00:21:02,914 SO, THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THIS WERE 425 00:21:02,982 --> 00:21:04,549 HIGHLY-SKILLED CRAFTSPEOPLE. 426 00:21:04,617 --> 00:21:06,751 THEY WERE MAKING BEAUTIFUL POTTERY. 427 00:21:06,819 --> 00:21:09,053 VERY SKILLED AT MAKING STONE VESSELS. 428 00:21:09,122 --> 00:21:11,455 ALL UP AND DOWN THE NILE VALLEY AT THIS TIME 429 00:21:11,524 --> 00:21:14,358 YOU SEE GROUPS CREATING VERY VIBRANT, 430 00:21:14,427 --> 00:21:17,762 PERSONAL CULTURE THAT THEY WOULD WEAR AND DISPLAY. 431 00:21:17,830 --> 00:21:19,096 MM-HMM. 432 00:21:19,165 --> 00:21:21,999 EHRET: YOU GET THIS COMING IN OF PEOPLE FROM THE SAHARA, 433 00:21:22,068 --> 00:21:25,069 BRINGING IDEAS THAT EVEN MORE COMPLEX, 434 00:21:25,138 --> 00:21:28,105 LARGER-SCALE INSTITUTIONS CAN BE BUILT, 435 00:21:28,174 --> 00:21:30,575 AND THEN DEVELOPMENT OF LITTLE, TINY KINGDOMS. 436 00:21:32,378 --> 00:21:34,145 MAN: DIFFERENT GROUPS ARE UNITING 437 00:21:34,214 --> 00:21:36,414 UNDER POWERFUL FIGURES OR PERHAPS 438 00:21:36,482 --> 00:21:39,116 LOCAL DEITIES OR FETISHES OR EMBLEMS, 439 00:21:39,185 --> 00:21:40,718 AND THEN THESE GROUPS CONSOLIDATE. 440 00:21:40,787 --> 00:21:42,620 ONE IS VICTORIOUS OVER ANOTHER. 441 00:21:42,689 --> 00:21:44,222 THEY GET LARGER AND LARGER 442 00:21:44,290 --> 00:21:45,523 AND SMALLER IN NUMBER. 443 00:21:48,061 --> 00:21:51,462 HOST: IN 1988, ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED A TOMB 444 00:21:51,531 --> 00:21:56,534 AT ABYDOS, 300 MILES SOUTH OF CAIRO. 445 00:21:56,603 --> 00:21:58,336 THE TOMB IS THOUGHT TO CONTAIN 446 00:21:58,404 --> 00:22:00,605 ONE OF EGYPT'S EARLIEST RULERS, 447 00:22:00,673 --> 00:22:03,107 CREDITED WITH CONSOLIDATING THE LANDS 448 00:22:03,176 --> 00:22:05,376 THAT WOULD BECOME ANCIENT EGYPT. 449 00:22:06,980 --> 00:22:08,980 HE'S KNOWN AS THE SCORPION KING 450 00:22:09,048 --> 00:22:10,881 AND IS BELIEVED TO HAVE RULED AT THE END 451 00:22:10,950 --> 00:22:13,017 OF THE FOURTH MILLENNIUM B.C. 452 00:22:17,190 --> 00:22:19,857 LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HIM OR HIS REIGN, 453 00:22:19,926 --> 00:22:24,662 BUT HIS ROYAL TOMB HOUSED 150 SMALL IVORY TAGS 454 00:22:24,731 --> 00:22:26,897 COVERED IN CARVED SYMBOLS 455 00:22:26,966 --> 00:22:31,535 THAT HELPED TO REWRITE THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. 456 00:22:31,604 --> 00:22:36,140 THESE SIMPLE IVORY TAGS REVEALED SOMETHING ASTONISHING. 457 00:22:36,209 --> 00:22:39,143 SOMETHING THAT OVERTURNED WHAT ARCHAEOLOGISTS BELIEVED 458 00:22:39,212 --> 00:22:42,046 ABOUT HOW OUR ANCESTORS COMMUNICATED. 459 00:22:42,115 --> 00:22:45,416 THE SYMBOLS ON THESE TAGS AREN'T ARTWORKS. 460 00:22:45,485 --> 00:22:49,086 THEY ARE IN FACT THE WORLD'S FIRST WRITING. 461 00:22:50,356 --> 00:22:52,490 MAN: EGYPTIAN WRITING AS WE KNOW IT, 462 00:22:52,558 --> 00:22:55,660 AS IN FULLY DEVELOPED EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS, 463 00:22:55,728 --> 00:22:58,796 APPEAR FIRST AROUND 3,250 B.C.E. 464 00:22:58,865 --> 00:23:01,065 AND SOME OF THE EARLIEST PIECES 465 00:23:01,134 --> 00:23:05,202 ARE THESE LITTLE LABELS, THESE LITTLE IVORY TAGS 466 00:23:05,271 --> 00:23:09,140 FROM TOMB U-J AT ABYDOS. 467 00:23:09,208 --> 00:23:11,609 HOST: SIMILAR TAGS FROM THIS BURIAL COMPLEX 468 00:23:11,678 --> 00:23:15,279 ARE NOW KEPT AT THE PETRIE MUSEUM IN LONDON. 469 00:23:15,348 --> 00:23:18,215 THIS IS A FORMATIVE STAGE OF HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING. 470 00:23:18,284 --> 00:23:19,383 SO, WHAT DOES IT SAY? 471 00:23:19,452 --> 00:23:20,751 IT'S BEEN SUGGESTED THAT 472 00:23:20,820 --> 00:23:22,353 IT MIGHT BE A PLACE NAME. 473 00:23:22,422 --> 00:23:24,422 THIS IS A PRESTIGE ITEM. 474 00:23:24,490 --> 00:23:25,756 AND WHAT WAS IT USED FOR? 475 00:23:25,825 --> 00:23:27,491 SO, YOU CAN SEE THERE'S A HOLE 476 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:29,060 JUST DRILLED THROUGH THERE, 477 00:23:29,128 --> 00:23:32,697 AND THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN TIED TO A BOX OR A BAG, 478 00:23:32,765 --> 00:23:35,266 INDICATING PROPERTY. 479 00:23:35,335 --> 00:23:36,634 SO, THIS WOULD'VE SAID, 480 00:23:36,703 --> 00:23:38,569 "THIS PROPERTY BELONGS TO ALICE"? 481 00:23:38,638 --> 00:23:40,371 [LAUGHTER] IT COULD'VE DONE, 482 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,173 OR IT COULD'VE SAID, "THIS MATERIAL 483 00:23:42,241 --> 00:23:45,176 COMES FROM THIS PART OF EGYPT." 484 00:23:45,244 --> 00:23:46,444 AND DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA 485 00:23:46,512 --> 00:23:48,979 WHAT THE FUNCTION OF THIS 486 00:23:49,048 --> 00:23:51,716 PROPERTY IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM WAS? 487 00:23:51,784 --> 00:23:54,685 THIS OBJECT IS ONLY BEING USED 488 00:23:54,754 --> 00:23:56,354 BY THE ELITE, BY ROYALTY, 489 00:23:56,422 --> 00:23:59,390 AND IT'S ABOUT ROYAL OWNERSHIP OF 490 00:23:59,459 --> 00:24:02,393 PARTS OF EGYPT, PARTS OF LABOR, 491 00:24:02,462 --> 00:24:05,796 OVER MATERIALS. 492 00:24:05,865 --> 00:24:07,264 HOST: WE USED TO BELIEVE THE FIRST WRITING 493 00:24:07,333 --> 00:24:11,535 BEGAN IN MESOPOTAMIA, MODERN-DAY IRAQ AND SYRIA. 494 00:24:11,604 --> 00:24:14,605 BUT THESE SMALL TAGS PROVED THAT WRITING DEVELOPED 495 00:24:14,674 --> 00:24:19,076 SIMULTANEOUSLY AND INDEPENDENTLY HERE IN AFRICA. 496 00:24:19,145 --> 00:24:21,245 AS TO WHICH LANGUAGE IS OLDER, 497 00:24:21,314 --> 00:24:24,115 THERE'S A HUGE DEBATE THAT CONTINUES TO RAGE. 498 00:24:24,183 --> 00:24:26,183 DARNELL: I THINK WE CAN SAY THAT 499 00:24:26,252 --> 00:24:27,918 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN WRITING 500 00:24:27,987 --> 00:24:31,756 DEVELOPS INDEPENDENT OF WRITING 501 00:24:31,824 --> 00:24:34,225 IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA, 502 00:24:34,293 --> 00:24:36,460 AND DEVELOPS REALLY ALMOST AT THE SAME TIME, 503 00:24:36,529 --> 00:24:40,064 ALTHOUGH THIS EGYPTIAN WRITING APPEARS TO BE 504 00:24:40,133 --> 00:24:45,069 IN SOME FREQUENT USE A LITTLE BIT BEFORE 505 00:24:45,138 --> 00:24:49,373 WE SEEM TO GET TRUE, FULLY DEVELOPED CUNEIFORM. 506 00:24:50,777 --> 00:24:52,810 THE CONCENTRATION OF RESOURCES 507 00:24:52,879 --> 00:24:55,579 LED TO A CONCENTRATION OF POWER, 508 00:24:55,648 --> 00:24:59,016 RESULTING IN THE FIRST KINGS RULING OVER WIDE AREAS. 509 00:24:59,085 --> 00:25:01,218 MAINTAINING THAT POWER 510 00:25:01,287 --> 00:25:04,088 REQUIRED THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE, 511 00:25:04,157 --> 00:25:07,758 AND MAXIMIZING THE CAPACITY TO COMMUNICATE 512 00:25:07,827 --> 00:25:10,327 LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING. 513 00:25:10,396 --> 00:25:13,597 ABAKA: AND SO, WRITING BECAME A TOOL FOR ORGANIZING SOCIETY. 514 00:25:13,666 --> 00:25:17,034 ALSO BECAME A TOOL FOR DOMINATION IN THAT SENSE. 515 00:25:17,103 --> 00:25:20,204 IT BECAME A TOOL FOR RULING OVER PEOPLE. 516 00:25:21,841 --> 00:25:23,140 HOST: THE EVOLUTION OF WRITING 517 00:25:23,209 --> 00:25:26,243 ENABLED EGYPT'S RULERS TO MAINTAIN POWER 518 00:25:26,312 --> 00:25:29,513 AND ESTABLISHED A SYSTEM OF ROYAL ASCENDANCY. 519 00:25:29,582 --> 00:25:31,515 DARNELL: IT LOOKS AS THOUGH TOMB U-J, 520 00:25:31,584 --> 00:25:34,051 THAT HAS THIS EARLIEST EGYPTIAN WRITING IN IT, 521 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:38,756 IT'S ALSO THE FIRST TOMB THAT CAN BE FOLLOWED 522 00:25:38,825 --> 00:25:41,091 IN A LINE OF DEVELOPMENT THAT LEADS US 523 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,561 RIGHT TO THE PYRAMIDS OF THE OLD KINGDOM. 524 00:25:43,629 --> 00:25:46,063 WOMAN: FROM THE FIRST KING OF THE FIRST DYNASTY 525 00:25:46,132 --> 00:25:49,333 UNTIL THE PYRAMIDS IS A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. 526 00:25:49,402 --> 00:25:52,736 SO YOU HAVE THE CREATION OF AN EGYPTIAN BUREAUCRACY 527 00:25:52,805 --> 00:25:56,173 AND WITHIN A FEW CENTURIES, YOU HAVE 528 00:25:56,242 --> 00:25:59,176 THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PYRAMIDS. 529 00:25:59,245 --> 00:26:02,880 HOST: AND THE MOST SPECTACULAR PYRAMID OF ALL 530 00:26:02,949 --> 00:26:06,083 IS THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA. 531 00:26:06,152 --> 00:26:09,587 IT'S THE MOST FAMOUS AND THE MOST ICONIC BUILDING 532 00:26:09,655 --> 00:26:11,322 IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. 533 00:26:11,390 --> 00:26:13,757 A TRIUMPH OF SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION 534 00:26:13,826 --> 00:26:15,926 AND ARTISTIC IMAGINATION. 535 00:26:15,995 --> 00:26:17,561 BUILT FOR THE PHARAOH KHUFU, 536 00:26:17,630 --> 00:26:20,831 WHO CAME TO THE THRONE AROUND 2,600 B.C. 537 00:26:20,900 --> 00:26:23,367 AND RULED FOR ABOUT 27 YEARS, 538 00:26:23,436 --> 00:26:27,204 THE GREAT PYRAMID TOOK HIS ENTIRE REIGN TO COMPLETE. 539 00:26:27,273 --> 00:26:32,977 THE PROJECT REQUIRED 2,300,000 STONE BLOCKS, 540 00:26:33,045 --> 00:26:37,781 EACH WEIGHING AN AVERAGE OF 2 1/2 TONS. 541 00:26:37,850 --> 00:26:41,252 THE PYRAMID WOULD REMAIN THE TALLEST BUILDING ON EARTH 542 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,021 FOR NEARLY 4,000 YEARS. 543 00:26:44,090 --> 00:26:46,357 THE GREAT PYRAMID IS AN AFRICAN CONSTRUCTION, 544 00:26:46,425 --> 00:26:49,026 AND WE SHOULDN'T FORGET THAT, AND I FIND IT FANTASTIC 545 00:26:49,095 --> 00:26:53,130 TO THINK ABOUT KHUFU AND HIS COURTIERS SITTING AROUND 546 00:26:53,199 --> 00:26:54,865 AND SAYING, "WE'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING 547 00:26:54,934 --> 00:26:57,134 "THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS CONCEIVED OF. 548 00:26:57,203 --> 00:27:00,638 LET'S MAKE SOMETHING BIGGER, MORE IMPRESSIVE." 549 00:27:00,706 --> 00:27:02,640 COLLEEN DARNELL: WITH THE ANCIENT PYRAMIDS, WE REALLY SEE 550 00:27:02,708 --> 00:27:05,175 ALL OF THE STRONG SUITS OF ANCIENT EGYPT 551 00:27:05,244 --> 00:27:06,443 COME TO THE FORE. 552 00:27:06,512 --> 00:27:09,914 SO YOU HAVE THEIR GEOLOGICAL WEALTH OF LIMESTONE 553 00:27:09,982 --> 00:27:12,917 AND YOU ALSO HAVE THE ADVANCED EGYPTIAN MATHEMATICS 554 00:27:12,985 --> 00:27:14,652 AND ENGINEERING SKILLS 555 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,389 ALONGSIDE THIS VERY LARGE LABOR FORCE. 556 00:27:18,457 --> 00:27:19,790 DER MANUELIAN: YOU DON'T PULL THAT OFF WITH 557 00:27:19,859 --> 00:27:21,425 HEBREW SLAVES AND ALL OF THESE MYTHS 558 00:27:21,494 --> 00:27:23,494 THAT REALLY HAVE NO BASIS IN REALITY. 559 00:27:23,563 --> 00:27:25,930 THE PYRAMIDS WERE BUILT BY EGYPTIANS. 560 00:27:25,998 --> 00:27:28,532 THEY WERE CONSCRIPTED FROM ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. 561 00:27:28,601 --> 00:27:29,934 WHEN THE NILE IS IN FLOOD, 562 00:27:30,002 --> 00:27:31,602 THAT, OF COURSE, PLAYS A ROLE, TOO. 563 00:27:31,671 --> 00:27:33,637 COLLEEN DARNELL: DURING THOSE MONTHS, FARMERS COULD DO 564 00:27:33,706 --> 00:27:35,739 VERY LITTLE WITH THEIR FIELDS, 565 00:27:35,808 --> 00:27:38,442 AND THEY COULD BE EMPLOYED TO BUILD THE PYRAMIDS, 566 00:27:38,511 --> 00:27:39,810 AND THAT WAS ALSO PART OF THE WAYS 567 00:27:39,879 --> 00:27:43,213 THAT YOU COULD PAY YOUR TAXES IN ANCIENT EGYPT. 568 00:27:46,252 --> 00:27:49,186 BUT WHILE EGYPT WOULD DOMINATE NORTHEASTERN AFRICA, 569 00:27:49,255 --> 00:27:51,855 FURTHER SOUTH, ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE 570 00:27:51,924 --> 00:27:53,791 IN MODERN-DAY SUDAN, 571 00:27:53,859 --> 00:27:56,193 ANOTHER CENTER OF POWER WAS GROWING. 572 00:27:58,164 --> 00:28:03,500 IT WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF KUSH--KERMA. 573 00:28:05,071 --> 00:28:06,670 DIGGING IN THE SUDANESE SAND 574 00:28:06,739 --> 00:28:09,540 BETWEEN 1913 AND 1916, 575 00:28:09,609 --> 00:28:13,310 ARCHAEOLOGISTS LED BY HARVARD PROFESSOR GEORGE REISNER 576 00:28:13,379 --> 00:28:16,780 STUMBLED ACROSS A PIT FILLED WITH HUMAN BONES 577 00:28:16,849 --> 00:28:20,551 AND THE BURIAL MOUND OF ONE OF THE LAST KINGS OF KERMA. 578 00:28:20,620 --> 00:28:24,622 BRADSHAW: AROUND 322 REMAINS OF HUMANS WERE FOUND 579 00:28:24,690 --> 00:28:27,858 IN ONE ELITE BURIAL IN THE EASTERN CEMETERY. 580 00:28:27,927 --> 00:28:32,596 THIS, OF COURSE, INITIALLY WAS THOUGHT TO BE HUMAN SACRIFICE. 581 00:28:32,665 --> 00:28:34,832 HOST: REISNER ESTIMATED THE BODIES DATED BACK 582 00:28:34,900 --> 00:28:36,834 TO ABOUT 1,500 B.C., 583 00:28:36,902 --> 00:28:38,669 BUT EVIDENCE IN OTHER BURIAL SITES 584 00:28:38,738 --> 00:28:40,971 SHOWS THE PRACTICE OF HUMAN SACRIFICE 585 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,207 DATES BACK EVEN FURTHER. 586 00:28:43,275 --> 00:28:44,375 BRADSHAW: DEATH IN KERMA, 587 00:28:44,443 --> 00:28:45,809 PARTICULARLY FOR THE ELITE, 588 00:28:45,878 --> 00:28:48,412 SEEMED TO BE SOMETHING OF A SPECTACLE. 589 00:28:48,481 --> 00:28:51,215 HOWEVER, THESE MAY VERY WELL HAVE BEEN RETAINERS 590 00:28:51,283 --> 00:28:52,750 WHO WOULD HAVE SERVED THE KING IN LIFE 591 00:28:52,818 --> 00:28:54,785 AND THUS WOULD SERVE HIM IN DEATH. 592 00:28:54,854 --> 00:28:57,554 EVEN THE IDEA THAT THESE WERE SLAVES 593 00:28:57,623 --> 00:28:59,990 CAPTURED IN FOREIGN WARS AND KILLED 594 00:29:00,059 --> 00:29:04,495 AS A SORT OF TRIUMPHAL ACT. 595 00:29:06,565 --> 00:29:08,666 HOST: THE EARLIEST SETTLEMENT IN KERMA 596 00:29:08,734 --> 00:29:12,469 HAS BEEN DATED TO 4,000 B.C. 597 00:29:12,538 --> 00:29:14,672 SETTLEMENTS IN MESOPOTAMIA 598 00:29:14,740 --> 00:29:17,207 FORMED INTO THE EARLIEST CITIES. 599 00:29:17,276 --> 00:29:20,511 BUT RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS SHOW THAT KERMA 600 00:29:20,579 --> 00:29:23,347 WAS DEVELOPING INTO A COMPLEX SOCIETY 601 00:29:23,416 --> 00:29:25,416 AT THE SAME TIME. 602 00:29:25,484 --> 00:29:28,585 BY 2,500 B.C., IT'S ESTIMATED 603 00:29:28,654 --> 00:29:30,421 THAT THE CITY'S POPULATION 604 00:29:30,489 --> 00:29:33,290 HAD GROWN TO OVER 10,000, 605 00:29:33,359 --> 00:29:35,092 AND ITS POWER AND WEALTH 606 00:29:35,161 --> 00:29:38,629 RIVALED THAT OF ITS NORTHERN NEIGHBOR EGYPT. 607 00:29:41,067 --> 00:29:44,034 TODAY, LITTLE REMAINS OF WHAT WAS ONCE 608 00:29:44,103 --> 00:29:45,903 A MAGNIFICENT PLANNED CITY, 609 00:29:45,971 --> 00:29:48,005 BUILT AROUND MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE 610 00:29:48,074 --> 00:29:50,507 AS GRAND AS THAT OF EARLY EGYPT. 611 00:29:50,576 --> 00:29:52,409 BRADSHAW: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE CITY ITSELF 612 00:29:52,478 --> 00:29:54,778 CENTERED AROUND WHAT SEEMS TO BE 613 00:29:54,847 --> 00:29:56,647 A VAST STRUCTURE. 614 00:29:56,716 --> 00:29:58,682 THIS IS KNOWN AS THE DEFFUFA. 615 00:29:58,751 --> 00:30:00,217 DIFFERENT SCHOLARS HAVE DIFFERENT IDEAS 616 00:30:00,286 --> 00:30:01,452 ABOUT WHAT IT COULD BE. 617 00:30:04,190 --> 00:30:05,789 IN TERMS OF MUD BRICK ARCHITECTURE, 618 00:30:05,858 --> 00:30:07,591 IT CERTAINLY SEEMS TO BE THE LARGEST 619 00:30:07,660 --> 00:30:09,860 AND EARLIEST IN AFRICA. 620 00:30:09,929 --> 00:30:11,495 HOST: THE NUBIAN KINGDOM 621 00:30:11,564 --> 00:30:14,531 HAD ITS OWN DISTINCT CULTURE AND RELIGION 622 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,768 AND WAS RENOWNED FOR ITS DEADLY ARCHERS. 623 00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:50,200 HOST: FOR OVER 2,000 YEARS, 624 00:30:50,269 --> 00:30:52,236 THE KINGDOMS OF KUSH AND EGYPT 625 00:30:52,304 --> 00:30:53,971 PROSPERED AND GREW 626 00:30:54,039 --> 00:30:56,039 AS KINDRED CIVILIZATIONS 627 00:30:56,108 --> 00:30:58,575 AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE NILE VALLEY. 628 00:30:58,644 --> 00:31:03,113 BY 1,500 B.C., EGYPT WAS THE WORLD'S GREATEST POWER, 629 00:31:03,182 --> 00:31:06,116 CONTROLLING TRADE ROUTES TO THE MIDDLE EAST. 630 00:31:06,185 --> 00:31:09,353 BUT EGYPT'S GATEWAY TO THE PRECIOUS RESOURCES 631 00:31:09,421 --> 00:31:12,456 OF THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA WAS KUSH. 632 00:31:13,926 --> 00:31:16,994 KUSH SUPPLIED LUXURY ITEMS SUCH AS GOLD 633 00:31:17,062 --> 00:31:20,297 TO EGYPT'S FLOURISHING 18TH DYNASTY. 634 00:31:20,366 --> 00:31:22,933 FROM TUTANKHAMEN'S FACE MASK 635 00:31:23,002 --> 00:31:26,370 TO THE TRADING EXPEDITIONS LED BY HATSHEPSUT 636 00:31:26,438 --> 00:31:29,907 AND THE WEALTH AMASSED BY QUEEN NEFERTITI, 637 00:31:29,975 --> 00:31:31,642 EGYPTIAN PHARAOHS REQUIRED 638 00:31:31,710 --> 00:31:34,511 ENDLESS SUPPLIES OF EXOTIC GOODS 639 00:31:34,580 --> 00:31:37,748 TO HELP THEIR PASSAGE INTO THE AFTERLIFE. 640 00:31:37,817 --> 00:31:40,751 IT'S DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE ANY PEOPLE ANYWHERE 641 00:31:40,820 --> 00:31:43,887 WHO RESISTED THE FINALITY OF DEATH MORE LAVISHLY 642 00:31:43,956 --> 00:31:45,989 THAN DID THE EGYPTIANS. 643 00:31:46,058 --> 00:31:47,858 THE KING'S SACRED TOMB 644 00:31:47,927 --> 00:31:50,861 WOULD BE FILLED WITH EVERY CONCEIVABLE LUXURY 645 00:31:50,930 --> 00:31:53,197 TO ACCOMPANY HIM THROUGH THE AFTERLIFE. 646 00:31:55,434 --> 00:32:00,604 LEOPARD SKINS, OSTRICH FEATHERS, IVORY, PRECIOUS STONES, 647 00:32:00,673 --> 00:32:04,241 AND GOLD FROM NUBIA'S BOUNTIFULLY LADEN MINES. 648 00:32:04,310 --> 00:32:06,643 DARNELL: GOLD IS THE SKIN OF THE GODS. 649 00:32:06,712 --> 00:32:09,413 THE GOD IS HOT OR THIS FACE OF THE SUN 650 00:32:09,481 --> 00:32:11,348 IS THE WOMAN'S FACE EN FACE 651 00:32:11,417 --> 00:32:15,352 WITH THE COWL EARS AS GOLD. 652 00:32:15,421 --> 00:32:18,488 COLLEEN DARNELL: IT IS A METAL THAT NEVER CORRODES, 653 00:32:18,557 --> 00:32:22,259 AND SO THEY RECOGNIZED THIS AS BEING 654 00:32:22,328 --> 00:32:27,097 THE PERFECT MATERIAL FOR FUNERARY GOODS. 655 00:32:27,166 --> 00:32:30,234 BRADSHAW: WE SEE THE ROYALS BEING ADORNED WITH GOLD 656 00:32:30,302 --> 00:32:34,638 AND WE FIND FROM MYRIAD, EVEN LESSER ELITE HOUSES, 657 00:32:34,707 --> 00:32:36,139 WE SEE GOLD OBJECTS. 658 00:32:36,208 --> 00:32:38,809 DARNELL: THE GOLD MINING REGIONS OF THE EASTERN DESERT 659 00:32:38,878 --> 00:32:41,745 REALLY FORCE THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS 660 00:32:41,814 --> 00:32:44,514 AND THE ANCIENT NUBIANS TO CONTINUE 661 00:32:44,583 --> 00:32:47,517 THE CLOSE ASSOCIATIONS THEY ALREADY CULTURALLY HAD. 662 00:32:47,586 --> 00:32:52,122 IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY EGYPT CAN'T LET GO OF NUBIA 663 00:32:52,191 --> 00:32:54,558 AND IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS NUBIA IS 664 00:32:54,627 --> 00:32:57,961 BOTH SO ATTRACTIVE AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS. 665 00:32:58,030 --> 00:33:00,330 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EGYPT AND THE KUSHITE KINGDOM 666 00:33:00,399 --> 00:33:04,768 WAS ONE OF INTIMACY, PROXIMITY, AND BITTER RIVALRY. 667 00:33:06,138 --> 00:33:08,672 THE EGYPTIANS FELT THREATENED BY NUBIA 668 00:33:08,741 --> 00:33:11,408 AND WANTED TO CONTROL THE GOLD MINES THEMSELVES. 669 00:33:12,645 --> 00:33:14,311 BRADSHAW: THE KINGDOM OF KERMA AND EGYPT 670 00:33:14,380 --> 00:33:15,812 SEEMED TO HAVE HAD WHAT YOU MIGHT CALL 671 00:33:15,881 --> 00:33:17,681 A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP. 672 00:33:17,750 --> 00:33:20,284 AT THIS POINT, THE EGYPTIANS WERE WRITING OF NUBIA 673 00:33:20,352 --> 00:33:23,287 AS "VILE KUSH," SO WE KNOW THERE WAS CERTAINLY 674 00:33:23,355 --> 00:33:25,923 A LOT OF VENOM FROM THE EGYPTIAN SIDE. 675 00:33:25,991 --> 00:33:29,593 EVENTUALLY, RIVALRY LED TO CONFLICT, 676 00:33:29,662 --> 00:33:32,996 CULMINATING IN A WAR THAT WOULD BRING TO AN END 677 00:33:33,065 --> 00:33:37,334 15 CENTURIES OF INDEPENDENT KUSHITE RULE. 678 00:33:38,871 --> 00:33:40,737 HAWKS: EVERY TIME YOU HAVE CIVILIZATIONS 679 00:33:40,806 --> 00:33:41,939 DEVELOP IN THE WORLD, 680 00:33:42,007 --> 00:33:44,641 WHAT YOU HAVE IS WARFARE AND BLOODSHED. 681 00:33:44,710 --> 00:33:47,811 BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE WANT THE STUFF THAT YOU'VE GOT. 682 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,114 AND THAT BECOMES A PART OF THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. 683 00:33:51,183 --> 00:33:53,650 HOST: AROUND 1,500 B.C., 684 00:33:53,719 --> 00:33:56,987 STANDING AT THE PROW OF A FLOTILLA OF SHIPS, 685 00:33:57,056 --> 00:33:58,956 PHARAOH THUTMOSE I 686 00:33:59,024 --> 00:34:00,757 LED HIS TROOPS TO WAR 687 00:34:00,826 --> 00:34:03,493 AGAINST THE KUSHITE KINGDOM. 688 00:34:03,562 --> 00:34:07,197 THUTMOSE I, NOT BORN OF ROYAL BLOOD, 689 00:34:07,266 --> 00:34:10,334 HAD SERVED AS A GENERAL TO THE PREVIOUS PHARAOH 690 00:34:10,402 --> 00:34:14,838 AND EARNED A REPUTATION AS A FORMIDABLE MILITARY STRATEGIST. 691 00:34:18,444 --> 00:34:22,312 FOR THE EGYPTIANS, NUBIA WAS A VERY STRATEGIC LOCATION. 692 00:34:22,381 --> 00:34:24,514 BRADSHAW: WHAT WE SEE IS THUTMOSE IS GOING 693 00:34:24,583 --> 00:34:27,150 VERY DETERMINEDLY TO THE SOUTH. 694 00:34:27,219 --> 00:34:29,853 HE SACKS THE CITY OF KERMA. 695 00:34:29,922 --> 00:34:33,123 TO SACK THE CAPITAL CITY OF THIS KINGDOM 696 00:34:33,192 --> 00:34:34,591 WAS TRULY A FEAT. 697 00:34:34,660 --> 00:34:38,061 THE NUBIANS WERE WELL-KNOWN WARRIORS AND FIGHTERS. 698 00:34:38,130 --> 00:34:40,230 THERE ARE STORIES OF THOUSANDS 699 00:34:40,299 --> 00:34:42,332 OF CAPTURED PRISONERS OF WAR 700 00:34:42,401 --> 00:34:45,602 BEING EXECUTED IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT WAYS. 701 00:34:45,671 --> 00:34:48,705 LEST ANYONE DOUBT THE FINALITY OF THE CONQUEST, 702 00:34:48,774 --> 00:34:52,376 THUTMOSE STRAPPED THE BODY OF THE FALLEN NUBIAN KING 703 00:34:52,444 --> 00:34:54,811 TO THE FRONT OF HIS SHIP. 704 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,414 "EGYPT IS THE CHIEF," HE DECLARED, 705 00:34:57,483 --> 00:35:01,952 "WHILE PEOPLES ACROSS THE WHOLE EARTH ARE HER SERVANTS." 706 00:35:03,689 --> 00:35:06,757 COLLEEN DARNELL: NUBIA BECAME A SECOND PART OF EGYPT. 707 00:35:06,825 --> 00:35:09,659 BRADSHAW: THE 18TH DYNASTY IS REALLY A PERIOD OF TIME WHEN 708 00:35:09,728 --> 00:35:12,729 THE EGYPTIAN PRESENCE IN NUBIA EXPANDS. 709 00:35:12,798 --> 00:35:15,766 HOST: FOR 400 YEARS, THE PEOPLE OF KUSH 710 00:35:15,834 --> 00:35:18,969 WOULD STRUGGLE UNDER AND AGAINST EGYPTIAN RULE 711 00:35:19,038 --> 00:35:21,638 WHILE EGYPT PLUNDERED THE KINGDOM'S GOLD MINES 712 00:35:21,707 --> 00:35:23,607 THROUGH ANNUAL TRIBUTE. 713 00:35:23,675 --> 00:35:26,209 KUSHITE ROYAL TRADITIONS SURVIVED, 714 00:35:26,278 --> 00:35:28,912 SOUTH OF THE REGIONS THAT EGYPT RULED. 715 00:35:30,616 --> 00:35:32,983 DARNELL: ALL OF NUBIA IS INCORPORATED 716 00:35:33,052 --> 00:35:36,787 INTO EGYPT MORE FULLY THAN EVER BEFORE. 717 00:35:36,855 --> 00:35:39,990 NUBIA GETS A SHADOW GOVERNMENT 718 00:35:40,059 --> 00:35:41,792 THAT MIRRORS PHARAONIC EGYPT. 719 00:35:41,860 --> 00:35:44,061 YOU GET A VICEROY OF KUSH, 720 00:35:44,129 --> 00:35:45,462 THE KING SON OF KUSH, 721 00:35:45,531 --> 00:35:49,966 WHO, LIKE PHARAOH, IS IN CHARGE OF ALL OF NUBIA. 722 00:35:50,035 --> 00:35:52,302 HOST: THE EGYPTIANS ALSO BROUGHT ALONG 723 00:35:52,371 --> 00:35:55,572 THEIR CULTURE AND THEIR GODS. 724 00:35:55,641 --> 00:35:58,041 COLLEEN DARNELL: WE KNOW THAT ALREADY IN THE 18TH DYNASTY, 725 00:35:58,110 --> 00:36:00,677 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE BUILDING TEMPLES IN NUBIA 726 00:36:00,746 --> 00:36:02,913 TO EGYPTIAN GODS, BUT 727 00:36:02,981 --> 00:36:06,016 EGYPTIANS GODS THAT HAD A LOCAL RELEVANCE 728 00:36:06,085 --> 00:36:07,717 FOR THE NUBIANS. 729 00:36:07,786 --> 00:36:13,390 HOST: AMUN, GOD OF GODS IN EGYPT FOR 400 YEARS. 730 00:36:13,459 --> 00:36:18,328 700 YEARS LATER, THE KUSHITES MADE THIS ALL-POWERFUL DEITY 731 00:36:18,397 --> 00:36:19,596 THEIR OWN, 732 00:36:19,665 --> 00:36:21,264 INCORPORATING HIM 733 00:36:21,333 --> 00:36:23,300 INTO THEIR PANTHEON 734 00:36:23,368 --> 00:36:27,037 ALONGSIDE THEIR LION-HEADED GOD APEDEMAK. 735 00:36:27,106 --> 00:36:31,007 THE EGYPTIANS BUILT AN AWE-INSPIRING TEMPLE TO AMUN 736 00:36:31,076 --> 00:36:34,211 AT THE SOUTHERNMOST TIP OF THEIR NUBIAN EMPIRE 737 00:36:34,279 --> 00:36:37,347 AT THE HOLY SITE OF JEBEL BARKAL. 738 00:36:37,416 --> 00:36:39,883 THIS WOULD ALSO BECOME A SACRED PLACE 739 00:36:39,952 --> 00:36:41,751 FOR THE KUSHITES. 740 00:36:41,820 --> 00:36:44,087 MAN: FOR THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS AND THE ANCIENT KUSHITES, 741 00:36:44,156 --> 00:36:46,490 THIS PINNACLE SYMBOLIZED A SERPENT 742 00:36:46,558 --> 00:36:48,492 THAT WAS A PROTECTIVE DEITY 743 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:49,993 ON THE CROWN OF THE PHARAOH 744 00:36:50,062 --> 00:36:52,929 THAT SPIT FIRE AND POISON AT THE PHARAOH'S ENEMIES. 745 00:36:52,998 --> 00:36:55,565 SO, THIS IS WHAT GAVE JEBEL BARKAL 746 00:36:55,634 --> 00:36:59,636 ITS MYSTICAL ASSOCIATION THAT LED EGYPTIANS AND KUSHITES 747 00:36:59,705 --> 00:37:01,571 TO BUILD AND REBUILD AND EXPAND 748 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,074 THEIR TEMPLES OVER THE CENTURIES. 749 00:37:04,143 --> 00:37:06,176 HOST: BUT AFTER 1,100 B.C., 750 00:37:06,245 --> 00:37:09,045 PARTS OF KUSH REGAINED THEIR INDEPENDENCE, 751 00:37:09,114 --> 00:37:11,948 AND BY 750 B.C., EGYPT, 752 00:37:12,017 --> 00:37:14,684 FOLLOWING INVASIONS BY LIBYAN TRIBES, 753 00:37:14,753 --> 00:37:17,821 WAS GREATLY DIMINISHED AND FRAGMENTED. 754 00:37:17,890 --> 00:37:21,191 AROUND 750 B.C., PIYE, 755 00:37:21,260 --> 00:37:23,126 A NEW KUSHITE KING, 756 00:37:23,195 --> 00:37:24,828 CAME TO THE THRONE. 757 00:37:24,897 --> 00:37:27,297 HE WAS BRILLIANT AND AMBITIOUS, 758 00:37:27,366 --> 00:37:30,200 DRIVEN IN PART BY HIS FERVENT WORSHIP 759 00:37:30,269 --> 00:37:32,769 OF THE GOD AMUN. 760 00:37:32,838 --> 00:37:36,106 EMBERLING: HE CLEARLY MADE JEBEL BARKAL AN IMPORTANT PLACE. 761 00:37:36,175 --> 00:37:38,175 UH, HE BUILT A PALACE HERE, 762 00:37:38,243 --> 00:37:40,777 HE VERY SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDED THE TEMPLE, 763 00:37:40,846 --> 00:37:43,513 AND, UH, BARKAL WAS VERY CLEARLY THE CENTER 764 00:37:43,582 --> 00:37:46,516 OF HIS SYMBOLIC ASSERTION OF KINGSHIP. 765 00:37:48,353 --> 00:37:51,688 HOST: PIYE TURNED HIS SIGHTS NORTHWARD TO EGYPT, 766 00:37:51,757 --> 00:37:55,091 PORTRAYING KUSH AS THE CHAMPION OF AMUN. 767 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:57,961 DARNELL: NUBIA APPEARS TO SEE ITSELF 768 00:37:58,030 --> 00:38:00,931 AS THE REAL EGYPT 769 00:38:00,999 --> 00:38:04,201 BECAUSE THEY'RE THE REAL WORSHIPPERS 770 00:38:04,269 --> 00:38:06,169 OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS. 771 00:38:06,238 --> 00:38:08,872 COLLEEN DARNELL: IT'S REMARKABLE THAT THE NUBIANS 772 00:38:08,941 --> 00:38:12,742 ADOPTED EGYPTIAN CULTURE AND RELIGION AND CIVILIZATION 773 00:38:12,811 --> 00:38:14,945 TO THE POINT THAT THEY BELIEVED 774 00:38:15,013 --> 00:38:18,081 THAT THEY WERE BETTER EGYPTIANS THAN THE EGYPTIANS WHO WERE 775 00:38:18,150 --> 00:38:19,950 CURRENTLY IN CONTROL OF THE NILE VALLEY. 776 00:38:20,018 --> 00:38:22,519 SO, WHEN PIYE INVADES EGYPT, 777 00:38:22,588 --> 00:38:26,656 HE DOES SO IN THE NAME OF THE GOD AMUN. 778 00:38:26,725 --> 00:38:30,994 PIYE ESSENTIALLY CASTS HIS INVASION OF EGYPT AS A HOLY WAR, 779 00:38:31,063 --> 00:38:35,265 OF THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROPER WORSHIP OF THE GOD AMUN. 780 00:38:37,402 --> 00:38:39,736 AT THE HEAD OF A POWERFUL ARMY, 781 00:38:39,805 --> 00:38:43,073 PIYE SET SAIL NORTH DOWN THE NILE, 782 00:38:43,141 --> 00:38:45,742 READY TO INVADE THE ONCE IMPREGNABLE 783 00:38:45,811 --> 00:38:47,277 EMPIRE OF EGYPT. 784 00:38:47,346 --> 00:38:50,714 HE ORDERED HIS MEN TO PURIFY THEMSELVES IN THE RIVER. 785 00:38:50,782 --> 00:38:54,017 "I SHALL LET EGYPT," HE SAID, 786 00:38:54,086 --> 00:38:57,153 "TASTE THE TASTE OF MY FINGERS." 787 00:38:59,524 --> 00:39:01,925 IN A CAMPAIGN THAT LASTED NEARLY A YEAR, 788 00:39:01,994 --> 00:39:06,763 PIYE'S ARMY CONQUERED EGYPT AS FAR NORTH AS THE NILE DELTA. 789 00:39:06,832 --> 00:39:11,368 TRIUMPHANT, PIYE WAS CROWNED PHARAOH OF NUBIA AND EGYPT 790 00:39:11,436 --> 00:39:16,039 AND FOUNDER OF THE 25TH DYNASTY OF EGYPT'S PHARAOHS. 791 00:39:16,108 --> 00:39:18,541 THE KUSHITES, ONCE THE CONQUERED, 792 00:39:18,610 --> 00:39:20,477 NOW BECAME THE CONQUERORS, 793 00:39:20,545 --> 00:39:24,581 REUNITING FRAGMENTED EGYPT UNDER THEIR RULE. 794 00:39:24,650 --> 00:39:27,484 COLLEEN DARNELL: WE CAN SEE THE NUBIAN CONQUEST OF EGYPT 795 00:39:27,552 --> 00:39:28,952 AS BOTH A HOLY WAR 796 00:39:29,021 --> 00:39:31,221 AND A STRATEGIC EXPANSION TO THE NORTH, 797 00:39:31,290 --> 00:39:33,723 AND OBVIOUSLY, IT WAS A GREAT PRIZE 798 00:39:33,792 --> 00:39:36,192 TO RULE BOTH EGYPT AND NUBIA. 799 00:39:36,261 --> 00:39:37,894 EHRET: THEY'RE RULING OVER AN EMPIRE 800 00:39:37,963 --> 00:39:40,497 THAT RUNS FROM MEROE DOWN IN THE SOUTH, 801 00:39:40,565 --> 00:39:42,432 CLEAR UP TO THE DELTA, 802 00:39:42,501 --> 00:39:46,770 LARGER THAN ANY TERRITORY EGYPT ITSELF EVER RULED. 803 00:39:46,838 --> 00:39:49,439 DARNELL: IN SOME WAYS, IT CAN BE SEEN AS A TURNING OF THE TABLES 804 00:39:49,508 --> 00:39:51,908 THAT NUBIA, WHO'S ALWAYS THE UNDERDOG, 805 00:39:51,977 --> 00:39:54,210 NOW HAS EGYPT AS THE UNDERDOG. 806 00:39:54,279 --> 00:39:58,248 IT SIMPLY SHOWS, I THINK, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, 807 00:39:58,317 --> 00:40:00,817 HOW UPPER EGYPT AND NUBIA 808 00:40:00,886 --> 00:40:05,922 ARE SO CLOSELY ASSOCIATED, IDEOLOGICALLY. 809 00:40:05,991 --> 00:40:09,292 HOST: THIS WAS THE START OF A NEW ERA IN EGYPT 810 00:40:09,361 --> 00:40:11,828 WHICH WOULD SEE IT RULED BY A DYNASTY 811 00:40:11,897 --> 00:40:16,499 THAT HISTORIANS CALL THE BLACK PHARAOHS OF THE NILE, 812 00:40:16,568 --> 00:40:19,202 RESTORING PROSPERITY AND STABILITY 813 00:40:19,271 --> 00:40:20,837 BACK TO EGYPT. 814 00:40:27,446 --> 00:40:30,113 BUT ACROSS AFRICA, IN THE LUSH FOREST 815 00:40:30,182 --> 00:40:33,016 OF MODERN-DAY CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, 816 00:40:33,085 --> 00:40:35,685 NEW RADICAL TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS 817 00:40:35,754 --> 00:40:39,022 WERE LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR OTHER CIVILIZATIONS. 818 00:40:40,459 --> 00:40:44,661 SOMETIME BETWEEN 1,800 B.C. AND 1,500 B.C., 819 00:40:44,730 --> 00:40:46,863 SMALL COMMUNITIES OF CRAFTSPEOPLE 820 00:40:46,932 --> 00:40:51,835 GATHERED TO STOKE FURNACES, INTENDING TO FIRE CERAMIC. 821 00:40:53,038 --> 00:40:55,872 BUT IN THE LATERITIC AFRICAN SOIL, 822 00:40:55,941 --> 00:40:59,676 THE CRAFTSMEN DISCOVERED A BY-PRODUCT--IRON. 823 00:41:01,446 --> 00:41:03,580 IRON IS ONE OF THOSE INVENTIONS THAT 824 00:41:03,648 --> 00:41:05,682 ACTUALLY HAS A TREMENDOUS IMPACT. 825 00:41:05,751 --> 00:41:08,284 EHRET: WE SUSPECT THE FIRST USAGES 826 00:41:08,353 --> 00:41:11,354 WERE FOR DECORATION, FOR ORNAMENTATION. 827 00:41:11,423 --> 00:41:13,623 BUT VERY QUICKLY, PEOPLE BEGAN TO SEE, 828 00:41:13,692 --> 00:41:15,892 "OH, HEY, WE CAN SHAPE THIS." 829 00:41:15,961 --> 00:41:17,994 WOMAN: EACH METAL HAS A CERTAIN QUALITY-- 830 00:41:18,063 --> 00:41:20,096 IRON FOR ITS STRENGTH, 831 00:41:20,165 --> 00:41:23,299 AND THE KIND OF TOOLS THAT ONE CAN CREATE WITH IT. 832 00:41:23,368 --> 00:41:27,070 FOURSHEY: IN TERMS OF CONVERTING ECONOMIES 833 00:41:27,139 --> 00:41:29,739 FROM HUNTING AND GATHERING TO AGRICULTURE, 834 00:41:29,808 --> 00:41:32,976 IRON BEGAN TO BE USED PARTICULARLY AS CURRENCIES, 835 00:41:33,044 --> 00:41:35,912 BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. 836 00:41:35,981 --> 00:41:38,815 HOST: WE PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT THAT IRON HAD BEEN DISCOVERED 837 00:41:38,884 --> 00:41:41,918 IN TURKEY, AROUND 1,500 B.C., 838 00:41:41,987 --> 00:41:45,088 BUT NEW EVIDENCE REVEALS THAT IRON WORKING EMERGED 839 00:41:45,157 --> 00:41:47,624 AT THE SAME TIME IN AFRICA. 840 00:41:47,692 --> 00:41:48,691 BRADSHAW: FOR A LONG TIME, 841 00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:51,628 THE IDEA THAT IRON COULD BE SMELTED 842 00:41:51,696 --> 00:41:55,165 IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA WAS COMPLETELY DISMISSED. 843 00:41:55,233 --> 00:41:58,034 EHRET: THE NEW EVIDENCE IS THAT IRON WORKING 844 00:41:58,103 --> 00:42:01,004 BEGINS RIGHT IN THE HEART OF AFRICA. 845 00:42:01,072 --> 00:42:03,840 WE FIND DATES OF AROUND 1,000 846 00:42:03,909 --> 00:42:06,109 IN THE LAKE CHAD AREA. 847 00:42:06,178 --> 00:42:09,546 900 AS WE GET TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF NIGERIA. 848 00:42:09,614 --> 00:42:12,582 700 B.C. TO 500 B.C. OVER IN MALI. 849 00:42:12,651 --> 00:42:16,453 SHOWING THE SPREAD OF IRON COMING OUT OF THAT AREA. 850 00:42:16,521 --> 00:42:19,355 FOURSHEY: EVEN WITH THE KINDS OF TECHNOLOGY THAT WE HAVE TODAY, 851 00:42:19,424 --> 00:42:23,927 IT'S INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO PRODUCE A SMELT 852 00:42:23,995 --> 00:42:25,762 IN THE WAY THAT PEOPLE WOULD HAVE, 853 00:42:25,831 --> 00:42:27,397 YOU KNOW, 3,000 YEARS AGO. 854 00:42:27,466 --> 00:42:29,699 PEOPLE TALK ABOUT CIVILIZATIONS, 855 00:42:29,768 --> 00:42:31,768 AND THEY THINK EVERYTHING NEW AND EXCITING 856 00:42:31,837 --> 00:42:34,070 BEGINS IN THE CIVILIZATION. 857 00:42:34,139 --> 00:42:36,339 TURNS OUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT HISTORY, 858 00:42:36,408 --> 00:42:41,044 HUMAN BEINGS CREATE ADVANCED NEW TECHNOLOGIES 859 00:42:41,112 --> 00:42:42,545 OUT OF THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES. 860 00:42:42,614 --> 00:42:43,913 THEY DON'T HAVE TO LIVE 861 00:42:43,982 --> 00:42:45,181 IN THIS KIND OF SOCIETY 862 00:42:45,250 --> 00:42:46,549 OR THAT KIND OF SOCIETY. 863 00:42:48,186 --> 00:42:51,120 HOST: THE IRON WORKING COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 864 00:42:51,189 --> 00:42:54,858 LEFT LITTLE TANGIBLE EVIDENCE OF THEIR EXISTENCE BEHIND, 865 00:42:54,926 --> 00:42:57,594 BUT THEY DID LEAVE THEIR TECHNOLOGICAL LEGACY, 866 00:42:57,662 --> 00:43:00,597 TOGETHER WITH THE SOPHISTICATED ARTISTIC HERITAGE 867 00:43:00,665 --> 00:43:03,032 UNIQUE TO THIS PART OF AFRICA. 868 00:43:05,537 --> 00:43:07,403 NEAR THE CENTER OF MODERN-DAY NIGERIA 869 00:43:07,472 --> 00:43:09,739 DURING THE FIRST MILLENNIUM B.C., 870 00:43:09,808 --> 00:43:14,277 A REMARKABLE ARTISTIC TRADITION OF TERRACOTTA SCULPTURE EMERGED. 871 00:43:14,346 --> 00:43:16,479 THESE PIECES ARE HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED, 872 00:43:16,548 --> 00:43:19,983 INTRICATELY DETAILED, AND TECHNICALLY ACCOMPLISHED. 873 00:43:20,051 --> 00:43:22,318 YET MUCH OF THE CULTURE FROM WHICH THEY WERE CREATED 874 00:43:22,387 --> 00:43:24,354 REMAINS A MYSTERY. 875 00:43:24,422 --> 00:43:27,457 THEY'RE KNOWN AS THE NOK TERRACOTTAS 876 00:43:27,526 --> 00:43:30,126 AND THEY ARE SUBLIME. 877 00:43:30,195 --> 00:43:34,764 IN 1943, A FARMER FROM A VILLAGE CALLED NOK 878 00:43:34,833 --> 00:43:39,569 GAVE ARCHAEOLOGIST BERNARD FAGG THE HEAD OF A SCARECROW. 879 00:43:39,638 --> 00:43:42,272 ON CLOSER INSPECTION, FAGG ESTIMATED 880 00:43:42,340 --> 00:43:47,210 THAT THE FINELY SCULPTED HEAD DATED BACK TO AROUND 900 B.C., 881 00:43:47,279 --> 00:43:48,978 MAKING IT, OUTSIDE OF EGYPT, 882 00:43:49,047 --> 00:43:52,448 THE EARLIEST SCULPTURAL ART FOUND IN AFRICA. 883 00:43:52,517 --> 00:43:57,020 THEY HAVE THIS VERY ELABORATE HAIRSTYLES 884 00:43:57,088 --> 00:44:00,690 AND EVERY HEAVY JEWELRY AROUND THE NECK. 885 00:44:00,759 --> 00:44:04,160 SO, WE ASSUME IT DEPICTS PEOPLE, 886 00:44:04,229 --> 00:44:07,931 MAYBE HIGH RANKING PEOPLE, IN CEREMONIAL ATTIRE. 887 00:44:09,734 --> 00:44:12,035 PRESTON BLIER: THE CURRENT THINKING IS THAT IT WAS PROBABLY 888 00:44:12,103 --> 00:44:14,437 TRAVELING ARTISTS WHO WERE MOVING AROUND 889 00:44:14,506 --> 00:44:16,839 CREATING THESE WORKS FOR INDIVIDUALS. 890 00:44:16,908 --> 00:44:18,107 IT COULD HAVE BEEN COURTS 891 00:44:18,176 --> 00:44:20,209 OR DISTINCTIVE RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS. 892 00:44:20,278 --> 00:44:22,078 THAT CERTAINLY MAKES A LOT OF SENSE 893 00:44:22,147 --> 00:44:28,084 SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE BREADTH OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THESE WORKS. 894 00:44:28,153 --> 00:44:29,485 EHRET: THE HEIGHT OF THE NOK PERIOD 895 00:44:29,554 --> 00:44:31,888 IS DURING THE LAST THOUSAND YEARS B.C. 896 00:44:31,957 --> 00:44:33,356 THIS IS THE PERIOD IN THE ARCHAEOLOGY 897 00:44:33,425 --> 00:44:36,092 WE KNOW THE IRON WORKING IS REACHING THIS AREA. 898 00:44:39,497 --> 00:44:41,230 HOST: THROUGHOUT CENTRAL AFRICA, 899 00:44:41,299 --> 00:44:43,600 NEW COMMUNITIES WERE TAKING SHAPE. 900 00:44:43,668 --> 00:44:46,302 FROM 3,000 B.C., AN INCREDIBLE 901 00:44:46,371 --> 00:44:49,205 MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGIES UNFOLDED 902 00:44:49,274 --> 00:44:51,908 THAT WOULD CHANGE THE FACE OF AFRICA. 903 00:44:51,977 --> 00:44:55,278 IT'S KNOWN AS THE BANTU MIGRATION. 904 00:44:55,347 --> 00:44:57,780 FOURSHEY: THE MIGRATION IS PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE 905 00:44:57,849 --> 00:45:03,119 ABOUT 2/3 OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA IS POPULATED BY BANTU SPEAKERS. 906 00:45:03,188 --> 00:45:08,491 BY 1,000 B.C.E., BANTU HAVE ENTERED INTO EASTERN AFRICA 907 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:11,427 AND SOCIETIES LIKE THE SWAHILI SOCIETY THAT WE KNOW OF 908 00:45:11,496 --> 00:45:14,831 AND THE ZULU THAT WE KNOW IN SOUTHERN AFRICA START TO EMERGE. 909 00:45:16,401 --> 00:45:18,167 HOST: WHILE THE PEOPLE OF CENTRAL AFRICA WERE BUILDING 910 00:45:18,236 --> 00:45:20,937 NEW SOCIETIES BASED ON IRON, 911 00:45:21,006 --> 00:45:23,272 THIS GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT 912 00:45:23,341 --> 00:45:27,143 WAS ALSO TRANSFORMING THE CIVILIZATIONS ALONG THE NILE, 913 00:45:27,212 --> 00:45:30,880 AND NOWHERE MORE SO THAN IN MEROE. 914 00:45:30,949 --> 00:45:33,650 BUILT ON WHAT WAS ONCE A FERTILE GREEN ISLAND 915 00:45:33,718 --> 00:45:35,652 ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE, 916 00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:39,155 MEROE BY 500 B.C. HAD BECOME 917 00:45:39,224 --> 00:45:43,359 THE NEW CAPITAL OF THE INDEPENDENT KINGDOM OF KUSH. 918 00:45:43,428 --> 00:45:46,896 WOMAN: IT WAS AN AREA THAT SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE, 919 00:45:46,965 --> 00:45:48,698 THAT HAD THE ROYAL CITY THERE. 920 00:45:48,767 --> 00:45:50,400 SO, LIFE WAS PROBABLY 921 00:45:50,468 --> 00:45:55,672 RELATIVELY COMFORTABLE FOR MOST OF THE POPULATION AT MEROE. 922 00:45:55,740 --> 00:45:58,574 HOST: THE RULERS OF THE THIRD AGE OF KUSH 923 00:45:58,643 --> 00:46:01,177 CREATED A POWERFUL KINGDOM, 924 00:46:01,246 --> 00:46:03,746 EVIDENCE OF WHICH CAN STILL BE SEEN 925 00:46:03,815 --> 00:46:07,750 IN THEIR MONUMENTAL LEGACY AT MEROE. 926 00:46:07,819 --> 00:46:09,719 THESE PYRAMIDS WERE BURIAL CHAMBERS 927 00:46:09,788 --> 00:46:11,954 FOR THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF MEROE. 928 00:46:12,023 --> 00:46:15,258 MORE THAN 100 DOT THE SKYLINE ON THIS ISLAND. 929 00:46:18,163 --> 00:46:20,029 THE WEALTH OF KUSH HAD BEEN FOUNDED 930 00:46:20,098 --> 00:46:22,265 ON ITS ABUNDANT RESERVES OF GOLD, 931 00:46:22,333 --> 00:46:25,535 WHICH IT COULD TRADE WITH THE ANCIENT WORLD. 932 00:46:25,603 --> 00:46:27,203 BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER RESOURCE 933 00:46:27,272 --> 00:46:29,305 THAT WOULD GENERATE WEALTH FOR THE STATE 934 00:46:29,374 --> 00:46:32,208 AND WOULD COME TO DEFINE MEROE. 935 00:46:32,277 --> 00:46:33,743 YELLIN: IT'S LONG BEEN KNOWN THAT MEROE 936 00:46:33,812 --> 00:46:35,545 WAS AN IRON WORKING CENTER 937 00:46:35,613 --> 00:46:37,780 BECAUSE THERE WERE THESE ENORMOUS SLAGHEAPS 938 00:46:37,849 --> 00:46:40,316 IN THEIR URBAN PART OF THE TOWN 939 00:46:40,385 --> 00:46:45,822 THAT WAS USED FOR WEAPONS, IRON BLADES, IRON SPEARHEADS. 940 00:46:45,890 --> 00:46:48,691 HOST: AND THOSE WEAPONS WOULD BE NEEDED TO DEFEND KUSH 941 00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:51,594 IN THE FACE OF A NEW THREAT. 942 00:46:51,663 --> 00:46:55,364 IN 31 B.C., CLEOPATRA'S EGYPT-- 943 00:46:55,433 --> 00:46:58,434 ONCE THE GREATEST EMPIRE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN-- 944 00:46:58,503 --> 00:47:01,204 WAS DEFEATED BY THE ROMANS. 945 00:47:01,272 --> 00:47:03,005 THE ROMAN MILITARY MACHINE 946 00:47:03,074 --> 00:47:05,842 WAS THE MOST POWERFUL IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, 947 00:47:05,910 --> 00:47:08,144 ANNEXING TERRITORIES FROM BRITAIN 948 00:47:08,213 --> 00:47:11,147 TO THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA. 949 00:47:11,216 --> 00:47:14,751 NOW IT TURNED ITS SIGHTS ONTO KUSH. 950 00:47:14,819 --> 00:47:16,652 YELLIN: ONE OF THE THINGS THE ROMANS DID 951 00:47:16,721 --> 00:47:19,422 IS THEY PUSHED THE SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF EGYPT 952 00:47:19,491 --> 00:47:21,591 FURTHER INTO MEROITIC TERRITORY, 953 00:47:21,659 --> 00:47:24,193 AND WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT 954 00:47:24,262 --> 00:47:27,196 THE MEROITES STARTED TO PUSH BACK. 955 00:47:27,265 --> 00:47:29,065 HOST: HALTING THIS ROMAN ADVANCE 956 00:47:29,134 --> 00:47:33,903 WOULD CALL FOR STRONG AND DECISIVE LEADERSHIP FROM MEROE. 957 00:47:33,972 --> 00:47:37,039 ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL THINGS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF KUSH 958 00:47:37,108 --> 00:47:40,009 IS THE SURPRISING NUMBER OF QUEENS THAT RULED. 959 00:47:40,078 --> 00:47:42,812 THEY WERE KNOWN AS KANDAKES. 960 00:47:42,881 --> 00:47:44,514 YELLIN: IN ABOUT 100 YEARS, 961 00:47:44,582 --> 00:47:48,751 WE HAVE 4 OF THESE TREMENDOUSLY POWERFUL KANDAKES 962 00:47:48,820 --> 00:47:52,522 AND THEY ARE TERRIFICALLY EFFECTIVE. 963 00:47:52,590 --> 00:47:55,424 HOST: WITHOUT DOUBT THE MOST FAMOUS OF THOSE QUEENS 964 00:47:55,493 --> 00:47:58,995 WAS A ONE-EYED WARRIOR NAMED AMANIRENAS, 965 00:47:59,063 --> 00:48:01,430 WHO RISKED HER LIFE IN BATTLE 966 00:48:01,499 --> 00:48:03,099 TO DEFEND HER KINGDOM 967 00:48:03,168 --> 00:48:07,136 AND MAKE SURE THAT HER PEOPLE COULD LIVE SECURELY. 968 00:48:07,205 --> 00:48:11,307 AMANIRENAS REIGNED FROM 40 B.C. TO 10 B.C. 969 00:48:11,376 --> 00:48:13,509 SAID TO HAVE THE FIGURE OF A MAN 970 00:48:13,578 --> 00:48:15,444 BY THE GREEK PHILOSOPHER STRABO, 971 00:48:15,513 --> 00:48:17,346 SHE HAD A FEARSOME REPUTATION 972 00:48:17,415 --> 00:48:20,650 AS A MILITARY LEADER AND STRATEGIST. 973 00:48:20,718 --> 00:48:24,954 FOR 5 YEARS, AMANIRENAS LED ATTACKS INTO ROMAN EGYPT, 974 00:48:25,023 --> 00:48:28,324 PREVENTING THE ROMANS FROM INVADING KUSH. 975 00:48:28,393 --> 00:48:31,327 THESE BATTLES WERE RECORDED IN ROMAN DOCUMENTS, 976 00:48:31,396 --> 00:48:34,797 BUT A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT WRITTEN BY THE KUSHITES THEMSELVES 977 00:48:34,866 --> 00:48:38,434 WAS RECORDED IN THEIR OWN MEROITIC SCRIPT. 978 00:48:38,503 --> 00:48:41,003 HOST: WHEN DOES THIS STELA DATE FROM? 979 00:48:41,072 --> 00:48:43,539 MAN: IT DATES FROM THE SECOND HALF 980 00:48:43,608 --> 00:48:45,541 OF THE FIRST CENTURY B.C. 981 00:48:45,610 --> 00:48:48,744 SO... DURING THE REIGN OF THE QUEEN AMANIRENAS. 982 00:48:48,813 --> 00:48:50,179 IN THE CASE OF MEROITIC, 983 00:48:50,248 --> 00:48:52,548 THE WRITING SYSTEM HAS BEEN DECIPHERED 984 00:48:52,617 --> 00:48:54,350 ALREADY A CENTURY AGO, 985 00:48:54,419 --> 00:48:57,987 BUT IT IS THE LANGUAGE THAT IS A PROBLEM. 986 00:48:58,056 --> 00:49:00,089 SO, WHY WITH ALL... 987 00:49:00,158 --> 00:49:01,757 COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES, 988 00:49:01,826 --> 00:49:06,262 WHY CAN'T WE CRACK THE ONE AFRICAN WRITTEN SCRIPT 989 00:49:06,331 --> 00:49:07,663 FROM THE ANCIENT WORLD? 990 00:49:07,732 --> 00:49:09,599 IT IS A BIT AS IF I WAS 991 00:49:09,667 --> 00:49:12,068 ASKING YOU AS AN ENGLISH NATIVE SPEAKER 992 00:49:12,136 --> 00:49:13,936 TO READ ME A TEXT IN POLISH. 993 00:49:14,005 --> 00:49:16,305 YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO READ IT PERFECTLY, 994 00:49:16,374 --> 00:49:17,340 BUT PROBABLY YOU WON'T 995 00:49:17,408 --> 00:49:18,608 BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND IT, 996 00:49:18,676 --> 00:49:20,243 EXCEPT PLACE NAME AND NAMES. 997 00:49:20,311 --> 00:49:23,279 THIS IS WHERE WE ARE WITH MEROITIC SCRIPT. 998 00:49:23,348 --> 00:49:25,414 WELL, IT'S ABOUT A PARTICULAR BATTLE WITH THE ROMANS. 999 00:49:25,483 --> 00:49:28,017 EXACTLY. SO, THIS IS GIVING US 1000 00:49:28,086 --> 00:49:30,019 THE NARRATED VERSION OF THE STORY 1001 00:49:30,088 --> 00:49:31,787 OF THE WAR AGAINST THE ROMANS. 1002 00:49:31,856 --> 00:49:33,789 UNFORTUNATELY, WE ARE NOT ABLE YET 1003 00:49:33,858 --> 00:49:36,792 TO SEE WHAT THEY ARE SAYING. 1004 00:49:36,861 --> 00:49:39,095 HOST: AMANIRENAS SHOWED HER UTTER DISDAIN 1005 00:49:39,163 --> 00:49:41,864 FOR THE ROMAN EMPEROR AUGUSTUS CAESAR 1006 00:49:41,933 --> 00:49:45,801 BY CAPTURING HIS BRONZE BUST DURING AN ATTACK ON HIS FORCES 1007 00:49:45,870 --> 00:49:49,272 AND PLACING IT BENEATH THE THRESHOLD OF HER GRAND TEMPLE 1008 00:49:49,340 --> 00:49:53,009 TO BE TRODDEN UNDER FOOT BY ALL WHO ENTERED. 1009 00:49:53,077 --> 00:49:54,510 SO, ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE KINGDOM 1010 00:49:54,579 --> 00:49:56,412 ARE STEPPING OVER THE GREAT 1011 00:49:56,481 --> 00:49:57,847 CAESAR AUGUSTUS, IS THAT IT? 1012 00:49:57,916 --> 00:50:01,017 MAN: YES. ACCORDING TO THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE 1013 00:50:01,085 --> 00:50:04,120 WE HAVE, IT'S, UH, CLEAR. 1014 00:50:04,188 --> 00:50:06,389 SHE BROUGHT BACK THE HEAD OF AUGUSTUS, 1015 00:50:06,457 --> 00:50:08,157 OF HIS BRONZE STATUE. 1016 00:50:10,461 --> 00:50:12,828 HOST: DESPITE THE MIGHT OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 1017 00:50:12,897 --> 00:50:15,665 AMANIRENAS' CLEVER MILITARY TACTICS 1018 00:50:15,733 --> 00:50:19,168 EVENTUALLY BROUGHT BOTH SIDES TO THE NEGOTIATING TABLE, 1019 00:50:19,237 --> 00:50:21,270 WHERE THE FORMIDABLE NUBIAN QUEEN 1020 00:50:21,339 --> 00:50:23,806 SUCCESSFULLY BROKERED A PEACE TREATY 1021 00:50:23,875 --> 00:50:26,409 WITH AUGUSTUS CAESAR HIMSELF. 1022 00:50:26,477 --> 00:50:28,244 HOST: ARE YOU TELLING ME 1023 00:50:28,313 --> 00:50:31,047 A ONE-EYED BLACK WOMAN 1024 00:50:31,115 --> 00:50:33,916 WAS ABLE TO DEFEAT THE MOST POWERFUL ARMY 1025 00:50:33,985 --> 00:50:37,820 ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH IN 23 B.C., 1026 00:50:37,889 --> 00:50:39,588 HERE IN THE KINGDOM OF KUSH? 1027 00:50:39,657 --> 00:50:42,124 YES. YEAH, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED. 1028 00:50:42,193 --> 00:50:45,528 HOST: AMANIRENAS, THE VICTORIOUS AFRICAN QUEEN, 1029 00:50:45,596 --> 00:50:48,597 WOULD ENSURE THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE KUSHITE KINGDOM 1030 00:50:48,666 --> 00:50:50,666 AND ITS SPLENDID CULTURE 1031 00:50:50,735 --> 00:50:54,003 FOR ANOTHER 400 YEARS. 1032 00:50:54,072 --> 00:50:57,506 HUMAN HISTORY WAS BORN ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT, 1033 00:50:57,575 --> 00:51:00,810 WHICH MAKES AFRICA THE WELL SPRING FROM WHICH 1034 00:51:00,878 --> 00:51:02,778 ALL OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY FLOWS. 1035 00:51:05,183 --> 00:51:08,584 AFRICA IS THE BIRTHPLACE OF ART AND MUSIC, 1036 00:51:08,653 --> 00:51:11,687 THE FIRST WRITING, AGRICULTURE, 1037 00:51:11,756 --> 00:51:14,056 AND SYSTEMS OF LAWS. 1038 00:51:14,125 --> 00:51:18,961 AFRICA GAVE US THE BLUEPRINT FOR CIVILIZATION ITSELF. 1039 00:51:19,030 --> 00:51:21,597 THESE RECORDS SPEAK TO US ACROSS MILLENNIA 1040 00:51:21,666 --> 00:51:24,500 AS PROFOUND REFUTATIONS OF THE CLAIM 1041 00:51:24,569 --> 00:51:26,702 THAT AFRICANS LACKED A HISTORY 1042 00:51:26,771 --> 00:51:29,005 BEFORE EUROPEANS ARRIVED. 1043 00:51:29,073 --> 00:51:31,340 THIS IS THE TRUE HISTORY OF AFRICA, 1044 00:51:31,409 --> 00:51:33,509 AND IT'S ONLY JUST BEGUN. 1045 00:51:35,680 --> 00:51:39,348 IN THE FOLLOWING CENTURIES, THE WORLD'S GREAT RELIGIONS, 1046 00:51:39,417 --> 00:51:41,317 CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM, 1047 00:51:41,386 --> 00:51:44,120 MOLDED IN THEIR INFANCY IN AFRICA, 1048 00:51:44,188 --> 00:51:47,957 WOULD GROW AND TRANSFORM THE FATE OF THE WORLD. 1049 00:51:48,026 --> 00:51:50,026 GREAT EMPIRES WOULD PROSPER 1050 00:51:50,094 --> 00:51:52,695 AND CULTURES WOULD BLOSSOM AS A RESULT, 1051 00:51:52,764 --> 00:51:56,098 BUT THEY WOULD ALSO DRAW THE CONTINENT INTO BLOODY CONFLICT. 1052 00:52:01,738 --> 00:52:03,773 ANNOUNCER: ON "AFRICA'S GREAT CIVILIZATIONS"... 1053 00:52:03,841 --> 00:52:04,507 DR. HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.: AN AFRICAN KINGDOM BECOMES 1054 00:52:04,575 --> 00:52:05,641 ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL 1055 00:52:05,710 --> 00:52:08,411 AND LEGENDARY EMPIRES IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, 1056 00:52:08,479 --> 00:52:11,347 ON A LEVEL WITH ROME AND PERSIA. 1057 00:52:11,416 --> 00:52:14,116 THE HISTORICAL COURSE OF THIS EMPIRE 1058 00:52:14,185 --> 00:52:15,818 IS ALTERED BY THE EMERGENCE 1059 00:52:15,887 --> 00:52:18,020 OF TWO POWERFUL FORCES, 1060 00:52:18,089 --> 00:52:19,588 CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM, 1061 00:52:19,657 --> 00:52:22,091 AND BOTH HAVE PROFOUND EFFECTS 1062 00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:24,927 ON THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA FOR MILLENNIA TO COME. 1063 00:52:24,996 --> 00:52:26,929 ANNOUNCER: "AFRICA'S GREAT CIVILIZATIONS," 1064 00:52:26,998 --> 00:52:29,799 COMING UP NEXT ONLY ON PBS. 1065 00:52:34,178 --> 00:52:36,712 T AND THE 12TH CENTURIES A.D., 1066 00:52:36,781 --> 00:52:39,081 EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS HAPPENED IN AFRICA, 1067 00:52:39,150 --> 00:52:41,917 EVENTS THAT TRANSFORMED NOT JUST THE HISTORY OF THE CONTINENT, 1068 00:52:41,986 --> 00:52:43,352 BUT THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. 1069 00:52:51,395 --> 00:52:54,930 A GREAT KINGDOM AROSE THAT GREW INTO A POWERFUL EMPIRE, 1070 00:52:54,999 --> 00:52:58,133 AN EMPIRE THAT STRETCHED ALL THE WAY INTO ARABIA. 1071 00:53:01,939 --> 00:53:04,273 BUT THE HISTORICAL COURSE OF THIS EMPIRE, 1072 00:53:04,341 --> 00:53:06,075 AND THAT OF MUCH OF THE CONTINENT, 1073 00:53:06,143 --> 00:53:08,043 WOULD BE ALTERED BY THE EMERGENCE 1074 00:53:08,112 --> 00:53:11,113 OF TWO POWERFUL FORCES OF GLOBAL CHANGE-- 1075 00:53:12,817 --> 00:53:15,784 CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM-- 1076 00:53:18,189 --> 00:53:19,188 BOTH OF WHICH WOULD HAVE 1077 00:53:19,256 --> 00:53:21,490 PROFOUND EFFECTS ON THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA. 1078 00:53:23,394 --> 00:53:25,794 OFFERING NEW WAYS TO WORSHIP GOD, 1079 00:53:25,863 --> 00:53:29,965 THESE GREAT RELIGIONS ALSO PROVIDED AMBITIOUS PEOPLE 1080 00:53:30,034 --> 00:53:33,168 THE CHANCE TO INCREASE POWER AND INFLUENCE, 1081 00:53:33,237 --> 00:53:35,971 DRAWING THE CONTINENT INTO CLASHES, 1082 00:53:36,040 --> 00:53:38,140 IN BLOODY CONFLICTS. 1083 00:53:38,209 --> 00:53:41,677 YET FROM THEIR BEGINNINGS, THESE TWO WORLD RELIGIONS 1084 00:53:41,745 --> 00:53:47,116 WOULD BE SHAPED BY AFRICANS, SPIRITUALLY AND INSTITUTIONALLY, 1085 00:53:47,184 --> 00:53:50,686 AND BOTH WOULD DEEPLY AFFECT KEY ASPECTS OF AFRICAN HISTORY 1086 00:53:50,754 --> 00:53:52,287 FOR MILLENNIA TO COME. 1087 00:54:04,959 --> 00:54:07,392 THE HORN OF AFRICA, WHERE THE RED SEA 1088 00:54:07,461 --> 00:54:09,661 MEETS THE ARABIAN SEA. 1089 00:54:09,730 --> 00:54:12,097 HERE, A BRIDGE OF SALT WATER 1090 00:54:12,166 --> 00:54:15,601 CONNECTS THE AFRICAN CONTINENT WITH THE MIDDLE EAST. 1091 00:54:17,872 --> 00:54:20,405 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS SAILED DOWN THIS INLET 1092 00:54:20,474 --> 00:54:22,608 TO TRADE WITH THEIR SOUTHERN NEIGHBORS 1093 00:54:22,676 --> 00:54:25,077 IN THE KINGDOMS OF PUNT AND KUSH. 1094 00:54:28,849 --> 00:54:33,152 GREEKS AND ROMANS, PERSIANS AND BYZANTINES WOULD FOLLOW, 1095 00:54:33,220 --> 00:54:35,587 EAGER TO ACQUIRE THE LUXURY GOODS 1096 00:54:35,656 --> 00:54:39,625 THAT HAD FIRED THE IMAGINATION OF EGYPTIAN PHARAOHS. 1097 00:54:41,195 --> 00:54:43,495 AFRICANS AND EUROPEANS HAVE BEEN TRADING 1098 00:54:43,564 --> 00:54:48,600 ON THE EAST COAST OF AFRICA FOR AT LEAST 2,000 YEARS. 1099 00:54:48,669 --> 00:54:52,871 THIS BOOK, WRITTEN IN GREEK IN THE FIRST CENTURY A.D. 1100 00:54:52,940 --> 00:54:56,475 AND CALLED "THE PERIPLUS OF THE ERYTHRAEAN SEA," 1101 00:54:56,544 --> 00:55:00,946 DESCRIBES A KEY AFRICAN PORT ON THE RED SEA, 1102 00:55:01,015 --> 00:55:03,248 AND IT'S CALLED ADULIS. 1103 00:55:05,319 --> 00:55:07,452 "THE PERIPLUS OF THE ERYTHRAEAN SEA" 1104 00:55:07,521 --> 00:55:09,188 IS ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE TEXTS 1105 00:55:09,256 --> 00:55:11,190 SURVIVING FROM THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 1106 00:55:11,258 --> 00:55:14,893 A TRIPADVISOR GUIDE WRITTEN BY AN ENTERPRISING GREEK MERCHANT. 1107 00:55:14,962 --> 00:55:17,095 IT DESCRIBES THE PORTS AND TRADING PARTNERS 1108 00:55:17,164 --> 00:55:20,499 HE ENCOUNTERED ALONG THE RED SEA. 1109 00:55:20,568 --> 00:55:24,436 ADULIS WAS THE MARITIME GATEWAY TO AN AFRICAN KINGDOM 1110 00:55:24,505 --> 00:55:26,405 THAT WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL 1111 00:55:26,473 --> 00:55:29,141 IN THE ANCIENT WORLD--AXUM. 1112 00:55:31,812 --> 00:55:35,547 THE GREAT PERSIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER MANI DESCRIBED AXUM 1113 00:55:35,616 --> 00:55:37,816 AS ONE OF THE 4 GREAT EMPIRES, 1114 00:55:37,885 --> 00:55:42,287 A PEER WITH ROME, PERSIA, AND CHINA. 1115 00:55:42,356 --> 00:55:45,857 AT ITS HEIGHT, IT DOMINATED THE WHOLE OF THE HORN OF AFRICA 1116 00:55:45,926 --> 00:55:48,627 AND STRETCHED ACROSS THE RED SEA 1117 00:55:48,696 --> 00:55:51,263 DEEP INTO SOUTHERN ARABIA. 1118 00:55:51,332 --> 00:55:53,398 IMPORTS FLOWED INTO ADULIS. 1119 00:55:53,467 --> 00:55:55,067 COPPER AND BRONZE GOODS, 1120 00:55:55,135 --> 00:55:58,670 SILVER, GOLD, OLIVE OIL, AND WINE, 1121 00:55:58,739 --> 00:56:02,507 WITH IVORY, RHINOCEROS HORN, AND EVEN TURTLE SHELL 1122 00:56:02,576 --> 00:56:04,576 GOING THE OTHER WAY. 1123 00:56:04,645 --> 00:56:08,146 THIS CONTROL OVER ADULIS MAKES AXUM RICH, 1124 00:56:08,215 --> 00:56:11,650 PROVIDING A GATEWAY BETWEEN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA 1125 00:56:11,719 --> 00:56:14,653 AND PORTS ON THE RED SEA AND THE INDIAN OCEAN. 1126 00:56:16,590 --> 00:56:19,057 "THE PERIPLUS" INCLUDES A COLORFUL ACCOUNT 1127 00:56:19,126 --> 00:56:22,194 OF ONE AXUMITE KING, ZOSKALES, 1128 00:56:22,263 --> 00:56:25,564 WHO REIGNED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIRST CENTURY A.D. 1129 00:56:25,633 --> 00:56:29,201 HIS GREEK TRADING PARTNER DESCRIBES HIM SOMEWHAT ENVIOUSLY 1130 00:56:29,270 --> 00:56:32,738 AS MISERLY IN HIS WAYS, BUT OTHERWISE UPRIGHT. 1131 00:56:35,676 --> 00:56:39,044 AXUM GREW WEALTHY THROUGH STIFF TARIFFS ON TRADE 1132 00:56:39,113 --> 00:56:40,946 THROUGH ITS PORT AT ADULIS, 1133 00:56:41,015 --> 00:56:44,950 WHILE INLAND, FERTILE SOIL NOURISHED BY TWO RAINY SEASONS 1134 00:56:45,019 --> 00:56:47,085 YIELDED BUMPER CROPS ANNUALLY. 1135 00:56:49,523 --> 00:56:51,556 IN THE CENTER OF THE CITY OF AXUM, 1136 00:56:51,625 --> 00:56:54,393 ONCE THE CAPITAL OF THIS STUNNING EMPIRE, 1137 00:56:54,461 --> 00:56:56,995 STAND SOME OF THE MOST REMARKABLE MONUMENTS 1138 00:56:57,064 --> 00:56:59,031 OF THE ANCIENT WORLD. 1139 00:56:59,099 --> 00:57:01,333 THESE LARGE VERTICAL PHALLIC SYMBOLS 1140 00:57:01,402 --> 00:57:04,703 WERE ERECTED IN HONOR OF THE GLORY OF THE KING. 1141 00:57:04,772 --> 00:57:07,005 UNDER SOLID BLOCK OF SYENITE, 1142 00:57:07,074 --> 00:57:10,208 THE KING'S BODY WAS LAID TO REST. 1143 00:57:10,277 --> 00:57:14,413 THIS PARK IS A MEMORIAL GROUND OF A CIVILIZATION. 1144 00:57:14,481 --> 00:57:17,783 OVER 100 STELES, ERECTED BETWEEN 1145 00:57:17,851 --> 00:57:19,985 THE THIRD AND FOURTH CENTURIES A.D. 1146 00:57:20,054 --> 00:57:22,954 AS GRAVE MARKERS FOR AXUM'S ELITE. 1147 00:57:23,023 --> 00:57:26,091 THEY'RE TALLER THAN ANY OTHER MONOLITHS 1148 00:57:26,160 --> 00:57:28,660 CRAFTED IN THE ANCIENT WORLD. 1149 00:57:28,729 --> 00:57:32,097 I ASKED DR. ABEBAW GELA TO EXPLAIN TO ME 1150 00:57:32,166 --> 00:57:34,666 HOW ARCHITECTURE ON THIS SCALE 1151 00:57:34,735 --> 00:57:36,501 COULD HAVE BEEN CREATED BACK THEN. 1152 00:57:38,739 --> 00:57:40,372 ABEBAW, HOW IN THE WORLD DID THEY MOVE 1153 00:57:40,441 --> 00:57:44,609 THIS HUGE SLAB HERE FROM ANOTHER PLACE? 1154 00:57:44,678 --> 00:57:47,145 THEY BROUGHT THESE STONES FROM A DISTANCE 1155 00:57:47,214 --> 00:57:49,181 OF 5 KILOMETERS FROM THE WEST. 1156 00:57:49,249 --> 00:57:50,248 AS ONE BIG UNIT? 1157 00:57:50,317 --> 00:57:52,451 AS ONE BIG UNIT. 1158 00:57:52,519 --> 00:57:57,022 HOST: THIS FRAGMENTED COLUMN, ESTIMATED TO WEIGH 700 TONS, 1159 00:57:57,091 --> 00:57:59,558 IS ONE OF THE LARGEST SINGLE PIECES OF STONE 1160 00:57:59,626 --> 00:58:01,560 EVER CARVED BY SCULPTORS. 1161 00:58:01,628 --> 00:58:05,130 SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT IT BUCKLED AS IT WAS BEING ERECTED. 1162 00:58:05,199 --> 00:58:06,832 THE CARVING PROCESS, THEY 1163 00:58:06,900 --> 00:58:08,700 DEFINITELY USED CHISELING. 1164 00:58:08,769 --> 00:58:10,702 MM-HMM. SO, ERR, THEY MUST HAVE 1165 00:58:10,771 --> 00:58:12,471 USED IRON CHISELS. 1166 00:58:12,539 --> 00:58:15,707 SO, THE ARTWORK TOOK PLACE RIGHT WHERE IT... 1167 00:58:15,776 --> 00:58:17,743 RIGHT HERE, YEAH. ...WOULD BE ERECTED. 1168 00:58:17,811 --> 00:58:19,811 SO, THE CARVING MIGHT HAVE TAKEN 1169 00:58:19,880 --> 00:58:21,680 PROBABLY 10 YEARS, 9 YEARS. 1170 00:58:21,749 --> 00:58:22,681 10 YEARS? YEAH. 1171 00:58:22,750 --> 00:58:23,682 HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO MOVE IT 1172 00:58:23,751 --> 00:58:24,883 FROM THE QUARRY? 1173 00:58:24,952 --> 00:58:27,085 PROBABLY THEY CAN DRAG IT 1174 00:58:27,154 --> 00:58:29,154 A DISTANCE OF 10 YARDS 1175 00:58:29,223 --> 00:58:31,156 OR 15 YARDS A DAY. 1176 00:58:31,225 --> 00:58:32,991 THAT MIGHT HAVE ALSO TAKEN THEM 1177 00:58:33,060 --> 00:58:34,726 ABOUT 3 YEARS. 1178 00:58:34,795 --> 00:58:37,162 DO WE KNOW FOR WHOM THIS STELE WAS CREATED? 1179 00:58:37,231 --> 00:58:39,364 WE DON'T KNOW CERTAINLY, 1180 00:58:39,433 --> 00:58:42,968 BUT IF WE SEE FRAGMENTARY HISTORICAL SOURCES, 1181 00:58:43,036 --> 00:58:45,337 AND THEN SOME EVIDENCES FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL 1182 00:58:45,406 --> 00:58:46,772 EXCAVATIONS THAT ARE MADE AT 1183 00:58:46,840 --> 00:58:49,074 DIFFERENT TIMES IN THIS AREA, 1184 00:58:49,143 --> 00:58:52,978 THIS STELE SEEMS TO BE MADE FOR 1185 00:58:53,046 --> 00:58:54,312 ELLA AMIDA. 1186 00:58:54,381 --> 00:58:55,480 ELLA AMIDA THE FIRST. 1187 00:58:55,549 --> 00:58:56,515 AND WHEN DID HE LIVE? 1188 00:58:56,583 --> 00:59:01,186 THE SECOND HALF OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 1189 00:59:01,255 --> 00:59:05,257 HOST: KING ELLA AMIDA-- ALSO KNOWN AS OUSANAS-- 1190 00:59:05,325 --> 00:59:08,059 RULED DURING THE GOLDEN AGE OF AXUM. 1191 00:59:08,128 --> 00:59:10,595 GOLD COINS EMBOSSED WITH HIS FACE AND NAME 1192 00:59:10,664 --> 00:59:14,699 AND INSCRIBED IN GREEK WERE RECENTLY UNEARTHED IN INDIA, 1193 00:59:14,768 --> 00:59:17,636 2,000 MILES AWAY. 1194 00:59:17,704 --> 00:59:20,439 WE THINK THAT OUSANAS' SON EZANA, 1195 00:59:20,507 --> 00:59:23,575 WHO WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS KINGS OF AXUM, 1196 00:59:23,644 --> 00:59:27,112 WAS MEMORIALIZED BY THE OTHER GREAT STELE ON THIS SITE. 1197 00:59:30,150 --> 00:59:34,719 A NETWORK OF CHAMBERS LIE BURIED BENEATH THESE TOWERS. 1198 00:59:34,788 --> 00:59:35,887 ABEBAW, THAT'S AMAZING. 1199 00:59:35,956 --> 00:59:37,255 LOOK AT THOSE SHAFTS OF LIGHT. 1200 00:59:37,324 --> 00:59:38,390 YEAH. 1201 00:59:40,127 --> 00:59:42,093 NOW, WHAT WAS IN THE CHAMBERS ON THE RIGHT 1202 00:59:42,162 --> 00:59:43,261 AS OPPOSED TO THE CHAMBERS ON THE LEFT? 1203 00:59:43,330 --> 00:59:45,997 THESE ARE TOMBS OF KINGS. 1204 00:59:46,066 --> 00:59:47,332 SO, ON THIS SIDE, THEY DEPOSIT 1205 00:59:47,401 --> 00:59:49,301 THE BODY OF THE KING, 1206 00:59:49,369 --> 00:59:52,704 AND THEN ON THIS SIDE THEY DEPOSIT 1207 00:59:52,773 --> 00:59:55,173 THE VALUABLES OF THE KINGS. 1208 00:59:55,242 --> 00:59:57,209 AH, NOT LIKE IN EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS 1209 00:59:57,277 --> 00:59:59,978 WHEN THEY WOULD BURY THE KING WITH HIS POSSESSIONS. 1210 01:00:00,047 --> 01:00:02,380 HERE THEY PUT THE POSSESSIONS HERE AND THE BODY THERE. 1211 01:00:02,449 --> 01:00:03,648 YEAH, THE BODY AND THE POSSESSIONS 1212 01:00:03,717 --> 01:00:05,951 IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. 1213 01:00:07,821 --> 01:00:11,790 HOST: 90% OF ANCIENT AXUM REMAINS UNEXCAVATED 1214 01:00:11,859 --> 01:00:13,959 BENEATH THE CITY'S MODERN BUILDINGS, 1215 01:00:14,027 --> 01:00:16,161 BUT SCULPTURAL RELIEFS ON THE STELE 1216 01:00:16,230 --> 01:00:18,063 ARE SIGNS OF ITS GRANDEUR. 1217 01:00:19,666 --> 01:00:21,600 WOMAN: AS YOU LOOK UP THE STELE, 1218 01:00:21,668 --> 01:00:25,570 YOU SEE STORY AFTER STORY OF WINDOWS. 1219 01:00:25,639 --> 01:00:29,975 THERE'S EVEN DOOR FRAMES WITH HANDLES WHICH YOU COULD OPEN 1220 01:00:30,043 --> 01:00:31,610 IF YOU HAD THE RIGHT KIND OF POWER. 1221 01:00:33,881 --> 01:00:36,615 HOST: THIS WAS A CITY OF 20,000 PEOPLE. 1222 01:00:36,683 --> 01:00:39,351 AT ITS HEART STOOD A MONUMENTAL PALACE 1223 01:00:39,419 --> 01:00:41,586 ADORNED WITH BRONZE STATUES, 1224 01:00:41,655 --> 01:00:44,356 AND ITS GRAND PROCESSIONAL WAYS WERE LINED 1225 01:00:44,424 --> 01:00:46,558 WITH GRANITE VICTORY THRONES. 1226 01:00:47,861 --> 01:00:50,495 AXUM'S POWER WAS FOUNDED ON ITS WEALTH, 1227 01:00:50,564 --> 01:00:52,597 AND ITS WEALTH ON THE RICH RESOURCES 1228 01:00:52,666 --> 01:00:55,901 OF ITS UNIQUE POSITION ON THE HORN OF AFRICA. 1229 01:00:55,969 --> 01:00:58,670 BUT ONE OF ITS MANY EXTRAORDINARY RESOURCES 1230 01:00:58,739 --> 01:01:02,707 WAS PARAMOUNT--FRANKINCENSE. 1231 01:01:02,776 --> 01:01:06,978 WOMAN: FRANKINCENSE WAS AN INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY 1232 01:01:07,047 --> 01:01:10,282 AND BOUGHT A LOT OF RELIGIOUS PRESTIGE 1233 01:01:10,350 --> 01:01:13,351 BECAUSE INCENSE HAS MAGICAL POWERS. 1234 01:01:13,420 --> 01:01:15,153 HOST: AN AROMATIC GUM RESIN 1235 01:01:15,222 --> 01:01:16,721 PRODUCED FROM THE BARK OF A TREE 1236 01:01:16,790 --> 01:01:19,491 THAT GROWS IN THE HIGHLANDS OF ETHIOPIA, 1237 01:01:19,560 --> 01:01:22,160 SOMALIA, AND SOUTHERN ARABIA, 1238 01:01:22,229 --> 01:01:25,864 FRANKINCENSE WAS AS VALUABLE AT THE HEIGHT OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 1239 01:01:25,933 --> 01:01:28,700 POUND FOR POUND, AS GOLD. 1240 01:01:28,769 --> 01:01:33,471 MIRE: IT GROWS VERY HIGH UP, ON A VERY HARSH ENVIRONMENT. 1241 01:01:33,540 --> 01:01:36,207 IT'S VERY HARD TO ACCESS IT. 1242 01:01:36,276 --> 01:01:39,945 PEOPLE WILL ALMOST, UM, GO ON A PILGRIMAGE, IF YOU LIKE, 1243 01:01:40,013 --> 01:01:45,684 TO GET THIS AS A VERY SOUGHT-AFTER COMMODITY. 1244 01:01:45,752 --> 01:01:48,987 THIS LED TO LONG-DISTANCE TRADE. 1245 01:01:51,625 --> 01:01:56,261 BY THE FIFTH CENTURY A.D., THROUGH EXPANSIVE TRADE AND WAR, 1246 01:01:56,330 --> 01:01:58,196 AXUM HAD ESTABLISHED ITSELF 1247 01:01:58,265 --> 01:02:00,899 AS NOT JUST ONE OF THE GREAT AFRICAN EMPIRES, 1248 01:02:00,968 --> 01:02:04,369 BUT ONE OF THE GREAT EMPIRES OF THE ENTIRE ANCIENT WORLD. 1249 01:02:05,806 --> 01:02:07,238 BUT THE ROOTS OF THIS KINGDOM 1250 01:02:07,307 --> 01:02:10,342 LIE IN AN EQUALLY REMARKABLE CIVILIZATION 1251 01:02:10,410 --> 01:02:12,310 THAT THRIVED IN THE HORN OF AFRICA 1252 01:02:12,379 --> 01:02:15,380 1,000 YEARS EARLIER. 1253 01:02:15,449 --> 01:02:19,184 A CIVILIZATION ASSOCIATED WITH ONE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT'S 1254 01:02:19,252 --> 01:02:21,853 MOST ICONIC FIGURES, 1255 01:02:21,922 --> 01:02:24,889 THE LEGENDARILY BEAUTIFUL QUEEN OF SHEBA. 1256 01:02:27,861 --> 01:02:29,594 30 MILES NORTH OF AXUM, 1257 01:02:29,663 --> 01:02:32,697 DR. IRIS GERLACH IS EXCAVATING ARTIFACTS 1258 01:02:32,766 --> 01:02:36,368 FROM AN ANCIENT ROYAL PALACE IN A CITY CALLED YEHA. 1259 01:02:57,357 --> 01:03:00,992 HOST: YEHA WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF D'MT, 1260 01:03:01,061 --> 01:03:02,994 AND THIS IS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN 1261 01:03:03,063 --> 01:03:05,463 THE LUXURIOUS PALACE OF ITS RULERS. 1262 01:03:25,652 --> 01:03:28,486 HOST: THE RUINS SUGGEST THAT D'MT SHARED A CULTURE 1263 01:03:28,555 --> 01:03:30,922 WITH A NEIGHBORING KINGDOM CALLED SABA, 1264 01:03:30,991 --> 01:03:33,858 JUST ACROSS THE RED SEA IN SOUTHERN ARABIA. 1265 01:03:59,186 --> 01:04:01,152 HOST: KNOWN IN ENGLISH AS SHEBA, 1266 01:04:01,221 --> 01:04:04,856 THE KINGDOM IS FAMOUS FOR HIS LEGENDARY QUEEN. 1267 01:04:04,925 --> 01:04:07,325 IRIS GERLACH BELIEVES THAT SABAEANS 1268 01:04:07,394 --> 01:04:10,228 BOUGHT THEIR CULTURE HERE FROM ACROSS THE SEA. 1269 01:04:25,946 --> 01:04:28,980 HOST: WHILE SOME SCHOLARS SEE YEHA AS AN OFFSHOOT OF SABA, 1270 01:04:29,049 --> 01:04:31,049 OTHERS ARGUE THAT D'MT'S KINGS 1271 01:04:31,118 --> 01:04:34,152 ACTUALLY HIRED OR IMPORTED SABAEAN ARCHITECTS 1272 01:04:34,221 --> 01:04:36,521 TO BUILD THEIR PALACES, AND IN FACT 1273 01:04:36,590 --> 01:04:38,790 RULED SABA AT THE TIME. 1274 01:04:38,859 --> 01:04:42,260 FOR CENTURIES, THESE KINGDOMS HAD A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP, 1275 01:04:42,329 --> 01:04:44,929 SHARING RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND CULTURE. 1276 01:04:47,734 --> 01:04:50,735 NEAR THE PALACE STANDS ONE OF THE OLDEST STONE STRUCTURES 1277 01:04:50,804 --> 01:04:54,139 IN AFRICA, THE GREAT TEMPLE OF THE MOON. 1278 01:04:54,207 --> 01:04:56,307 BUILT IN THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C., 1279 01:04:56,376 --> 01:04:59,711 ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS THE PARTHENON IN ANCIENT GREECE, 1280 01:04:59,780 --> 01:05:02,614 IT'S THE MOST ENDURING TESTIMONY WE HAVE 1281 01:05:02,682 --> 01:05:06,484 OF PRE-CHRISTIAN BELIEFS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA. 1282 01:05:06,553 --> 01:05:07,552 WINDMULLER-LUNA: WE KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT 1283 01:05:07,621 --> 01:05:09,320 WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TEMPLE OF YEHA 1284 01:05:09,389 --> 01:05:13,191 BECAUSE OF FRAGMENTS OF ALTARS AND INSCRIPTIONS 1285 01:05:13,260 --> 01:05:16,094 THAT ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND IN THE TEMPLE. 1286 01:05:16,163 --> 01:05:19,931 THESE INCLUDE SMALL BASINS WITH CARVED-OUT TOPS THAT WE BELIEVE 1287 01:05:20,000 --> 01:05:23,768 INCENSE WAS BURNT IN, AS WELL AS 1288 01:05:23,837 --> 01:05:26,504 STYLIZED CARVINGS OF IBEXES, 1289 01:05:26,573 --> 01:05:29,941 WHICH ARE A KIND OF HORNED ANIMAL. 1290 01:05:30,010 --> 01:05:33,645 HOST: THESE ENGRAVINGS OF THE CRESCENT MOON CARVED IN STONE 1291 01:05:33,713 --> 01:05:36,314 ARE SYMBOLS OF THE GOD ALMOUQAH. 1292 01:05:36,383 --> 01:05:39,017 THE MAIN INSCRIPTION AT THE TEMPLE OF THE MOON IN YEHA 1293 01:05:39,085 --> 01:05:42,253 DOES SAY IT'S DEDICATED TO THE GOD ALMOUQAH 1294 01:05:42,322 --> 01:05:46,491 WHO'S THE CHIEF GOD OF THE KINGDOM OF SABA IN YEMEN. 1295 01:05:46,560 --> 01:05:49,594 SO, THERE OBVIOUSLY IS A SHARED WORSHIP. 1296 01:05:52,999 --> 01:05:56,901 HOST: OVER TIME, THE GODS WORSHIPPED AT YEHA MIGRATED, 1297 01:05:56,970 --> 01:05:59,304 BECOMING THE GODS WORSHIPPED IN AXUM. 1298 01:06:04,144 --> 01:06:06,744 BUT IN THE EARLY FOURTH CENTURY A.D., 1299 01:06:06,813 --> 01:06:09,614 AXUM ITSELF WAS ABOUT TO BE TRANSFORMED 1300 01:06:09,683 --> 01:06:12,417 BY A REVOLUTIONARY FORCE SWEEPING THROUGH 1301 01:06:12,485 --> 01:06:15,253 MUCH OF THE ANCIENT WORLD. 1302 01:06:15,322 --> 01:06:18,056 A NEW RELIGION WAS FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGING 1303 01:06:18,124 --> 01:06:21,192 ESTABLISHED FORMS OF WORSHIP THROUGHOUT THE NORTHEAST 1304 01:06:21,261 --> 01:06:23,695 OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT, AND IT WAS CHANGING 1305 01:06:23,763 --> 01:06:25,897 THE COURSE OF WORLD HISTORY IN THE PROCESS. 1306 01:06:25,966 --> 01:06:28,867 THE RELIGION WOULD BE KNOWN AS CHRISTIANITY. 1307 01:06:30,136 --> 01:06:33,137 TODAY, THERE ARE SOME 500 MILLION 1308 01:06:33,206 --> 01:06:36,841 PRACTICING CHRISTIANS IN AFRICA, 1309 01:06:36,910 --> 01:06:38,643 AND MANY OF US WOULD ASSUME THAT 1310 01:06:38,712 --> 01:06:40,745 CHRISTIANITY CAME TO THE CONTINENT 1311 01:06:40,814 --> 01:06:43,748 WITH EUROPEAN COLONIALISM. 1312 01:06:43,817 --> 01:06:46,050 NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. 1313 01:06:48,688 --> 01:06:51,623 CHRISTIANITY TOOK ROOT ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 1314 01:06:51,691 --> 01:06:54,292 AS QUICKLY AS IT DID IN THE MIDDLE EAST. 1315 01:07:03,303 --> 01:07:05,136 MANY PEOPLE ASSOCIATE CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA 1316 01:07:05,205 --> 01:07:07,038 WITH THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPEAN MISSIONARIES 1317 01:07:07,107 --> 01:07:08,539 IN THE 19TH CENTURY. 1318 01:07:09,876 --> 01:07:13,244 BUT HERE IN THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF AFRICA, 1319 01:07:13,313 --> 01:07:16,714 CHRISTIANITY IS AS ANCIENT AS IT IS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. 1320 01:07:16,783 --> 01:07:18,383 AFRICA'S IN THE FOUNDATIONS. 1321 01:07:19,686 --> 01:07:22,687 HOST: BARELY A DECADE AFTER THE TIME OF JESUS, 1322 01:07:22,756 --> 01:07:25,523 CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES HAD ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES 1323 01:07:25,592 --> 01:07:28,559 IN ALEXANDRIA IN NORTHERN EGYPT. 1324 01:07:28,628 --> 01:07:31,796 MAN: ALEXANDRIA WAS AN ECONOMIC FOCAL POINT. 1325 01:07:31,865 --> 01:07:33,231 IT WAS BUSTLING. 1326 01:07:33,300 --> 01:07:36,267 A LOT OF THE CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS INNOVATIONS 1327 01:07:36,336 --> 01:07:38,636 LIVED IN THESE TOWNS LIKE ALEXANDRIA 1328 01:07:38,705 --> 01:07:40,772 RATHER THAN IN JERUSALEM. 1329 01:07:40,840 --> 01:07:43,841 HOST: CHRISTIANITY QUICKLY GAINED A FOOTHOLD IN AFRICA 1330 01:07:43,910 --> 01:07:47,078 AND MANY OF ITS DOCTRINES WOULD BE FORMULATED HERE. 1331 01:07:47,147 --> 01:07:49,013 [PEOPLE SINGING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE] 1332 01:07:58,391 --> 01:08:00,792 IN MANY WAYS, AFRICA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 1333 01:08:00,860 --> 01:08:03,394 WAS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT FOR THEOLOGY. 1334 01:08:03,463 --> 01:08:06,497 SO, THE MAIN THEOLOGIANS WEREN'T SITTING IN ROME. 1335 01:08:06,566 --> 01:08:07,865 THE MAJORITY OF THEM WERE EITHER 1336 01:08:07,934 --> 01:08:12,403 SITTING IN ALEXANDRIA OR IN TUNISIA OR ALGERIA. 1337 01:08:14,874 --> 01:08:16,708 HOST: IT'S ALSO IN NORTHEAST AFRICA 1338 01:08:16,776 --> 01:08:20,678 THAT ANOTHER CHRISTIAN TRADITION DEVELOPED: MONASTICISM. 1339 01:08:24,150 --> 01:08:26,317 IN ONE OF THE WORLD'S OLDEST MONASTERIES, 1340 01:08:26,386 --> 01:08:28,386 IN EGYPT'S EASTERN DESERT, 1341 01:08:28,455 --> 01:08:32,090 PILGRIMS STILL WORSHIP AT THE SITE OF THE CAVE 1342 01:08:32,158 --> 01:08:34,726 OF THE MAN MANY CREDIT AS THE FOUNDER 1343 01:08:34,794 --> 01:08:37,962 OF THIS GLOBAL TRADITION-- SAINT ANTHONY. 1344 01:08:45,305 --> 01:08:49,440 EGYPT IS THE CRADLE OF MONASTICISM IN MANY WAYS. 1345 01:08:49,509 --> 01:08:52,677 THE IDEA THAT YOU GO INTO SOLITUDE 1346 01:08:52,746 --> 01:08:54,145 AND THAT YOU STAY THERE AND THAT 1347 01:08:54,214 --> 01:08:57,882 YOU FORM YOUR COMMUNITY AROUND THIS EXPERIENCE, 1348 01:08:57,951 --> 01:08:59,650 THIS IS A VERY EARLY DEVELOPMENT 1349 01:08:59,719 --> 01:09:01,252 BY THESE PEOPLE WHO MOVED IN THE DESERT 1350 01:09:01,321 --> 01:09:05,490 AND IT IS SORT OF A MOVEMENT THAT WANTS TO RECAPTURE 1351 01:09:05,558 --> 01:09:10,094 THIS EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF FEEDING THE POOR, 1352 01:09:10,163 --> 01:09:13,297 OF BEING SELF-SUFFICIENT, OF WORKING TO MAKE 1353 01:09:13,366 --> 01:09:15,233 THAT PART OF CHRISTIAN LIFE AND NOT JUST THIS 1354 01:09:15,301 --> 01:09:19,037 EDUCATED LEARNED LITURGICAL CHRISTIANITY. 1355 01:09:19,105 --> 01:09:20,338 THIS COMES FROM EGYPT. 1356 01:09:22,142 --> 01:09:24,342 WOMAN: THE MONASTERY BECOMES A KIND OF 1357 01:09:24,411 --> 01:09:26,778 WELLSPRING FOR TEACHING, 1358 01:09:26,846 --> 01:09:31,249 FOR THINKING, FOR RELIGIOUS ENGAGEMENT, 1359 01:09:31,317 --> 01:09:35,753 BUT ALSO FOR HOLDING AND PRESERVING 1360 01:09:35,822 --> 01:09:37,555 THE KEY TENETS OF THE FAITH. 1361 01:09:39,325 --> 01:09:41,626 HOST: BY THE BEGINNING OF THE FOURTH CENTURY, 1362 01:09:41,694 --> 01:09:45,363 THE NEW FAITH HAD GROWN FROM A SMALL, PERSECUTED SECT 1363 01:09:45,432 --> 01:09:47,799 TO ONE OF THE MOST DOMINANT RELIGIONS 1364 01:09:47,867 --> 01:09:49,367 WITHIN THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 1365 01:09:52,605 --> 01:09:55,873 AND NOW IN WHAT IS TODAY ETHIOPIA, 1366 01:09:55,942 --> 01:09:58,543 THE POWERFUL KINGDOM OF AXUM ITSELF 1367 01:09:58,611 --> 01:10:02,080 WAS ABOUT TO UNDERGO A PROFOUND RELIGIOUS CONVERSION. 1368 01:10:03,716 --> 01:10:06,350 AND THIS MOMENTOUS TRANSFORMATION BEGAN 1369 01:10:06,419 --> 01:10:09,220 NOT AS IT USUALLY DOES, AMONG THE PEOPLE, 1370 01:10:09,289 --> 01:10:12,590 BUT AT THE VERY APEX OF AXUM SOCIETY, 1371 01:10:12,659 --> 01:10:14,292 BECAUSE ONE OF THE FIRST CONVERTS 1372 01:10:14,360 --> 01:10:18,129 IN THE ENTIRE KINGDOM WOULD BE THE KING. 1373 01:10:18,198 --> 01:10:21,299 KING EZANA WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED LEADERS 1374 01:10:21,367 --> 01:10:24,869 IN AFRICAN HISTORY, NOT ONLY FOR HIS IMPERIAL ADVENTURES 1375 01:10:24,938 --> 01:10:27,171 BUT BECAUSE OF A PERSONAL DECISION 1376 01:10:27,240 --> 01:10:29,974 THAT WOULD CHANGE THE COURSE OF ETHIOPIA'S HISTORY, 1377 01:10:30,043 --> 01:10:33,511 AND IN SOME WAYS THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY ITSELF. 1378 01:10:33,580 --> 01:10:37,014 GELA: EZANA BECAME POPULAR AFTER HIS REIGN, 1379 01:10:37,083 --> 01:10:40,017 AND MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN AXUM AND OTHER PLACES, 1380 01:10:40,086 --> 01:10:43,621 THEY GIVE EZANA A SPECIAL PLACE IN AXUMITE HISTORY 1381 01:10:43,690 --> 01:10:47,191 BECAUSE OF HIS CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. 1382 01:10:47,260 --> 01:10:49,560 HOST: IN KING EZANA'S CONVERSION STORY, 1383 01:10:49,629 --> 01:10:52,230 HISTORY AND MYTH COLLIDE. 1384 01:10:52,298 --> 01:10:59,270 SO, THE CONVERSION OF AXUM, WE HAVE A LEGEND OF TWO BOYS. 1385 01:11:01,174 --> 01:11:04,008 FRUMENTIUS AND EDESIUS ARE THEIR NAMES. 1386 01:11:05,979 --> 01:11:07,879 THEY TRAVELED WITH THEIR FATHER, 1387 01:11:07,947 --> 01:11:11,949 A CHRISTIAN MERCHANT GOING DOWN THE RED SEA, 1388 01:11:12,018 --> 01:11:15,353 AND THEY ARE SUBJECTED TO PIRACY. 1389 01:11:15,421 --> 01:11:18,589 THE FATHER WAS KILLED AND NEXT WE FIND THESE BOYS 1390 01:11:18,658 --> 01:11:21,826 IN THE COURT OF AXUM, AND THEY'RE TAKEN IN BY THE KING 1391 01:11:21,895 --> 01:11:25,863 AND THEY ARE THE ONES EDUCATING HIS SON EZANA. 1392 01:11:27,066 --> 01:11:28,533 HOST: ACCORDING TO ONE RECOUNTING, 1393 01:11:28,601 --> 01:11:29,967 FRUMENTIUS AND HIS BROTHER 1394 01:11:30,036 --> 01:11:33,037 WERE SYRIAN CHRISTIANS TRAVELING BACK FROM INDIA 1395 01:11:33,106 --> 01:11:35,373 IN THE EARLY FOURTH CENTURY A.D. 1396 01:11:35,441 --> 01:11:36,974 HIS PASSION FOR HIS RELIGION 1397 01:11:37,043 --> 01:11:39,143 WAS SO COMPELLING, THE STORY GOES, 1398 01:11:39,212 --> 01:11:41,846 THAT YOUNG KING EZANA DECIDED TO EMBRACE 1399 01:11:41,915 --> 01:11:43,881 THIS NEW RELIGION AS HIS OWN. 1400 01:11:43,950 --> 01:11:47,785 IN THE STORY, WE HAVE A LOT OF TRUTHS EMBEDDED. 1401 01:11:47,854 --> 01:11:53,257 THE FIRST ONE BEING AXUM WASN'T ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE WORLD. 1402 01:11:53,326 --> 01:11:55,526 IT WAS RIGHT ALONG THE TRADE ROUTES 1403 01:11:55,595 --> 01:11:58,829 TOWARD INDIA, TOWARD OMAN. 1404 01:11:58,898 --> 01:12:02,300 SO, THE FATHER WHO GOES OUT TO TRADE 1405 01:12:02,368 --> 01:12:06,204 REFLECTS THE CONNECTIONS THAT AXUM ACTUALLY HAD. 1406 01:12:06,272 --> 01:12:07,939 HOST: NO MATTER HOW IT ORIGINATED, 1407 01:12:08,007 --> 01:12:11,142 EZANA'S CONVERSION IS NO MYTH. 1408 01:12:11,211 --> 01:12:14,879 THESE AXUMITE COINS REVEAL THAT A MOMENTOUS CHANGE OCCURRED 1409 01:12:14,948 --> 01:12:17,014 IN THE KINGDOM IN THE FOURTH CENTURY. 1410 01:12:19,852 --> 01:12:22,954 DR. ABEBAW GELA EXPLAINS. 1411 01:12:23,022 --> 01:12:27,558 THESE COINS, MORE THAN THEIR ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE, 1412 01:12:27,627 --> 01:12:29,160 THEY TELL A LOT OF HISTORY. 1413 01:12:30,763 --> 01:12:35,533 THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS ON AXUMITE COINS. 1414 01:12:35,602 --> 01:12:40,671 THE EARLIER ONES, THEY HAVE A SYMBOL OF A CRESCENT 1415 01:12:40,740 --> 01:12:42,707 AND A DISC. 1416 01:12:42,775 --> 01:12:48,312 SO, THE CRESCENT, IT SYMBOLIZES THE MOON GOD ALMOUQAH, 1417 01:12:48,381 --> 01:12:54,986 AND THEN THE DISC SYMBOLIZES THE SUN GOD SHAMASH. 1418 01:12:56,589 --> 01:12:58,623 HOST: THESE GODS HAD BEEN PIOUSLY WORSHIPPED 1419 01:12:58,691 --> 01:13:00,324 IN THE GREAT TEMPLE OF YEHA 1420 01:13:00,393 --> 01:13:03,227 AND ACROSS THE HORN OF AFRICA AND SOUTHERN ARABIA 1421 01:13:03,296 --> 01:13:06,163 FOR OVER 1,000 YEARS. 1422 01:13:06,232 --> 01:13:09,967 BUT DURING EZANA'S REIGN, AROUND 350 A.D., 1423 01:13:10,036 --> 01:13:13,971 THE DESIGN OF AXUM'S COINAGE DRAMATICALLY CHANGED, 1424 01:13:14,040 --> 01:13:16,440 BECOMING THE FIRST COINS IN THE WORLD 1425 01:13:16,509 --> 01:13:19,010 TO BEAR A CHRISTIAN SYMBOL. 1426 01:13:19,078 --> 01:13:23,014 GELA: THOSE COINS OF EZANA THAT WERE MINTED AFTER, ERR, 1427 01:13:23,082 --> 01:13:25,750 HIS CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY, 1428 01:13:25,818 --> 01:13:28,519 THEY HAVE THE SYMBOL OF THE CROSS. 1429 01:13:28,588 --> 01:13:31,856 A COIN IS A VERY GOOD MEDIUM TO TELL PEOPLE ALSO 1430 01:13:31,924 --> 01:13:33,157 THAT WE ARE CHRISTIANS. 1431 01:13:34,894 --> 01:13:36,460 HOST: SEEING THE KINGDOM'S RELIGION 1432 01:13:36,529 --> 01:13:37,962 FEATURED ON ITS CURRENCY 1433 01:13:38,031 --> 01:13:41,999 SHOWS US TWO THINGS--THE POWER OF ITS SPIRITUAL BELIEF 1434 01:13:42,068 --> 01:13:44,368 AND ITS EXTENSIVE COMMERCIAL TIES 1435 01:13:44,437 --> 01:13:46,771 WITH CHRISTENDOM. 1436 01:13:46,839 --> 01:13:50,007 THE DOMINANT EUROPEAN POWER AT THAT TIME WAS ROME, 1437 01:13:50,076 --> 01:13:52,543 WHOSE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE HAD HIMSELF 1438 01:13:52,612 --> 01:13:56,747 CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY IN 325 A.D. 1439 01:13:56,816 --> 01:13:59,950 THORNTON: IT'S WORTH NOTING THAT KING EZANA ACCEPTED CHRISTIANITY 1440 01:14:00,019 --> 01:14:03,921 JUST REALLY A FEW DECADES AFTER CONSTANTINE DID. 1441 01:14:03,990 --> 01:14:05,523 HE DID A LOT OF BUSINESS WITH 1442 01:14:05,591 --> 01:14:07,892 THE EASTERN END OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 1443 01:14:07,960 --> 01:14:11,062 IT COULD VERY WELL BE THAT HIS DECISION TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN 1444 01:14:11,130 --> 01:14:14,632 WAS CONNECTED TO GEOPOLITICS OF THE DAY 1445 01:14:14,701 --> 01:14:16,634 OR COMMERCIAL POLITICS OF THE DAY. 1446 01:14:18,838 --> 01:14:20,671 HOST: AND JUST LIKE CONSTANTINE, 1447 01:14:20,740 --> 01:14:23,541 EZANA HAD TERRITORIAL AMBITIONS. 1448 01:14:28,114 --> 01:14:29,980 IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOURTH CENTURY, 1449 01:14:30,049 --> 01:14:34,118 AXUMITE ARMIES FORGED THEIR WAY INLAND ALONG THE NILE VALLEY, 1450 01:14:34,187 --> 01:14:36,487 INVADING NEW TERRITORIES AND HEADING FOR 1451 01:14:36,556 --> 01:14:39,056 THE GREAT CITY OF MEROE, 1452 01:14:39,125 --> 01:14:43,194 THE THIRD AND LAST CAPITAL OF THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF KUSH. 1453 01:14:51,471 --> 01:14:54,672 FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF KUSH, 1454 01:14:54,741 --> 01:14:58,142 FROM THEIR CAPITAL AT MEROE, HAD DOMINATED THE SOUTHERN END 1455 01:14:58,211 --> 01:15:00,211 OF NILE VALLEY CIVILIZATION... 1456 01:15:02,448 --> 01:15:06,584 RICH FROM TRADE AND SHARING RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND CULTURE 1457 01:15:06,652 --> 01:15:09,854 WITH ITS MILLENNIA-OLD RIVAL, EGYPT. 1458 01:15:20,967 --> 01:15:25,302 BUT BY THE FOURTH CENTURY, ECLIPSED BY AXUM'S RISE, 1459 01:15:25,371 --> 01:15:27,438 KUSH WAS IN DECLINE. 1460 01:15:32,512 --> 01:15:34,645 IT STARTED WHEN, UH, 1461 01:15:34,714 --> 01:15:39,116 AXUM APPEARED AS A POWERFUL, UH, KINGDOM, 1462 01:15:39,185 --> 01:15:42,753 AND BECAUSE MEROE ECONOMY 1463 01:15:42,822 --> 01:15:45,689 WAS BASED ON TRADE ALONG THE NILE 1464 01:15:45,758 --> 01:15:47,091 TO CONTROL ALL TRADE 1465 01:15:47,160 --> 01:15:49,660 AND ALL THE ROUTE COMING FROM AFRICA, 1466 01:15:49,729 --> 01:15:52,463 TOWARDS THE RED SEA AND WITH THE MEDITERRANEAN. 1467 01:15:52,532 --> 01:15:55,166 AND THEN AXUM APPEARED 1468 01:15:55,234 --> 01:15:58,002 WITH ITS POWER CONTROL OF THESE GOODS. 1469 01:16:01,007 --> 01:16:04,308 HOST: AN INSCRIPTION ON A THRONE UNCOVERED AT MEROE 1470 01:16:04,377 --> 01:16:06,377 DESCRIBES AN ASSAULT ON THE CITY 1471 01:16:06,446 --> 01:16:09,146 BY KING EZANA'S CONQUERING ARMY. 1472 01:16:09,215 --> 01:16:12,283 NOW IN THE REMAINS OF WHAT ARE MEROE'S TEMPLES, 1473 01:16:12,351 --> 01:16:15,553 MAHMOUD BASHIR BELIEVES HE'S FOUND PHYSICAL EVIDENCE 1474 01:16:15,621 --> 01:16:19,290 OF THE VIOLENT DESTRUCTION RESULTING FROM AXUM'S ATTACK. 1475 01:16:23,296 --> 01:16:24,628 ALL THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT 1476 01:16:24,697 --> 01:16:27,631 IT'S BEING DESTROYED AND BURIED. 1477 01:16:27,700 --> 01:16:29,066 ALL THE STATUES ARE SMASHED 1478 01:16:29,135 --> 01:16:30,734 INTO VERY SMALL PIECES. 1479 01:16:30,803 --> 01:16:32,636 SO, WE HAVE A REAL EVIDENCE 1480 01:16:32,705 --> 01:16:35,072 FOR SOMETHING HAPPENED THERE, 1481 01:16:35,141 --> 01:16:37,975 LIKE PEOPLE CAME, THEY DESTROYED EVERYTHING 1482 01:16:38,044 --> 01:16:40,044 WITH THE ATTACK OF EZANA'S. 1483 01:16:40,112 --> 01:16:42,513 AXUM CONQUERS MEROE. 1484 01:16:42,582 --> 01:16:45,349 KING EZANA, WHO, BY THIS TIME IS CHRISTIAN... 1485 01:16:45,418 --> 01:16:47,685 THAT'S WHAT I BELIEVE. 1486 01:16:47,753 --> 01:16:50,988 HOST: EZANA DIED AROUND 360 A.D. 1487 01:16:51,057 --> 01:16:54,925 OVER THE NEXT 150 YEARS, THE AXUMITE EMPIRE, 1488 01:16:54,994 --> 01:16:58,529 EXTENDING FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA INTO SOUTHERN ARABIA, 1489 01:16:58,598 --> 01:17:00,865 WOULD BECOME SOLIDLY CHRISTIAN. 1490 01:17:00,933 --> 01:17:03,834 IN NUBIA, THE SUCCESSOR TO KUSH, 1491 01:17:03,903 --> 01:17:06,270 IT WOULD TAKE ANOTHER CENTURY FOR CHRISTIANITY 1492 01:17:06,339 --> 01:17:09,640 TO ESTABLISH ITSELF THROUGH PEACEFUL MEANS. 1493 01:17:17,483 --> 01:17:21,585 HERE IN KHARTOUM AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SUDAN 1494 01:17:21,654 --> 01:17:24,021 IS HOUSED AN EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTION 1495 01:17:24,090 --> 01:17:25,856 OF CHRISTIAN ARTWORKS. 1496 01:17:27,793 --> 01:17:31,729 IN THE SIXTH CENTURY, CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES FROM CONSTANTINOPLE 1497 01:17:31,797 --> 01:17:34,865 TRAVELED UP THE NILE AND BEGAN THE CONVERSION 1498 01:17:34,934 --> 01:17:38,335 OF THE 3 NUBIAN KINGDOMS THAT HAD ARISEN 1499 01:17:38,404 --> 01:17:40,871 AFTER THE FALL OF KUSH. 1500 01:17:40,940 --> 01:17:42,740 HAUSTEIN: PART OF CHRISTIANITY HAS A LOT TO DO 1501 01:17:42,808 --> 01:17:44,875 WITH ESTABLISHING CONNECTIONS. 1502 01:17:44,944 --> 01:17:47,945 SO, IF YOU HAVE MISSIONARIES COMING FROM THE NORTH, 1503 01:17:48,014 --> 01:17:50,180 YOU'RE NOT JUST INTERESTED IN THE TEXT THEY BRING. 1504 01:17:50,249 --> 01:17:52,616 YOU WANT TO DO TRADE, YOU WANT TO BE ABLE 1505 01:17:52,685 --> 01:17:54,785 TO TRAVEL THERE YOURSELF AND HAVE PEOPLE 1506 01:17:54,854 --> 01:17:57,421 WHO WILL SPONSOR THESE TRAVELS. 1507 01:17:57,490 --> 01:18:01,025 YOU WANT TO ESTABLISH VARIOUS CONNECTIONS. 1508 01:18:08,067 --> 01:18:11,802 HOST: THE PEOPLE OF NUBIA READILY EMBRACED THE NEW FAITH 1509 01:18:11,871 --> 01:18:13,938 AND WITHIN A GENERATION HAD CREATED 1510 01:18:14,006 --> 01:18:17,641 A VIBRANT AND DISTINCTLY NUBIAN CHRISTIAN CULTURE. 1511 01:18:20,947 --> 01:18:23,847 CHRISTIANITY THRIVED IN THE 3 NUBIAN KINGDOMS 1512 01:18:23,916 --> 01:18:26,383 FOR ALMOST 1,000 YEARS. 1513 01:18:26,452 --> 01:18:29,887 DOZENS OF THESE BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN MURALS HAVE SURVIVED. 1514 01:18:31,190 --> 01:18:34,825 THIS ONE DEPICTS THE VIRGIN MARY AND THE BABY JESUS 1515 01:18:34,894 --> 01:18:37,828 PROTECTING THE QUEEN, WHOSE NAME WAS MARTHA. 1516 01:18:41,367 --> 01:18:45,202 CURIOUSLY, QUEEN MARTHA IS DEPICTED AS A BROWN WOMAN, 1517 01:18:45,271 --> 01:18:47,938 WHILE MARY AND JESUS ARE WHITE. 1518 01:18:50,977 --> 01:18:54,411 LITTLE WAS KNOWN OF THIS MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION 1519 01:18:54,480 --> 01:18:58,015 UNTIL ARCHAEOLOGISTS MADE AN EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY. 1520 01:19:04,557 --> 01:19:07,091 BURIED IN THE NUBIAN DESERT WERE THE REMAINS 1521 01:19:07,159 --> 01:19:10,794 OF A SEVENTH-CENTURY CHRISTIAN CATHEDRAL IN FARAS, 1522 01:19:10,863 --> 01:19:13,330 ONCE THE CAPITAL OF THE KINGDOM OF NOBATIA. 1523 01:19:13,399 --> 01:19:15,366 THE CATHEDRAL IS NOW SUBMERGED 1524 01:19:15,434 --> 01:19:17,735 UNDER THE FLOOD WATERS OF LAKE NASSER, 1525 01:19:17,803 --> 01:19:20,437 BUT THIS SERIES OF EXQUISITE FRESCOES 1526 01:19:20,506 --> 01:19:25,109 CREATED DURING THE EARLIEST ERA OF CHRISTIAN NUBIA WAS SAVED. 1527 01:19:28,614 --> 01:19:30,514 HAUSTEIN: THIS FIND OF THESE FRESCOES 1528 01:19:30,583 --> 01:19:31,849 AND THE CHURCHES IN FARAS 1529 01:19:31,917 --> 01:19:36,086 IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY EXTANT ART 1530 01:19:36,155 --> 01:19:39,289 THAT WE REALLY HAVE FROM THIS EARLY NUBIAN CHRISTIANITY... 1531 01:19:41,427 --> 01:19:45,529 AND IT DATES BACK TO THE SEVENTH AND END OF THE SIXTH CENTURY, 1532 01:19:45,598 --> 01:19:47,564 SO, VERY, VERY EARLY ART. 1533 01:19:54,774 --> 01:19:57,274 HOST: THIS NATIVITY SCENE ONCE COVERED 1534 01:19:57,343 --> 01:20:00,044 THE EASTERN WALL AT FARAS CATHEDRAL. 1535 01:20:00,112 --> 01:20:02,846 IT SHOWS THE VIRGIN MARY IN REPOSE 1536 01:20:02,915 --> 01:20:05,716 AND CROWNED LIKE A NUBIAN PRINCESS. 1537 01:20:05,785 --> 01:20:09,953 WATCHING OVER HER ARE THE ARCHANGELS MICHAEL AND GABRIEL. 1538 01:20:11,424 --> 01:20:14,191 IN THE CRIB, THE INFANT JESUS 1539 01:20:14,260 --> 01:20:17,828 LIES WARMED BY THE BREATH OF THE ANIMALS, 1540 01:20:17,897 --> 01:20:21,598 AND IN THE CORNER STANDS A FIGURE OF A NUBIAN KING. 1541 01:20:23,269 --> 01:20:25,169 THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS OF NUBIA 1542 01:20:25,237 --> 01:20:28,238 WOULD FLOURISH ALONG THE SOUTHERN REACHES OF THE NILE, 1543 01:20:28,307 --> 01:20:32,076 FROM THESE RICH BEGINNINGS TO THE 15TH CENTURY. 1544 01:20:36,582 --> 01:20:39,683 BUT JUST AS CHRISTIANITY WAS TAKING ROOT IN NUBIA, 1545 01:20:39,752 --> 01:20:43,153 A NEW RELIGION--ISLAM-- WAS ABOUT TO TRANSFORM 1546 01:20:43,222 --> 01:20:45,155 THE SPIRITUAL LANDSCAPE OF AFRICA. 1547 01:20:45,224 --> 01:20:47,091 [MAN CHANTING PRAYER] 1548 01:20:50,730 --> 01:20:53,063 HOST: FROM THE DESERTS AND OASES OF ARABIA, 1549 01:20:53,132 --> 01:20:57,634 A CONQUERING FORCE POWERED BY FAITH WAS ON THE MOVE. 1550 01:20:57,703 --> 01:20:59,336 THROUGH THE SPREAD OF ISLAM, 1551 01:20:59,405 --> 01:21:02,573 THEY WERE ABOUT TO TRANSFORM THE CULTURAL AND POLITICAL 1552 01:21:02,641 --> 01:21:08,212 FABRIC OF AFRICA BOTH ABOVE AND BELOW THE DESERT. 1553 01:21:08,280 --> 01:21:11,582 THIS CONTACT REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1554 01:21:11,650 --> 01:21:15,652 IN THE HISTORY OF ISLAM-- A FIRST EMIGRATION OF MUSLIMS, 1555 01:21:15,721 --> 01:21:18,789 NOT TO MEDINA BUT TO AFRICA. 1556 01:21:18,858 --> 01:21:20,424 SO, HERE'S MUHAMMAD SENDING 1557 01:21:20,493 --> 01:21:22,960 PART OF HIS FAMILY AND SOME FRIENDS 1558 01:21:23,028 --> 01:21:25,863 TO FIND REFUGE, UM, WITH THE CHRISTIAN KING 1559 01:21:25,931 --> 01:21:28,298 BECAUSE HE'S UNDER PRESSURE IN MECCA. 1560 01:21:28,367 --> 01:21:31,702 THEY WERE RECEIVED BY THE EMPEROR IN AXUM, 1561 01:21:31,771 --> 01:21:34,905 AND SO, YOU HAVE A VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP VERY EARLY ON. 1562 01:21:34,974 --> 01:21:36,640 AND AGAIN, THIS GOES TO SHOW 1563 01:21:36,709 --> 01:21:40,511 HOW MUCH OF A REGIONAL HEGEMON AXUM WAS. 1564 01:21:40,579 --> 01:21:44,915 HOST: SOON AFTER THE PROPHET'S DEATH IN 632 A.D., 1565 01:21:44,984 --> 01:21:50,687 ISLAMIC ARMIES MARCHED WEST OUT OF ARABIA INTO NORTH AFRICA. 1566 01:21:50,756 --> 01:21:52,990 BY 642, THEY HAD DEPOSED 1567 01:21:53,058 --> 01:21:57,194 THE UNPOPULAR BYZANTINE RULERS OF EGYPT 1568 01:21:57,263 --> 01:22:00,197 AND CONTROLLED THE BREAD BASKET OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. 1569 01:22:03,636 --> 01:22:04,768 MAN: A LOT OF PEOPLE REFER TO THEM 1570 01:22:04,837 --> 01:22:05,969 AS THE MUSLIM CONQUESTS. 1571 01:22:06,038 --> 01:22:08,172 I REFER TO THEM AS THE ARAB CONQUEST. 1572 01:22:08,240 --> 01:22:11,742 THERE WASN'T THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FORCED CONVERSION 1573 01:22:11,811 --> 01:22:14,778 UNDER A KIND OF MILITARY RULE. 1574 01:22:14,847 --> 01:22:18,749 WHAT WAS ESTABLISHED WAS ISLAMIC RULE OF LAW. 1575 01:22:18,818 --> 01:22:22,085 CONVERSION WASN'T REQUIRED AMONGST SUBJECT POPULATIONS. 1576 01:22:29,461 --> 01:22:31,829 WOMAN: ISLAM COMES TO THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 1577 01:22:31,897 --> 01:22:36,433 PRETTY EARLY, IN PLACES LIKE THE HORN OF AFRICA. 1578 01:22:36,502 --> 01:22:40,637 IT GOES INTO EGYPT AND IN MOST PLACES, IT COMES THROUGH TRADE. 1579 01:22:40,706 --> 01:22:43,140 YOU CAN'T FORCE ANYONE TO BELIEVE IN A RELIGION. 1580 01:22:43,209 --> 01:22:46,443 IT'S SORT OF PEOPLE HAVE TO ADOPT IT AND MAKE IT THEIR OWN, 1581 01:22:46,512 --> 01:22:50,814 AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT HAPPENS WITH ISLAM IN AFRICA 1582 01:22:50,883 --> 01:22:52,983 AND THE PLACES THAT IT TRULY TAKES ROOT, 1583 01:22:53,052 --> 01:22:55,953 IT'S THROUGH PEOPLE'S OWN INITIATIVE 1584 01:22:56,021 --> 01:22:59,790 AND THEIR OWN VALUING OF THIS. 1585 01:22:59,859 --> 01:23:01,258 WARE: WHAT HAPPENS IN NORTH AFRICA 1586 01:23:01,327 --> 01:23:06,897 IS YOU HAVE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A KIND OF ISLAMIC POLITICAL RULE 1587 01:23:06,966 --> 01:23:09,633 THAT ISN'T NECESSARILY ALL THAT ISLAMIC, YOU KNOW, FOR... 1588 01:23:09,702 --> 01:23:11,969 [LAUGHS] FROM A RELIGIOUS STANDPOINT, BUT YOU KNOW, IN... 1589 01:23:12,037 --> 01:23:15,372 IN IMPORTANT PARTS OF, UH, ITS HISTORY, 1590 01:23:15,441 --> 01:23:17,975 BUT IS NONETHELESS, IT'S A RULE BY MUSLIMS. 1591 01:23:19,578 --> 01:23:22,312 HOST: FROM EGYPT, ARAB ARMIES PUSHED WEST. 1592 01:23:22,381 --> 01:23:24,047 BY THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY, 1593 01:23:24,116 --> 01:23:26,183 THEY HAD TAKEN CONTROL OF ALL OF 1594 01:23:26,252 --> 01:23:28,919 THE CHRISTIAN PROVINCES OF BYZANTIUM, 1595 01:23:28,988 --> 01:23:34,157 ACROSS PRESENT-DAY LIBYA, TUNISIA, ALGERIA, AND MOROCCO. 1596 01:23:34,226 --> 01:23:38,462 THEN IN THE YEAR 711, FROM THEIR BASE IN TANGIER, 1597 01:23:38,530 --> 01:23:43,600 THE ARMIES LOOKED NORTH TOWARDS A NEW FRONTIER--EUROPE. 1598 01:23:46,438 --> 01:23:48,505 AT THE MOUTH OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, 1599 01:23:48,574 --> 01:23:51,475 12,000 SOLDIERS ASSEMBLED. 1600 01:23:51,543 --> 01:23:54,678 A VAST INVASION FORCE FROM THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 1601 01:23:54,747 --> 01:23:57,714 SEEKING TO CONQUER A EUROPEAN KINGDOM. 1602 01:23:57,783 --> 01:24:01,952 THEIR LEADER, A WARRIOR AND BRILLIANT MILITARY STRATEGIST, 1603 01:24:02,021 --> 01:24:04,688 WOULD BECOME A LEGEND. 1604 01:24:04,757 --> 01:24:08,358 HIS NAME WAS TARIQ IBN ZIYAD. 1605 01:24:08,427 --> 01:24:10,494 IT'S SAID HE WAS BORN A SLAVE 1606 01:24:10,562 --> 01:24:14,598 BUT ROSE TO BECOME A FIERCE FIGHTER AND GENERAL. 1607 01:24:14,667 --> 01:24:17,067 SO IMPRESSIVE WERE HIS MILITARY FEATS 1608 01:24:17,136 --> 01:24:20,437 IN HELPING TO CAPTURE THE NORTH AFRICAN CITY OF TANGIER 1609 01:24:20,506 --> 01:24:22,539 THAT HE WAS MADE ITS GOVERNOR. 1610 01:24:26,078 --> 01:24:27,744 BUT TARIQ WASN'T AN ARAB... 1611 01:24:31,016 --> 01:24:32,716 TARIQ WAS A BERBER. 1612 01:24:35,387 --> 01:24:37,821 MAN: THE PEOPLE KNOWN AS BERBERS 1613 01:24:37,890 --> 01:24:42,426 ARE ACTUALLY CALLING THEMSELVES IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE AMAZIGH. 1614 01:24:42,494 --> 01:24:46,763 IT WAS THE ROMANS WHO ACTUALLY COINED THE WORD BERBERS. 1615 01:24:49,134 --> 01:24:52,402 IT STARTED BECOMING A KIND OF A DEROGATORY REFERENCE 1616 01:24:52,471 --> 01:24:55,205 TO THOSE PEOPLE AMONGST THE BERBER COMMUNITIES 1617 01:24:55,274 --> 01:24:58,342 WHO WOULD NOT WANT TO INDULGE WITH THE ROMANS 1618 01:24:58,410 --> 01:25:02,312 INTO DOING BUSINESS AND BEING LIABLE TO THEM. 1619 01:25:03,849 --> 01:25:06,883 HOST: THE BERBER PEOPLE HAVE INHABITED NORTH AFRICA 1620 01:25:06,952 --> 01:25:10,954 FROM PRESENT-DAY MOROCCO IN THE WEST TO TUNISIA IN THE EAST 1621 01:25:11,023 --> 01:25:13,991 FROM AT LEAST THE THIRD MILLENNIUM B.C. 1622 01:25:14,059 --> 01:25:16,860 DURING THE CENTURIES OF ROMAN AND BYZANTINE RULE, 1623 01:25:16,929 --> 01:25:20,630 MANY BERBERS MIGRATED AWAY FROM THE RICH COASTAL CITIES. 1624 01:25:22,067 --> 01:25:25,068 INLAND, THEY RESISTED FOREIGN COLONIAL RULE, 1625 01:25:25,137 --> 01:25:27,704 PRESERVING OVER CENTURIES THEIR OWN 1626 01:25:27,773 --> 01:25:30,640 DISTINCTIVE AND DIVERSE CULTURE AND TRADITIONS, 1627 01:25:30,709 --> 01:25:33,810 DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FERTILE PLAINS 1628 01:25:33,879 --> 01:25:35,245 OF NORTH AFRICA. 1629 01:25:35,314 --> 01:25:37,914 ELAZKEM: BERBERS WERE TOUGH FIGHTERS. 1630 01:25:37,983 --> 01:25:41,585 IT COMES FROM THE TOUGHNESS OF THEIR LIFE AT FIRST. 1631 01:25:41,653 --> 01:25:45,789 IT'S ALSO THE DIFFICULTIES IN WHICH THEY LIVE. 1632 01:25:45,858 --> 01:25:49,359 THE FACT THAT THEY HAD ACTUALLY TO FIGHT TO LIVE 1633 01:25:49,428 --> 01:25:52,829 MADE THEM ACTUALLY EXCELLENT WARRIORS. 1634 01:25:52,898 --> 01:25:55,399 HOST: THOUGH THE BERBERS MADE A STRONG STAND, 1635 01:25:55,467 --> 01:26:00,103 ONE BY ONE THEIR CHIEFDOMS FELL TO THE ARAB CONQUERORS. 1636 01:26:03,575 --> 01:26:06,743 BY THE TIME TARIQ GATHERED HIS ARMY IN TANGIER, 1637 01:26:06,812 --> 01:26:10,313 THOUSANDS OF BERBERS HAD NOT ONLY CONVERTED TO ISLAM, 1638 01:26:10,382 --> 01:26:13,884 THEY HAD ALSO JOINED ITS SWEEPING ARMIES. 1639 01:26:13,952 --> 01:26:17,888 WARE: THERE'S A LONG HISTORY OF AFRICAN CONQUESTS 1640 01:26:17,956 --> 01:26:21,324 OF SOUTHERN EUROPE, ESPECIALLY IBERIA. 1641 01:26:23,328 --> 01:26:25,495 WE CAN SEE BERBERS PLAYING A PARTICULAR ROLE 1642 01:26:25,564 --> 01:26:27,764 SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH ARABS AS WELL. 1643 01:26:27,833 --> 01:26:31,868 HOST: ON THE 29TH OF APRIL, IN THE YEAR 711, 1644 01:26:31,937 --> 01:26:35,705 TARIQ'S FORCE SET OFF FROM TANGIER. 1645 01:26:35,774 --> 01:26:39,009 JUST 9 MILES SEPARATE AFRICA AND EUROPE 1646 01:26:39,078 --> 01:26:40,710 AT THE MOUTH OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, 1647 01:26:40,779 --> 01:26:42,946 AND ON A FINE DAY FROM TANGIERS, 1648 01:26:43,015 --> 01:26:46,817 YOU CAN EVEN SEE THE PLACE WHERE TARIQ'S ARMY LANDED, 1649 01:26:46,885 --> 01:26:49,019 A GREAT ROCK THAT MARKS THE SOUTHERNMOST TIP 1650 01:26:49,088 --> 01:26:51,588 OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA AND THE SITE 1651 01:26:51,657 --> 01:26:54,391 OF A LEGENDARY AFRICAN VICTORY. 1652 01:26:54,460 --> 01:26:58,128 IT WAS NAMED JABAL TARIQ AFTER THE CONQUERING GENERAL. 1653 01:26:59,965 --> 01:27:03,133 WE KNOW IT IN ENGLISH TODAY AS THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR. 1654 01:27:04,636 --> 01:27:08,638 FROM GIBRALTAR, TARIQ ADVANCED ONTO THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 1655 01:27:08,707 --> 01:27:12,409 AT THE HEAD OF A PHALANX 5,000 STRONG. 1656 01:27:12,478 --> 01:27:14,711 ONE OF HIS SOLDIERS IS SAID TO HAVE ASKED HIM, 1657 01:27:14,780 --> 01:27:16,880 "SIR, WHEN SHALL WE RETURN?" 1658 01:27:16,949 --> 01:27:20,016 HE ANSWERED, "WE HAVEN'T COME HERE TO RETURN. 1659 01:27:20,085 --> 01:27:23,019 "EITHER WE SHALL CONQUER AND ESTABLISH OURSELVES, 1660 01:27:23,088 --> 01:27:24,554 OR WE SHALL PERISH." 1661 01:27:26,125 --> 01:27:30,627 REINFORCED BY SOME 18,000 BERBER AND ARAB SOLDIERS, 1662 01:27:30,696 --> 01:27:32,996 THE MUSLIM ARMIES OF NORTH AFRICA 1663 01:27:33,065 --> 01:27:37,167 WITHIN A YEAR HAD CONQUERED MOST OF PRESENT-DAY SPAIN, 1664 01:27:37,236 --> 01:27:41,138 AND ESTABLISHED OUTPOSTS AS FAR AS SOUTHERN FRANCE. 1665 01:27:44,009 --> 01:27:48,678 RECALLED TO DAMASCUS, TARIQ WOULD BE DEAD WITHIN 10 YEARS. 1666 01:27:51,350 --> 01:27:53,083 BUT HIS CONQUESTS HELPED ESTABLISH 1667 01:27:53,152 --> 01:27:56,887 A NEW ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION STRETCHING ACROSS 1668 01:27:56,955 --> 01:27:59,389 NORTH AFRICA AND MUCH OF SPAIN, 1669 01:27:59,458 --> 01:28:02,425 WHICH WOULD ENDURE FOR OVER 800 YEARS 1670 01:28:02,494 --> 01:28:07,264 AND CREATE A CULTURAL BOND BETWEEN TWO CONTINENTS. 1671 01:28:07,332 --> 01:28:09,799 SO, INSTEAD OF SEEING THEM AS WE DO NOW, 1672 01:28:09,868 --> 01:28:12,802 AS THE BREAK BETWEEN EUROPE AND AFRICA, 1673 01:28:12,871 --> 01:28:15,605 DURING THIS PERIOD THEY WERE A BRIDGE 1674 01:28:15,674 --> 01:28:18,642 BETWEEN TWO VERY INTERCONNECTED AREAS 1675 01:28:18,710 --> 01:28:21,611 WHERE PEOPLE TRAVELED BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS AS SOLDIERS, 1676 01:28:21,680 --> 01:28:28,251 AS POLITICAL ADVISORS, AS CRAFTSMEN, ARCHITECTS, SCHOLARS. 1677 01:28:28,320 --> 01:28:31,154 SO, ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES 1678 01:28:31,223 --> 01:28:32,589 OF THE STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR. 1679 01:28:34,159 --> 01:28:37,827 HOST: THE SPREAD OF ISLAM ACROSS NORTH AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST 1680 01:28:37,896 --> 01:28:41,498 HAD PROFOUND EFFECTS ON OTHER PARTS OF AFRICA. 1681 01:28:41,567 --> 01:28:44,734 TRADE TO THE EAST THAT HAD ONCE PASSED THROUGH THE RED SEA 1682 01:28:44,803 --> 01:28:48,371 NOW SHIFTED NORTH TOWARD THE NEW ISLAMIC CENTERS OF POWER 1683 01:28:48,440 --> 01:28:51,641 IN DAMASCUS, BAGHDAD, AND THE PERSIAN GULF. 1684 01:28:53,812 --> 01:28:58,315 CHRISTIAN AXUM BECAME ISOLATED AND VULNERABLE TO ATTACK. 1685 01:28:58,383 --> 01:29:00,984 PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE WAS THE PORT OF ADULIS, 1686 01:29:01,053 --> 01:29:03,253 THE KINGDOM'S ECONOMIC LIFELINE. 1687 01:29:06,058 --> 01:29:08,658 WITH THE RISE OF ISLAM, 1688 01:29:08,727 --> 01:29:10,727 THEY LOCKED THEIR EYES ON ADULIS 1689 01:29:10,796 --> 01:29:13,863 BECAUSE OF ITS ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE. 1690 01:29:13,932 --> 01:29:17,200 THEY INVADED ADULIS AND THEN ADULIS WAS 1691 01:29:17,269 --> 01:29:20,670 TOTALLY BURNT AND DESTROYED IN [INDISTINCT]. 1692 01:29:20,739 --> 01:29:23,607 BEGINNING FROM THAT TIME, AXUM STARTED 1693 01:29:23,675 --> 01:29:25,809 A LONG PERIOD OF DECLINE. 1694 01:29:35,921 --> 01:29:39,723 HOST: BUT IN THE 11TH CENTURY, A NEW DYNASTY WOULD REVIVE 1695 01:29:39,791 --> 01:29:43,727 THE FORTUNES OF ETHIOPIA'S ONCE-GREAT CHRISTIAN KINGDOM 1696 01:29:43,795 --> 01:29:45,996 AND CREATE ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR 1697 01:29:46,064 --> 01:29:49,699 OF ALL RELIGIOUS SITES IN AFRICA AND IN THE WORLD-- 1698 01:29:50,902 --> 01:29:52,335 LALIBELA. 1699 01:29:52,404 --> 01:29:54,504 12 EXTRAORDINARY CHURCHES 1700 01:29:54,573 --> 01:29:56,606 CARVED OUT OF THE LIVING ROCK 1701 01:29:56,675 --> 01:29:58,908 IN THE ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS. 1702 01:29:58,977 --> 01:30:02,312 ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS 1703 01:30:02,381 --> 01:30:04,681 THAT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN. 1704 01:30:11,456 --> 01:30:14,924 THE CHURCHES WERE BUILT DURING THE ZAGWE DYNASTY, 1705 01:30:14,993 --> 01:30:17,727 WHICH AROSE FROM THE ASHES OF AXUM, 1706 01:30:17,796 --> 01:30:19,729 REVIVING THE RED SEA TRADE ROUTES 1707 01:30:19,798 --> 01:30:21,331 IN CHRISTIAN ETHIOPIA. 1708 01:30:28,407 --> 01:30:31,608 BUILT BEFORE MANY OF THE GREAT CATHEDRALS OF EUROPE, 1709 01:30:31,677 --> 01:30:35,045 THEY ARE AN ASTONISHING FEAT OF CONSTRUCTION, 1710 01:30:35,113 --> 01:30:37,614 DESIGN, AND IMAGINATION. 1711 01:30:39,451 --> 01:30:43,553 BEING ABLE TO SEE THIS CHURCH BURIED IN THIS BLOCK OF STONE, 1712 01:30:43,622 --> 01:30:47,724 IT'S A BIT LIKE MICHELANGELO SEEING DAVID 1713 01:30:47,793 --> 01:30:49,993 BURIED IN THAT BLOCK OF MARBLE. 1714 01:30:54,900 --> 01:30:57,600 THE MOST CELEBRATED KING WAS LALIBELA, 1715 01:30:57,669 --> 01:31:00,603 AND ACCORDING TO LEGEND, HE WAS INSTRUCTED BY GOD 1716 01:31:00,672 --> 01:31:04,374 TO BUILD A NEW JERUSALEM IN ETHIOPIA. 1717 01:31:04,443 --> 01:31:09,279 ACCORDING TO THE SAINT'S BIOGRAPHY OF KING LALIBELA, 1718 01:31:09,348 --> 01:31:12,148 IT WAS SAID THAT HE HAD A VISION, 1719 01:31:12,217 --> 01:31:15,785 AND DURING THAT VISION, HE MADE A PACT WITH GOD. 1720 01:31:15,854 --> 01:31:20,990 GOD TOLD HIM THAT, IF YOU BUILD THESE CHURCHES I'M SHOWING YOU, 1721 01:31:21,059 --> 01:31:23,660 I WILL MAKE YOU KING. 1722 01:31:23,729 --> 01:31:27,297 ANGELS WERE SAID TO HAVE TRANSMITTED THE PLANS TO HIM 1723 01:31:27,366 --> 01:31:30,266 AND TO HAVE ASSISTED HIM NIGHT AND DAY, 1724 01:31:30,335 --> 01:31:34,838 AS HE DUG FOR 24 YEARS TO BUILD ALL OF THESE CHURCHES. 1725 01:31:37,876 --> 01:31:40,677 WOMAN: LALIBELA IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW 1726 01:31:40,746 --> 01:31:44,114 ETHIOPIAN KINGS WHO WAS EVER MADE A SAINT. 1727 01:31:44,182 --> 01:31:47,917 KING LALIBELA BUILT THESE EXTRAORDINARY CATHEDRALS. 1728 01:31:47,986 --> 01:31:50,520 THEY HAD LITERATURE, THEY HAD ALL SORT OF THINGS 1729 01:31:50,589 --> 01:31:52,422 THAT WERE HAPPENING DURING THAT PERIOD. 1730 01:31:52,491 --> 01:31:55,392 SO, IT WAS CLEARLY A VERY VIBRANT TIME. 1731 01:31:58,830 --> 01:32:00,997 HOST: CARVED IN THE SHAPE OF A CROSS, 1732 01:32:01,066 --> 01:32:03,900 THE CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE IS THE MOST CELEBRATED 1733 01:32:03,969 --> 01:32:08,705 OF ALL THE MAGNIFICENT BUILDINGS IN LALIBELA'S SACRED COMPLEX. 1734 01:32:10,442 --> 01:32:13,743 BUT DEEPER WITHIN THIS COMPLEX IS A CHURCH THAT CONTAINS 1735 01:32:13,812 --> 01:32:17,213 REPLICAS OF THE TOMBS OF CHRIST AND ADAM 1736 01:32:17,282 --> 01:32:20,717 AND IS CONSIDERED THE HOLIEST PART OF LALIBELA. 1737 01:32:20,786 --> 01:32:23,219 IT'S THE CHURCH OF BIETE GOLGOTHA. 1738 01:32:25,724 --> 01:32:28,658 HISTORIAN SOLOMON GETANEH IS AN EXPERT 1739 01:32:28,727 --> 01:32:30,527 ON THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCHES. 1740 01:32:32,631 --> 01:32:35,932 [INDISTINCT] LALIBELA, YOU SEE. 1741 01:32:36,001 --> 01:32:38,134 LOOK AT HERE. 1742 01:32:38,203 --> 01:32:39,202 OH, LOOK AT THE ALTAR. 1743 01:32:45,510 --> 01:32:47,110 OH, THERE'S KING LALIBELA. 1744 01:32:49,648 --> 01:32:51,414 AND THE HOLY VIRGIN MARY. 1745 01:32:53,718 --> 01:32:55,819 WHEN THEY PAINTED, THEY MAKE-- 1746 01:32:55,887 --> 01:32:58,021 THE HEAD IS BIG, THE EYE ALSO IS BIG. 1747 01:32:58,089 --> 01:32:59,422 YEAH, THE EYES. THEY'VE GOT TO SHOW THE EXCELLENCE 1748 01:32:59,491 --> 01:33:01,791 OF THE BRAIN. 1749 01:33:01,860 --> 01:33:03,393 AND HE HAD INSIGHT. 1750 01:33:03,462 --> 01:33:05,228 EXACTLY. 1751 01:33:05,297 --> 01:33:08,364 INSIDE HERE, THE SAME. LALIBELA ALSO IS BURIED. 1752 01:33:08,433 --> 01:33:10,433 SO, IT'S THE BODY OF THE KING? EXACTLY. 1753 01:33:10,502 --> 01:33:12,702 BUT IT'S IN THE HOLY [INDISTINCT], 1754 01:33:12,771 --> 01:33:14,037 SO, IT'S NOT ALLOWED. 1755 01:33:17,075 --> 01:33:20,543 HOST: SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT LALIBELA'S COMPLEX OF CHURCHES 1756 01:33:20,612 --> 01:33:24,247 WAS BUILT AS A SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF JERUSALEM. 1757 01:33:27,486 --> 01:33:30,620 BELCHER: THE ETHIOPIANS BECAME CHRISTIANS VERY EARLY ON 1758 01:33:30,689 --> 01:33:33,890 AND WITHIN A COUPLE OF DECADES OF THAT, 1759 01:33:33,959 --> 01:33:37,560 THEY HAD SET UP A MONASTERY IN THE HEART OF JERUSALEM. 1760 01:33:37,629 --> 01:33:40,630 SO, THEY HAD HAD A DEEP CONNECTION TO IT 1761 01:33:40,699 --> 01:33:43,933 AND A JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM IS THE LONGING 1762 01:33:44,002 --> 01:33:47,904 OF ANY PIOUS PERSON IN ETHIOPIA. 1763 01:33:47,973 --> 01:33:49,205 EVERY SINGLE THING IN THIS 1764 01:33:49,274 --> 01:33:51,941 [INDISTINCT] CHURCH IS SYMBOLIZED. 1765 01:33:52,010 --> 01:33:56,045 LALIBELA SYMBOLIZES EVERYTHING TO JERUSALEM. 1766 01:33:56,114 --> 01:33:57,514 GOLGOTHA IS A PLACE WHERE 1767 01:33:57,582 --> 01:33:59,816 OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WAS BURIED... YES. 1768 01:33:59,885 --> 01:34:03,286 SO, THIS PLACE WAS CALLED GOLGOTHA. 1769 01:34:03,355 --> 01:34:05,255 THERE ARE 12 PILLARS. 1770 01:34:05,323 --> 01:34:08,024 12 PILLARS. ONE FOR EACH... SYMBOLIZING-- 1771 01:34:08,093 --> 01:34:09,759 UH, APOSTLE. EXACTLY. 1772 01:34:11,663 --> 01:34:12,862 ALL OF LALIBELA IS 1773 01:34:12,931 --> 01:34:17,467 A 3-DIMENSIONAL BIBLICAL ALLEGORY. 1774 01:34:17,536 --> 01:34:19,936 EXACTLY. YOU CAN EASILY READ IT. 1775 01:34:23,408 --> 01:34:26,409 HOST: IN FACT, IT'S NOW THOUGHT THAT THE CHURCHES AT LALIBELA 1776 01:34:26,478 --> 01:34:29,512 WERE BUILT BETWEEN THE SEVENTH AND 13TH CENTURIES... 1777 01:34:31,182 --> 01:34:35,118 AND THAT SOME WERE ORIGINALLY PALACES AND EVEN FORTRESSES. 1778 01:34:35,186 --> 01:34:37,954 IT WAS ONLY LATER THAT THEY BECAME CHURCHES, 1779 01:34:38,023 --> 01:34:41,291 WHICH REMAIN PLACES OF PILGRIMAGE TO THIS DAY. 1780 01:34:47,632 --> 01:34:49,599 WINDMULLER-LUNA: THESE ARE NOT BUILDINGS IN THE SENSE 1781 01:34:49,668 --> 01:34:51,568 THAT YOU TAKE BRICKS OR STONES 1782 01:34:51,636 --> 01:34:53,937 AND PUT THEM ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER. 1783 01:34:54,005 --> 01:34:56,906 THESE ARE MASSIVE SCULPTURES 1784 01:34:56,975 --> 01:34:59,876 THAT HAVE BEEN CARVED OUT OF LIVING ROCK. 1785 01:34:59,945 --> 01:35:03,646 LALIBELA IS LIKE NO OTHER PLACE ON EARTH. 1786 01:35:03,715 --> 01:35:05,281 PRESTON BLIER: YOU GET A SENSE OF THE CREATION 1787 01:35:05,350 --> 01:35:10,820 OF KIND OF AN IDEAL PARADISIACAL SETTING 1788 01:35:10,889 --> 01:35:13,389 BECAUSE IT'S HEWN OF LIVING ROCK, 1789 01:35:13,458 --> 01:35:16,993 AND MUCH LIKE OTHER AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE, 1790 01:35:17,062 --> 01:35:18,595 IT IS SCULPTURE IN ITS OWN RIGHT, 1791 01:35:18,663 --> 01:35:21,698 BUT SCULPTURE ONE CAN WALK INTO AND MOVE AROUND, 1792 01:35:21,766 --> 01:35:24,367 AND WHAT IS PARTICULARLY REMARKABLE THERE 1793 01:35:24,436 --> 01:35:27,270 IS HOW ONE EXPERIENCES RELIGION 1794 01:35:27,339 --> 01:35:30,907 AND THE PERSONAL PILGRIMAGES ONE HAS TO TAKE TO GET THERE 1795 01:35:30,976 --> 01:35:33,343 THAT ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS WHOLE TRADITION. 1796 01:35:42,187 --> 01:35:44,921 HOST: 12 CHURCHES CARVED OUT OF THE GROUND. 1797 01:35:44,990 --> 01:35:48,658 EACH STRUCTURE UNIQUE, EACH INGENIOUSLY DESIGNED, 1798 01:35:48,727 --> 01:35:52,128 AND EACH CHISELED BY SKILLED ARTISANS 1799 01:35:52,197 --> 01:35:53,963 FROM A MASTER PLAN. 1800 01:35:57,636 --> 01:36:00,269 THE CHURCHES OF LALIBELA STAND AS MORE THAN 1801 01:36:00,338 --> 01:36:03,673 JUST A SYMBOLIC JERUSALEM ON ETHIOPIAN SOIL. 1802 01:36:03,742 --> 01:36:06,809 THIS WAS A NEW JERUSALEM IN AFRICA. 1803 01:36:06,878 --> 01:36:08,678 [CLANKING] 1804 01:36:08,747 --> 01:36:12,448 120 MILES FROM LALIBELA SITS A SACRED SITE 1805 01:36:12,517 --> 01:36:17,620 THAT BINDS THE OLD TESTAMENT TO THE HEART OF ETHIOPIA'S STORY-- 1806 01:36:17,689 --> 01:36:21,190 LAKE TANA IN THE ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS. 1807 01:36:21,259 --> 01:36:23,292 THE SOURCE OF THE BLUE NILE, 1808 01:36:23,361 --> 01:36:26,562 WHICH FOR MANY CONJURES THE SACRED RIVER GIHON 1809 01:36:26,631 --> 01:36:28,998 THAT FLOWED OUT OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 1810 01:36:30,702 --> 01:36:35,004 ON ITS ISLANDS NESTLE 20 ANCIENT MONASTERIES 1811 01:36:35,073 --> 01:36:38,207 DATING FROM THE EIGHTH TO THE 18TH CENTURIES, 1812 01:36:38,276 --> 01:36:42,145 EACH ONE A PARAGON OF ETHIOPIAN ART. 1813 01:36:42,213 --> 01:36:44,180 LAKE TANA IS ONE OF THE MOST 1814 01:36:44,249 --> 01:36:47,183 IMPORTANT PLACES FOR BOTH THE ORTHODOX RELIGION 1815 01:36:47,252 --> 01:36:50,019 AND FOR ORTHODOX ART. 1816 01:36:50,088 --> 01:36:53,156 IT'S A LOCATION IN WHICH MONASTERIES AND CHURCHES 1817 01:36:53,224 --> 01:36:56,726 WERE ABLE TO REALLY FLOURISH AND TO REMAIN PROTECTED, 1818 01:36:56,795 --> 01:36:59,362 EVEN IN MOMENTS OF PERIL. 1819 01:36:59,431 --> 01:37:01,898 HOST: IN CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES SUCH AS THESE, 1820 01:37:01,966 --> 01:37:04,233 THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH DEVELOPED 1821 01:37:04,302 --> 01:37:08,137 ITS SIGNATURE STYLE OF PAINTING, STILL VISIBLE HERE TODAY. 1822 01:37:10,075 --> 01:37:12,341 PRESTON BLIER: THERE'S THAT VISUAL COMPLEXITY, 1823 01:37:12,410 --> 01:37:16,279 THE KIND OF SENSUAL POWER THAT THESE WORKS OFFER 1824 01:37:16,347 --> 01:37:18,514 THAT MAKE YOU WANT TO LOOK VERY CAREFULLY. 1825 01:37:27,726 --> 01:37:30,793 THIS IS A PAINTING OF SAINT MARY. 1826 01:37:30,862 --> 01:37:32,061 MARY IS VERY IMPORTANT. 1827 01:37:32,130 --> 01:37:34,097 SHE'S THE MOTHER OF JESUS CHRIST. 1828 01:37:35,567 --> 01:37:40,303 LIKE AN INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN MAN AND GOD. 1829 01:37:40,371 --> 01:37:42,472 SO, UH, WE RESPECT MARY. 1830 01:37:42,540 --> 01:37:44,974 YOU SEE THESE ENORMOUS STARING EYES. 1831 01:37:45,043 --> 01:37:48,277 THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE ONE-ON-ONE ENGAGEMENT 1832 01:37:48,346 --> 01:37:50,413 BETWEEN THE FIGURES DEPICTED BOTH 1833 01:37:50,482 --> 01:37:52,348 IN THE MURALS AND THE MANUSCRIPTS, 1834 01:37:52,417 --> 01:37:54,717 AND A MEANS TO CONNECT INDIVIDUALLY 1835 01:37:54,786 --> 01:37:56,819 WITH THE WORSHIPPER. 1836 01:37:56,888 --> 01:38:01,057 WHAT YOU CAN ALSO SEE IS THIS BOLD SET OF COLORS, 1837 01:38:01,126 --> 01:38:03,526 THE RICH REDS, BLUES, AND GREENS, 1838 01:38:03,595 --> 01:38:07,430 OFTEN WITH CAREFULLY DELINEATED MARKS 1839 01:38:07,499 --> 01:38:10,500 THAT FRAME ONE PARTICULAR ELEMENT FROM ANOTHER. 1840 01:38:13,338 --> 01:38:15,538 HOST: BUT ACCORDING TO ETHIOPIAN TRADITION, 1841 01:38:15,607 --> 01:38:19,108 A MONASTERY ON LAKE TANA, TANA KIRKOS, 1842 01:38:19,177 --> 01:38:22,311 ONCE HOUSED A DIFFERENT KIND OF TREASURE, 1843 01:38:22,380 --> 01:38:24,413 AN OBJECT OF IMMENSE POWER 1844 01:38:24,482 --> 01:38:26,149 THAT WOULD SHAPE THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY 1845 01:38:26,217 --> 01:38:29,819 AND ITS NATIONAL IDENTITY TO THIS DAY, 1846 01:38:29,888 --> 01:38:32,421 CONNECTING ETHIOPIA ONCE AGAIN 1847 01:38:32,490 --> 01:38:36,159 TO THE QUEEN OF SHEBA-- THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 1848 01:38:37,395 --> 01:38:39,929 AT LEAST SINCE THE TENTH CENTURY A.D., 1849 01:38:39,998 --> 01:38:42,698 ETHIOPIANS HAVE CLAIMED THAT THE ORIGINAL ARK 1850 01:38:42,767 --> 01:38:45,134 CONTAINING MOSES' STONE TABLETS 1851 01:38:45,203 --> 01:38:47,303 INSCRIBED WITH THE 10 COMMANDMENTS 1852 01:38:47,372 --> 01:38:50,473 HAS BEEN HOUSED IN THEIR COUNTRY. 1853 01:38:50,542 --> 01:38:54,343 ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL EPIC, THE KEBRA NAGAST, 1854 01:38:54,412 --> 01:38:58,014 WHEN THE QUEEN OF SHEBA VISITED KING SOLOMON IN JERUSALEM, 1855 01:38:58,082 --> 01:39:01,684 THEY CONCEIVED A SON--MENELIK. 1856 01:39:01,753 --> 01:39:05,788 MENELIK YEARS LATER, RETURNING FROM A VISIT TO MEET HIS FATHER, 1857 01:39:05,857 --> 01:39:08,224 BROUGHT THE ARK FROM THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM 1858 01:39:08,293 --> 01:39:10,126 TO ITS NEW RESTING PLACE. 1859 01:39:11,663 --> 01:39:14,664 IN 1270 A.D., THIS POWERFUL MYTH 1860 01:39:14,732 --> 01:39:17,166 WAS USED TO JUSTIFY A VIOLENT COUP 1861 01:39:17,235 --> 01:39:21,571 THAT BOUGHT A NEW DYNASTY TO POWER IN ETHIOPIA. 1862 01:39:21,639 --> 01:39:23,439 WHEN A RULING ZAGWE KING 1863 01:39:23,508 --> 01:39:26,943 WAS OVERTHROWN BY A RIVAL--YEKUNO AMLAK-- 1864 01:39:27,011 --> 01:39:29,712 THE NEW KING DREW ON THIS MYSTICAL CONNECTION 1865 01:39:29,781 --> 01:39:32,148 TO THE BIBLE TO VALIDATE HIS CLAIM. 1866 01:39:33,985 --> 01:39:36,752 THE NEW KING CLAIMED DIRECT DESCENT 1867 01:39:36,821 --> 01:39:39,488 FROM KING SOLOMON AND THE QUEEN OF SHEBA 1868 01:39:39,557 --> 01:39:43,226 THROUGH THEIR SON MENELIK, WHO WAS BORN IN ETHIOPIA 1869 01:39:43,294 --> 01:39:45,728 AFTER HIS MOTHER'S STAY IN JERUSALEM. 1870 01:39:45,797 --> 01:39:49,498 MENELIK WAS THE LEGENDARY FOUNDER OF THE AXUMITE DYNASTY. 1871 01:39:49,567 --> 01:39:52,735 BY CLAIMING THIS LINEAGE, THE KING COULD ARGUE 1872 01:39:52,804 --> 01:39:56,906 THAT HIS SEIZURE OF THE THRONE WAS ACTUALLY A RESTORATION, 1873 01:39:56,975 --> 01:40:01,377 A RESTORATION OF THE TRUE LINE OF ETHIOPIAN MONARCHS. 1874 01:40:01,446 --> 01:40:03,679 THE SOLOMONIC DYNASTY, FOUNDED AS 1875 01:40:03,748 --> 01:40:06,616 AN EXTENSION OF THIS EXTRAORDINARY LINEAGE, 1876 01:40:06,684 --> 01:40:10,052 DESCENDING FROM KING SOLOMON AND THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, 1877 01:40:10,121 --> 01:40:14,156 WOULD RULE ETHIOPIA FOR THE NEXT 700 YEARS. 1878 01:40:14,225 --> 01:40:17,693 THEY ARE CLAIMING DESCENT FROM A HOLY FAMILY. 1879 01:40:17,762 --> 01:40:18,728 HOST: MM-HMM. 1880 01:40:18,796 --> 01:40:22,798 CHRIST WAS BORN FROM DAVID'S FAMILY. 1881 01:40:22,867 --> 01:40:25,167 SO, THIS MEANT THE DYNASTY 1882 01:40:25,236 --> 01:40:27,937 MORE LEGITIMATE, MORE ACCEPTABLE. 1883 01:40:28,006 --> 01:40:30,973 THE AUDACITY IS BREATHTAKING TO SAY 1884 01:40:31,042 --> 01:40:32,208 NOT ONLY ARE WE LEGITIMATE 1885 01:40:32,277 --> 01:40:34,677 BUT WE ARE DESCENDED FROM KING DAVID 1886 01:40:34,746 --> 01:40:38,748 THROUGH SOLOMON, FUSED BLOOD LINES 1887 01:40:38,816 --> 01:40:41,651 THROUGH OUR QUEEN, OUR AXUMITE QUEEN... YEAH. 1888 01:40:41,719 --> 01:40:44,820 AND BEYOND THAT TO GOD HIMSELF. 1889 01:40:44,889 --> 01:40:45,855 TO GOD HIMSELF. 1890 01:40:45,924 --> 01:40:48,391 IT'S THE ULTIMATE GENEALOGICAL CHART. 1891 01:40:48,459 --> 01:40:49,592 [LAUGHS] 1892 01:40:53,298 --> 01:40:56,565 BELCHER: IT IS AN EXTRAORDINARY WAY OF LEGITIMATING 1893 01:40:56,634 --> 01:41:00,569 THE KINGS OF ETHIOPIA BY TAKING THE POWER OF THE BIBLE, 1894 01:41:00,638 --> 01:41:03,639 THE POWER OF THE ISRAELITES, AND ACCRUING IT TO THEMSELVES. 1895 01:41:03,708 --> 01:41:06,943 IT IS PROBABLY THE MOST POWERFUL NATIONAL MYTH 1896 01:41:07,011 --> 01:41:08,377 THAT HAS EVER BEEN INVENTED. 1897 01:41:12,483 --> 01:41:14,583 HOST: TO THIS DAY, THE ARK OF THE COVENANT 1898 01:41:14,652 --> 01:41:18,454 PLAYS A PROFOUND ROLE IN THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF ETHIOPIA. 1899 01:41:18,523 --> 01:41:21,023 EVERY CHURCH HOSTS A TABOT, 1900 01:41:21,092 --> 01:41:24,327 ITS OWN SACRED REPLICA OF THE ARK. 1901 01:41:24,395 --> 01:41:26,529 BELCHER: IN ETHIOPIA, THE ARK OF THE COVENANT 1902 01:41:26,597 --> 01:41:31,367 IS OFTEN CALLED ZION, OR ZEON, AND THIS IS WHERE GOD LIVES. 1903 01:41:32,937 --> 01:41:36,339 EACH ONE OF THEM IS A SIGN THAT GOD IS HERE, 1904 01:41:36,407 --> 01:41:39,342 GOD IS DWELLING WITH US AND PROTECTING US. 1905 01:41:42,580 --> 01:41:45,081 HOST: AND ETHIOPIANS CELEBRATE THEIR DEEP-ROOTED CONNECTION 1906 01:41:45,149 --> 01:41:49,018 TO THE ARK EVERY YEAR AT THE FESTIVAL OF TIMKAT, 1907 01:41:49,087 --> 01:41:52,154 THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH'S CELEBRATION 1908 01:41:52,223 --> 01:41:55,057 OF THE BAPTISM OF JESUS IN THE RIVER JORDAN. 1909 01:42:01,265 --> 01:42:03,132 [CHEERING] 1910 01:42:11,242 --> 01:42:13,342 HOST: OVER CENTURIES, THE DEEP ROOTS 1911 01:42:13,411 --> 01:42:15,277 OF ETHIOPIAN CHRISTIANITY 1912 01:42:15,346 --> 01:42:18,447 AND ITS UNIQUE TRADITIONS WOULD BE A POWERFUL 1913 01:42:18,516 --> 01:42:20,983 UNIFYING FORCE FOR THE KINGDOM. 1914 01:42:21,052 --> 01:42:24,820 PRESTON BLIER: THE BOND AND THE SOLIDARITY 1915 01:42:24,889 --> 01:42:29,158 OF THE ETHIOPIAN POPULATION FRAMED AROUND CHRISTIANITY 1916 01:42:29,227 --> 01:42:31,727 WAS SOMETHING THAT GAVE THEM A REAL STRENGTH 1917 01:42:31,796 --> 01:42:35,965 AND A REAL, UM, SORT OF POLITICAL HOLD ON THAT AREA 1918 01:42:36,034 --> 01:42:39,001 THAT MADE THIS ONE OF THE ONLY PLACES IN AFRICA, 1919 01:42:39,070 --> 01:42:41,537 INDEED THE ONLY PLACE THAT NEVER WAS COLONIZED. 1920 01:42:42,740 --> 01:42:45,408 THE WHOLE SORT OF POPULATION OF ETHIOPIA 1921 01:42:45,476 --> 01:42:48,811 WAS ABLE TO COME TOGETHER TO SAFEGUARD ITS TRADITIONS, 1922 01:42:48,880 --> 01:42:52,314 AND CERTAINLY CHRISTIANITY PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THAT. 1923 01:42:57,722 --> 01:43:00,423 HOST: ETHIOPIAN CHRISTIANS STILL BELIEVE 1924 01:43:00,491 --> 01:43:04,260 THAT THE ARK OF THE COVENANT RESIDES IN ETHIOPIA, 1925 01:43:04,328 --> 01:43:08,330 HIDDEN FROM VIEW IN A SMALL CHURCH IN AXUM, 1926 01:43:08,399 --> 01:43:10,733 THE CITY WHERE ONE OF THE ANCIENT WORLD'S 1927 01:43:10,802 --> 01:43:14,170 GREATEST CIVILIZATIONS WAS BORN. 1928 01:43:14,238 --> 01:43:15,604 THE MYTH OF THE KING'S DESCENT 1929 01:43:15,673 --> 01:43:18,140 FROM KING SOLOMON AND THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, 1930 01:43:18,209 --> 01:43:20,509 AND THE LEGENDARY PRESENCE OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT 1931 01:43:20,578 --> 01:43:23,212 HERE AT ST. MARY'S CHURCH IN AXUM, 1932 01:43:23,281 --> 01:43:26,615 ARE THE CORNERSTONES OF THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH. 1933 01:43:26,684 --> 01:43:30,519 THESE STORIES ASSERT ETHIOPIA'S DIRECT HISTORICAL LINK 1934 01:43:30,588 --> 01:43:32,421 TO THE WIDER CHRISTIAN WORLD, OF COURSE, 1935 01:43:32,490 --> 01:43:34,824 BUT ALSO THE NATION'S SPECIAL DUTY 1936 01:43:34,892 --> 01:43:37,326 AS GUARDIAN OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. 1937 01:43:41,399 --> 01:43:43,032 FROM THEIR EARLIEST DAYS, 1938 01:43:43,101 --> 01:43:45,101 TWO OF THE WORLD'S GREAT RELIGIONS-- 1939 01:43:45,169 --> 01:43:49,305 CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM-- PUT DOWN ROOTS IN AFRICA. 1940 01:43:49,373 --> 01:43:51,407 THESE REVOLUTIONARY NEW FAITHS 1941 01:43:51,476 --> 01:43:54,076 NOT ONLY TRANSFORMED THE HISTORY OF AFRICANS, 1942 01:43:54,145 --> 01:43:58,881 THEY WERE SHAPED IN TURN BY AFRICANS, 1943 01:43:58,950 --> 01:44:01,584 WHO CREATED AND BEQUEATHED TO THE WORLD 1944 01:44:01,652 --> 01:44:04,653 SOME OF OUR MOST PROFOUND CULTURAL LEGACIES. 1945 01:44:09,694 --> 01:44:11,660 SALAAM ALAIKUM. 1946 01:44:11,729 --> 01:44:15,498 CONNECTIONS FORGED BY CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM 1947 01:44:15,566 --> 01:44:19,034 WOULD LEAD NOT ONLY TO THE EXCHANGE OF BELIEFS AND IDEAS, 1948 01:44:19,103 --> 01:44:21,303 THEY WOULD HELP LAY THE FOUNDATIONS 1949 01:44:21,372 --> 01:44:24,240 OF NEW NETWORKS OF COMMERCE AND TRADE 1950 01:44:24,308 --> 01:44:26,775 THAT WOULD PLACE AFRICA AND ITS RICHES 1951 01:44:26,844 --> 01:44:29,311 AT THE HEART OF THE MEDIEVAL WORLD. 1952 01:44:32,015 --> 01:44:33,949 ANNOUNCER: ON "AFRICA'S GREAT CIVILIZATIONS"... 1953 01:44:34,018 --> 01:44:34,683 DR. HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.: THE REGIONS OF NORTH 1954 01:44:34,752 --> 01:44:35,851 AND WEST AFRICA UNDERGO 1955 01:44:35,920 --> 01:44:38,020 A DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION. 1956 01:44:38,089 --> 01:44:41,524 GREAT SCHOLARS WRITE BOOKS THAT FILL LIBRARIES. 1957 01:44:41,592 --> 01:44:46,595 WEALTH FROM TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE GROWS ON A SPECTACULAR SCALE. 1958 01:44:46,664 --> 01:44:49,932 AFRICAN SOCIETIES NOT ONLY ENJOY NEWFOUND WEALTH, 1959 01:44:50,001 --> 01:44:52,468 THEY ENCOUNTER NEW CONFLICTS WITH EACH OTHER 1960 01:44:52,537 --> 01:44:54,770 AND WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD. 1961 01:44:54,839 --> 01:44:57,106 ANNOUNCER: "AFRICA'S GREAT CIVILIZATIONS," 1962 01:44:57,175 --> 01:44:59,208 COMING UP NEXT, ONLY ON PBS. 1963 01:45:10,854 --> 01:45:14,790 AFRICA'S GREAT CIVILIZATIONS IS AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY AND DVD. 1964 01:45:14,859 --> 01:45:20,062 TO ORDER VISIT shopPBS.org OR CALL 1-800-PLAY-PBS. 1965 01:45:20,131 --> 01:45:24,066 THIS SERIES IS ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD FROM ITUNES.