Summary: Considered the most imposing Hellenistic site in Jordan, the Qasr al-Abd at Iraq al-Amir was the dream of Hyrcanus, an unscrupulously ambitious member of the influential Tobiad family. With the assistance of architect Francois Larche, of the National Center of Scientific Research, this program virtually reconstructs the ornate but uncompleted palace-ironically, a symbol of Hyrcanus' failed...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Thriving in the shadows of the Roman and Parthian Empires, the polyglot oasis town of Palmyra, "the Venice of the Sands," grew rich on the caravan trade between northern Syria and Babylonia. In this program, archaeological footage and 3-D computer-generated images enable viewers to step into that bustling multicultural center, with its busy streets, temples to ancient gods, and silent tombs. In...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Reputedly the first great city of the Western hemisphere, Teotihuacan, the City of the Gods, is also one of the most mysterious. Who lived there? What were its inhabitants like? And why did their culture collapse? In this program, archaeologist Ruben Cabrera Castro, co-director of the site, leads the way down the Avenue of the Dead-and inside both the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Set in the heart of the Puuc hills, the imposing remains of Uxmal-Thrice Built, in the Yucatec Mayan language-testify to that city's extraordinary past. This program travels to the Yucatan Peninsula to explore the ruins of this significant Mayan cultural center. Aerial photography captures the magnitude of the site, while a ground-level inspection homes in on details such as the long-nosed Chac...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: To travel the Mediterranean is to sail into a past that scattered Roman temples in Lebanon, Greek theaters in Jordan, and Phoenician houses in Tunisia. This program studies the unifying influence of the Mediterranean on the civilizations that flourished on its shores. Vivid archaeological footage and computer-generated animation capture distant echoes of the clash of conquest and the jingle of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Hatshepsut, Egypt's only female pharaoh, was said to be a ruler with two faces: one political, the other artistic. This program tours her architectural masterpiece, the terraced and rock-cut temple at Deir el-Bahri that her people called djeser-djeseru, "sacred of sacreds." Numerous paintings adorning the interior chronicle her achievements and peace-loving enterprises, and a computer-generated...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The fusion of Mayan construction techniques with later elements from central Mexico makes Chichen Itza one of the most important examples of the Mayan-Toltec civilization in Yucatan. In this program, archaeological footage and computer re-creations spotlight prominent locations in the city, including the imposing Pyramid of Kukulcan, the Temple of the Warriors, the circular observatory known as...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: It has long been held that ancient Egyptians viewed the east bank of the Nile as life on Earth and the west bank as life in the hereafter, a vision that strictly ruled their urban planning. But recent archaeological digs at Thebes have revealed a somewhat different story. This program examines the houses of priests and other structures that indicate bustling activity on the funereal west...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: The Decapolis was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire, and Gerasa, known also in antiquity as Antioch on the Golden River and today as Jerash, is the best-preserved of them all. In this program, Jean-Francois Salles and other members of the French Institute of the Near East-Amman exhibit their efforts at Gerasa, including the ongoing stone-by-stone restoration of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Transjordan-the Oultrejordain of Crusader times, known to the ancients as Edom and Moab-is steeped in biblical history. In this program, archaeologists Fawzi Zayadine, Mohammed Waheeb, and Carmelo Pappalardo attempt to match up biblical events with the terrain where it is said that they occurred. The refuge of Lot, the trail of the Exodus, the place of Jesus' baptism, Moses' vantage point on...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: In ancient Greece, Delphi held a central position between Attica, governed from Athens, and the Peloponnese, ruled by Sparta. Using the ruins at Delphi as a lens, this program views the continuous struggle for power that characterized the Greek city-states through accounts of the "big dig" carried out between 1892 and 1902 and recent archaeological studies conducted by researchers at the French...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007