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
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Summary: Setting out from the ancient Red Sea port of Aqaba, this program travels to Petra, a pivotal trading center that sat astride the caravan route from Arabia to points north. An arid place of monumental structures carved into the colorful sandstone mountains, the Nabatean capital is also the site of innovative storm water management and water conservation systems. A low-altitude flight over the...
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: 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: On the plains of Beqaa, on the site of the Phoenician city of Baalbek, stands what is arguably the world's most impressive testament to Imperial Roman architecture: the gigantic temple complex dedicated to Jupiter, Venus, and Bacchus. Its six-story columns are the tallest ever erected, and its stones-some weighing nearly a thousand tons-are the largest ever used. In this program, architect...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Its Phoenician founders called it Kart Hadasht, The New Town, but history knows it as Carthage-the heart of the Punic Empire and base of the Mediterranean's renowned merchant mariners. Blending archaeology and virtual reality, this program depicts the city as it was during its heyday as a major economic, political, and cultural center. Its ingenious military port, bustling streets, and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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: 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
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Summary: Filmed on location in central and southern Mexico, this program touches on the Mayan, Toltec, and Aztec cultures-and a civilization that preceded them all at a city dubbed Teotihuacan by Nahuatl-speakers centuries after its fall. Expert commentary and 3-D computer images shed light on the complex societies that emerged, grew strong, and disappeared in the highlands and lowlands of Mesoamerica.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Standing in the Jordanian desert is a singular archaeological treasure: the bath complex at Qusair Amra. Inside, the walls display lively frescoes depicting hundreds of characters engaged in a wide variety of activities. Using a computer-generated reconstruction of the least well preserved paintings, this program restores the faded images to their original vibrant colors in order to unravel the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Palace of Zimri-Lim at Mari was one of the wonders of the Mesopotamian world. This program documents the opening of an excavation site at the palace's gate, while an animated walk-through of the palace precincts enables viewers to follow in the footsteps of courtiers and the king himself. Information on life inside the palace-from the business of keeping it functioning smoothly, to matters...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: What led the great powers of antiquity to install themselves on the minuscule island of Delos? And how did Delos, one of the most important religious centers in Greece, come to be an international trading hub, as well? To answer these questions, this program traces the island's history between the 9th and 1st centuries BC: Delos' renown as the mythological birthplace of Apollo; the subsequent...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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
View online at AVOD
Summary: Recent research at the 12th-century Frankish castles of Shobak and Kerak in what was called Transjordan provides valuable insights into life and death in the Holy Land during the time period of the Crusades. In this program, historian Cedric Devais, of the French Institute of the Near East-Amman, and history guide Mustapha Kiwan talk about prior archaeological missions to the region, structural...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Discovered by chance in the early 1930s, the ancient city of Mari provides insights into Mesopotamian culture and humankind's first steps toward urbanization. In this program, archaeologists Jean-Claude Margueron and Beatrice Muller-Margueron lead a team in the excavation of Mari's urban center as they work to uncover the successive layers of the third, second, and first towns. Geographic and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Once the Berber town of Volubilis, in modern-day Morocco, was absorbed into the Roman Empire, subsequent construction aimed at Romanizing it. The result was a blend of European and African, imperial and tribal, that brought out some of the best of both worlds. This program tours the ruins of the town to point out key landmarks and explain their primary political purpose: to tightly bind this...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
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
View online at AVOD
Summary: Ancient Egypt's greatest concentration of divine and funerary monuments is located on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. Using computer-generated animation, onsite commentary by members of France's National Center for Scientific Research, and close-up archaeological footage, this program addresses the origin and evolution of religious belief in Egypt, the offices and power of the priesthood,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007