The ancient world is home to some of the most sophisticated and advanced ships the world has ever seen. The designs and construction of these monsters of the oceans appear impossible, but still, these ships sailed the seven seas thousands of years ago!

The historic urban ensemble of the canal district of Amsterdam was a project for a new "port city" built at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. It comprises a network of canals to the west and south of the historic old town and the medieval port that encircled the old town and was accompanied by the repositioning inland of the city’s fortified boundaries, the Singelgracht. This was a long-term program that involved extending...

The Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine stands at the foot of Mount Horeb where, the Old Testament records, Moses received the Tablets of the Law. The mountain is known and revered by Muslims as Jebel Musa. The entire area is sacred to three world religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The Monastery, founded in the 6th century, is the oldest Christian monastery still in use for its initial function. Its walls and buildings are of great significance...

This program explores the most beautiful sites of the civilization of ancient Greece. In Athens, the Acropolis is an extraordinary architectural and artistic structure with several monuments including the Parthenon (the temple of Athena). Delphi is one of the most famous archaeological sites of ancient Greece. It was a place of worship where the Phytia, (oracle of the sanctuary of Apollo) officiated. In the Peloponnese on the site of Olympia, there...

The life-size statue of Pharaoh Khafra at Giza evokes an intriguing logistical question: how did ancient Egyptian builders transport a three-ton block of gneiss granite five hundred miles from its source? This program offers a set of viable answers, examining technology and working conditions prevalent in Egypt 4,500 years ago. Considering the possibility that the statue was precut at Khafra's remote quarry site, the program also hypothesizes a North...

National Geographic Explorer and scientist Albert Lin travels to Colombia to learn the truth behind the legends of El Dorado. While exploring the lost city of Ciudad Perdida, Lin discovers that fact is far more exciting than fiction — and discovers not just a city but an entire civilization. Now, for the first time, Lin reveals the extent of this civilization and its “cities in the clouds.”

Our present-day civilization is the result of a learning process that has taken thousands of years. Human beings have slowly developed their intelligence and utilized the possibilities offered to mankind by nature. This program covers the major advances of humankind throughout the ages. Beginning more than two million years ago, the program covers how people created the first tools, discovered fire, invented the wheel, created written language, and...

The unique human species evolved on a unique planet. This documentary explores innovations and adaptations that brought us from the brink of extinction to control our destiny. Fire and clothing enabled us to survive the Ice Age, during which we domesticated the wolf. Farming led to settlements, but crop failures brought warfare and livestock bred infectious disease. Organized religion inspired monuments like Pharaoh Khufu’s Great Pyramid, engineered...

Takes viewers on an exciting and visually stunning journey to the historic places where Christianity was born and grew to its place as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Join author and distinguished history professor Jonathan Phillips as he sets out on a 12,000 mile journey of a lifetime, traveling the ancient roads to the very places where Christianity began.

In 55 BC Julius Caesar marched through Europe, crushing the rebellious tribes in the North. In mid-summer he arrived at the mighty Rhine. He was determined to get his legions across to teach the tribes on the other side a lesson, but considered it beneath the dignity of the Roman army to cross the river by boat. Consequently, he ordered his men to build a wooden bridge over a river which was at least 400 meters wide, up to 8 meters deep and flowing...