fall of civilizations I

 In the dusts of Iraq, the ruins of the world's first civilization lie buried.   This episode, we travel into the extremely distant past to look at the Sumerians. These ancient people invented writing and mathematics, and built some of the largest cities that the world had ever seen. Find out about the mystery of their origins, and learn how they rose from humble beginnings to form the foundation of all our modern societies. With myths, proverbs and even some recreated Sumerian music, travel back to where it all began, and find out how humanity's first civilization fell. 

 In the lowlands of Northern Iraq, a series of enormous cities lie crumbling in ruins...  In this episode, find out about one of the most remarkable ancient civilizations: the society known today as the neo-Assyrian Empire. Discover how the Assyrians built their empire out of the ashes of the Bronze Age, and built an empire of iron that lasted for centuries. Explore the extraordinary flourishing of art and technology that they fostered. And finally, discover what happened to cause their final, devastating collapse. 

 Sometime around the year 1100 BC, right at the end of the Bronze Age, a wave of destruction washed over the Eastern Mediterranean. It wiped whole civilizations off the map, and left only ash and ruin in its wake.   This catastrophe, known as “the Late Bronze Age Collapse”, has become one of the enduring puzzles of archaeology. I want to explore how so many societies could collapse all at once, and seemingly without warning, as well as examine the lessons it might teach us in our increasingly globalised and interconnected world. 

 
Buried beneath the city streets of the Tunisian capital of Tunis, an ancient city lies forgotten...  In this episode, we look at one of the most dramatic stories to come down to us from the ancient world: the rise and fall of the empire of Carthage. Find out how this city rose out of the Phoenician states of the Eastern Mediterranean, and set out on voyages of discovery and settlement that put them at the centre of the ancient world. And hear how the city of Carthage was destroyed, and its memory nearly wiped from the earth. 

 One of the most unlikely tales of a society’s fall is the incredible saga of the Vikings of Greenland. Find out how these European settlers built a society on the farthest edge of their world, and survived for centuries among some of the harshest conditions ever faced by man. Discover how this civilization was able to overcome the odds for so long, and examine the evidence about what happened to cause its final and mysterious collapse. Including Viking poetry, Inuit folktales and thousands upon thousands of walrus. 

 A city in ruins. A dynasty in tatters. An empire in ashes...  This episode, we look at the remarkable story of the first empire of ancient China, the Han dynasty. With ancient Chinese poetry, songs and folk music, we look back at the first empire's rise, its remarkable technological advances, and its first, tentative attempts to make contact with the empires of the west. Finally, we look at all the reasons behind the first age of Imperial China's final, dramatic fall. 

 Deep in the Cambodian Jungle, a ruined city crumbles among the roots of banyan trees.   In this episode, we look at the Khmer Empire of medieval Cambodia, and the ancient mega-city of Angkor. I want to explore how this great civilization rose to a size and wealth virtually unprecedented in the world, how it overcame the challenges of its climate and landscape, and all the factors that led to its final, dramatic collapse.  
 

 Today, the Songhai Empire is all but forgotten by history. But this medieval kingdom was once the most powerful force in Africa.  Find out how this civilization grew up on the fringes of the Sahara Desert, among some of the most extreme conditions that nature can throw at us. Discover how it grew and flourished, passing through a process known as the imperial cycle, and learn about what ultimately caused its sudden and dramatic collapse. 

 In the tropical forests of Central America, vast stone pyramids slowly crumble beneath the trees.  In this episode, we look at that great romantic mystery: the fall of the Classic Maya Civilization. Find out how this great civilization grew up among environmental conditions that no other civilization has ever contended with, learn about the fatal flaws that lay beneath its surface, and what happened after its final, cataclysmic collapse.
 

 Beneath the busy streets of Mexico City, a buried god lies waiting to be discovered...  This episode, we look back at the age of the Aztecs. Learn how this society grew from nothing to create one of the world's largest cities in the middle of a lake. Discover Aztec riddles, poetry and songs, as well as the bloody ritual of the flower wars. And hear the remarkable story of how this thriving empire collapsed all at once, in a matter of days.
 

 Beneath the busy streets of Mexico City, a buried god lies waiting to be discovered...  This episode, we look back at the age of the Aztecs. Learn how this society grew from nothing to create one of the world's largest cities in the middle of a lake. Discover Aztec riddles, poetry and songs, as well as the bloody ritual of the flower wars. And hear the remarkable story of how this thriving empire collapsed all at once, in a matter of days.