Ancient Discoveries Episode 2: Ancient New York
New discoveries unveil the ancient blueprint for modern life in the metropolis of New York.
New York's towering skyline and world-leading technology have made it the ultimate city, yet breathtaking new discoveries reveal that the blueprints for this megametropolis were in fact laid thousands of years ago. From brutal bloodsports staged in ancient Madison Square Gardens to Times Square-style celebrations at a gigantic neolithic calendar, you are about to discover that everything you thought you knew about the Big Apple comes from our distant forefathers.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Ancient Discoveries series - selected episodes
Shot on location in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, Ancient Discoveries unearths amazing technologies we think of as modern, but which actually have their origins in antiquity. The series travels back in time to uncover remarkably sosphisticated inventions and to celebrate the ancient engineers whose ingenuity laid the foundations for todays technology.
In the ancient texts of Homer and the walls of Egyptian tombs lie tantalizing clues that are causing historians to re-think just how sophisticated centuries-old societies were. Drawings show that the Egyptians may have unlocked the secret to flight with primitive helicopter designs, and that the Chinese had a “wind car” in the 6th century AD that could transport them over land at up to 30 miles per hour. Even more amazing are 600-year-old designs from Italy for a Batmobile-like “rocket car” that appeared to be fueled by gunpowder.
Mechanical maids that could fetch water for people on their own were created by the inventor Philos in the Third century, a concept we still struggle to perfect today! And discoveries about ancient machines of warfare give a new vision of what truly defined the Egyptian empire. Ancient Discoveries unearths new clues that connect the present with the past in more startling ways than we had ever imagined.
