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Ancient History

Within History
Lines of Mesopotamian letters with English language letters translated.The English language sounds of ra, ja, va and h appear under 4 Mesopotamian letters. Caption. At around 3100 B, C, E.
Civilization and Ideas
Episode 1
22 minutes 7 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Ancient Egyptian gold pharaoh mask painted with bright colors is lit up against a black background. Caption. "Tutankhamen's mask--."
Around the World
Episode 44
2 minutes 42 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Looking up from the ground, a large, ancient, brown clay building with the ends of many wooden beams poking out. Caption. "This is the oldest known city in this part of Africa."
Around the World
Episode 17
2 minutes 51 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Ancient yellow-stone building on a hill above a body of water. Caption. "The city of Leptis Magna was a gateway for trade."
Around the World
Episode 24
2 minutes 45 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Inner courtyard of an ancient, round, 3-story building made of brown clay. There are many windows opening to the courtyard, and some clay pots are on the ground. Caption. "The Berber granary is built from local materials--."
Around the World
Episode 10
2 minutes 51 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Brightly colored ancient Egyptian wall painting of Queen Nefertiti interacting with the goddess Isis. Caption. "Here the goddess Isis offers Nefertiti the ankh."
Around the World
Episode 32
2 minutes 45 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
3 brown pyramids, 1 large, 1 medium, and 1 small, with brown dirt surrounding them. Caption. "The pyramids remain an enigma."
Around the World
Episode 7
2 minutes 44 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Unavailable
Around the World
Episode 36
2 minutes 46 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Closeup of a busy walkway crowded with pedestrians during the day. Caption. "Merchants would have passed through here 2,000 years ago."
Around the World
Episode 38
2 minutes 48 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Overhead view of the thousands of red clay sculptures of soldiers in China known as The Terracotta Army. Caption. "This formidable army of Terracotta Warriors."
Around the World
Episode 41
2 minutes 45 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Aerial view of a segment of the Great Wall of China with brown foliage on either side. Caption. "Work began on the Great Wall of China around 220 B, C."
Around the World
Episode 5
2 minutes 45 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Unavailable
Around the World
Episode 13
2 minutes 40 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
External view of the ancient Pantheon, a circular Roman temple with huge stone columns at its entrance and a domed roof. Caption. "It's the best preserved Roman temple in the world."
Around the World
Episode 34
2 minutes 47 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Closeup view detailing the tan columns and stones that make up the ancient Roman Parthenon. Caption. "The Parthenon was built around 430 B, C."
Around the World
Episode 35
2 minutes 46 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Aerial view of the ancient mud brick buildings and kivas of Mesa Verde under a sandstone cliff. Caption. "Mesa Verde rewrote the history of the west."
Around the World
Episode 29
2 minutes 45 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Ancient stone building with many stone staircases leading up to it and surrounded by jungle trees. Caption. "Palenque, the great city of the Mayans."
Around the World
Episode 33
2 minutes 44 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Side view of several free standing pillars of brown stone carved to look like warriors against a blue sky backdrop. Caption. "In 750 A, D, they built strange monuments."
Around the World
Episode 42
2 minutes 41 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Top-down view of an ancient tomb built of mud bricks in the ground. Inside are wooden beams, open coffins with bones, other skeletons, and various items. Caption. "The spiritual and military leader of the Moche."
Around the World
Episode 30
2 minutes 47 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Large archaeological site with huge walls of ancient brown clay buildings revealed. Caption. "Chan Chan was 1 of the world's biggest cities."
Around the World
Episode 14
2 minutes 47 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Side view of a row of huge statues with large heads against a backdrop of blue skies with white clouds. Caption. "The giant statues, or moai, on Easter Island."
Around the World
Episode 19
2 minutes 46 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Unavailable
Around the World
Episode 6
2 minutes 43 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Aerial view of brown plains with an ancient geoglyph etched into them. Caption. "So vast, in fact, you can only see it from the sky."
Around the World
Episode 31
2 minutes 37 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Archaeologist David Hurt Thomas, a man with short gray hair and a white goatee, talks in front of a large bookshelf and a globe. Caption. "A relative or a leader."
Ask a Scientist About
Episode 4
9 minutes 33 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Woman wearing a sleeveless white top with black bow smiles as she looks forward and stands in front of an orange backdrop. Caption. Let's start with examining their origins.
Civilization and Ideas
Episode 4
14 minutes 37 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Host Emily talks to Lance Grande at the Fossil Lake in Wyoming. Caption: One of the longest-lived lake systems we know of
The Brain Scoop
Episode 22
6 minutes 35 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Two people sitting side by side at a table working on something under a bright light. Caption: Then you scrape the matrix from the fossils.
The Brain Scoop
Episode 26
5 minutes 58 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Person holding a fossil of a spiral shaped animal. Caption: Hildoceras bifrons is an extinct species of ammonite
The Brain Scoop
Episode 53
5 minutes 42 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Illustration of a giant shark dwarfing the whales it swims with and is about to bite into one. Caption: megalodon was maybe 50 feet, or 15 meters, in length.
The Brain Scoop
Episode 23
3 minutes 50 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Sarcophagus covered in faded paint. Caption: a male from the 25th dynasty, about 2,700 years ago,
The Brain Scoop
Episode 30
7 minutes 34 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Person gesturing towards preserved remains of a dinosaur. Caption: This shape tells us that it's a meat-eating dinosaur.
The Brain Scoop
Episode 16
7 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of silhouetted ancient warriors charging forward on a battlefield against a vibrant red sky. Caption. The skill of their warriors is well-known to the Romans.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 11
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of ancient buildings silhouetted against an amber sky. Caption. At the end of October, Alexander takes Babylon.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 2
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a silhouetted side profile of Confucius seated at a table and writing in an indoor space. Behind him, 2 people are working together in the faded background.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 6
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of Viking warriors standing on a seashore with shields, clubs, and axes, looking at a docked Viking ship. Caption. Is the target of a raid by men from the north, the Vikings.
Butterfly Effect
Season 3 / Ep 12
26 minutes
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Shadow on a wall of an Egyptian tomb. Caption. The burials were plundered, goods removed.
17 minutes 34 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Senior man wearing glasses faces camera, surrounded by models of human skulls and full skeleton in background. Title card below reads, "Milford Wolpoff, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor". Caption. A new species, a new line.
10 minutes 42 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
Person in a loin cloth chiseling a large block of light-colored stone. The block has hashmarks representing "5". Caption: All cut by hand with hammers and chisels.
Greatest Human Achievements
Episode 4
23 minutes 23 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
Computer rendering of a Florentine church. Caption. The church of Santa Reparata was renovated and modified.
52 minutes 14 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Color illustration of a hunter with long, dark hair aiming a spear at two deer by a lake. Caption. Hurled with a unique and powerful tool.
A History Of American Indian Achievement
Season 0 / Ep 2
28 minutes 10 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Man in a white turban stands behind a man opening a gated door of an ancient mud brick building. Another person in a brimmed hat stands back next to pile of mud bricks.
57 minutes 23 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Empty sand beach. Caption: When the Maori arrived to New Zealand in 900 AD it was one of the last places on earth to be settled by humans.
WildFIRE PIRE
Episode 10
7 minutes 52 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
Freeze frame shows gears for a Mayan calendar. Caption. Was part of their religion.
11 minutes 42 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Gray-bearded man parts his lips as he speaks as a subject expert in a room lined with bookshelves. Caption. That's what archaeologists do.
Meet the Ologist
Episode 1
4 minutes 22 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Blurry photo of 2 Minoan men running.
17 minutes 31 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Closeup of light reflecting on water and a tangle of branches at bottom right of frame. Caption. Have just crossed the dominant geographical feature.
America's National Monuments: The Historic South
Episode 3
10 minutes 44 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Wide shot of Mediterranean countryside. Words, "Diligent Regime, Hard Work", appear. Caption. Who also practiced crop rotation and used fertilizers.
15 minutes 55 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Treetop view of forested area with rolling hills peeking through in background. Caption. Not the uniformity of summer's full foliage.
America's National Monuments: The Historic South
Episode 1
11 minutes 53 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Black and white photo of person walking through a room with a slotted roof, sun shining through the slats. Caption. But what they came to see was.
15 minutes 25 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Wooden sign with white figure aiming a spear-like arrow. Sign reads, "Russell Cave National Monument." Caption. Male as narrator. The monument's sign marks the entrance.
America's National Monuments: The Historic South
Episode 2
11 minutes 58 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Fossilized dinosaur skeleton still partially encased in rock displayed next to a model of the same dinosaur. Caption: Out of those, only a few are really prepared well.
Shelf Life
Season 1 / Ep 10
6 minutes 25 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Irregular pinkish-brown shapes on a white background. Caption: you can actually really see that very fine cellular detail.
Shelf Life
Season 1 / Ep 3
6 minutes 45 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Title card on rusty light brown background reads, "Afro-Eurasia is a term used to describe the land masses of Africa and Eurasia together with the adjacent islands as 1 continent."
Social Studies Video Vocab
Episode 7
2 minutes 42 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 9
Black and white image of a man holding a rifle in 1 hand and an animal carcass on his lap. Caption. Before agriculture, people hunted or gathered their food.
Social Studies Video Vocab
Episode 1
2 minutes 40 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 9
Title card on rusty light brown background reads, "Civilization is a complex society with 5 characteristics. Advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology."
Social Studies Video Vocab
Episode 9
3 minutes 58 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 9
Closeup of rows of painted hieroglyphics carved into stone. Caption. Egyptians had more than 2,000 characters of hieroglyphs.
Social Studies Video Vocab
Episode 5
3 minutes 3 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 9
Title card on rusty brown background reads, "Pharaoh is a title that refers to the rulers of ancient Egypt." Caption. What is a pharaoh?
Social Studies Video Vocab
Episode 22
3 minutes 22 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 9
Wide shot of Piazza San Marco in Venice looking towards Saint Mark's Basilica and Campanile. Caption. But how did this fairy tale setting come into being.
52 minutes 28 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Planets orbiting around the sun. Their elliptic are visible and there is a connection indicated between the two planets shown. Caption: Kepler explained those retrograde loops.
Spacefiles
Episode 2
11 minutes 24 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Digital illustration of ancient artifacts from the Shang dynasty including a stone dragon and oracle bone script with early Chinese calligraphy. Caption. Because the rulers were all from the same family.
The Time Compass
Episode 1
19 minutes 47 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Color illustration of ancient Egyptian people standing in a garden with water running through it. Text on image reads, "Irrigation system. Shaduf." Caption. Which let them grow more crops.
The Time Compass
Episode 5
19 minutes 31 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Animation of a woman wearing a white sheer dress dancing on a stage for a man wearing a green tunic and gold headband seated behind a small wood desk. Caption. It seems that Paris, a Trojan prince.
The Time Compass
Episode 9
19 minutes 38 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Cartoon of Romulus and Remus standing next to each other in an ornate living area with framed art, bronze statues, and a globe. Caption. Romulus and Remus were descendants of Aeneas.
The Time Compass
Episode 13
19 minutes 36 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Computer model of the city of Caral. The Incan city is tiered with a stairway connecting from the amphitheater at the bottom to a grouping of walled structures at the top. Next to this, an animated alpaca and sign that reads, "Caral year 3,000 B, C."
The Time Compass
Episode 7
18 minutes 37 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Digital illustration of an ancient Indian city with the snow-dusted mountains in the distance. In the foreground, people are wading in a body of water. Caption. Where each drop, just like each person.
The Time Compass
Episode 29
19 minutes 51 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Digital illustration of dozens of colorful castle towers in Mecca. Caption. 1 that would become 1 of the richest.
The Time Compass
Episode 23
19 minutes 58 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Digital map of Mesopotamia located in West Asia within the Tigris and Euphrates river system. The region has mountains to the north and borders the Mediterranean Sea. Caption. And lots of fresh water coming from the mountains.
The Time Compass
Episode 15
20 minutes 8 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Digital illustration of 3 people in robes seated on a terrace with Jerusalem's Temple of Solomon in the distant background. Caption. This great act is how the Jews were allowed to return.
The Time Compass
Episode 25
20 minutes 28 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Digital illustration of a man labeled Abraham wearing a white robe, a green tunic, and white head and neck scarf. He's standing on top of a mountain and gesturing to his left. Caption. The son of a sculptor from the city of Ur.
The Time Compass
Episode 21
18 minutes 36 seconds
Grade Level: 4 - 8
Digital map of Central America. The map is within a decorative gold frame and appears between 2 other historical maps. In front of the frame is a digital image of a computer keyboard resting on a desk.
The Time Compass
Episode 11
19 minutes 37 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Digital illustration of diverse people exchanging goods for money in a crowded square. Caption. That it formed a new base of power for the Roman Empire.
The Time Compass
Episode 3
19 minutes 6 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Digital illustrations on a sheet of parchment titled, The Franks. Page includes an illustrated map of the River Rhine, a soldier with a spear, and group of people wearing medieval attire. Caption. Came from near the Rhine River in today's Germany.
The Time Compass
Episode 27
20 minutes 17 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Digital map of the world with a dotted line stretching from Greece, labeled Athens, to Southern Mexico, labeled Mayans. Caption. It would be 2,000 years before anyone.
The Time Compass
Episode 17
19 minutes 24 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Digital illustration of a magnifying glass hovering over a map of the Mediterranean showing a forest landscape with mountains, a river, and waterfall. Caption. Didn't have the same climate as the Romans.
The Time Compass
Episode 19
19 minutes 13 seconds
Grade Level: 5 - 8
Man crouches, looks down at an archaeological dig site. Caption: Narrator. Mark Lehner is professor of Egyptian archaeology.
24 minutes 48 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
Low clouds rolling in from left over a steep, pointy, snow capped mountain range on a sunny day. Caption. The Amazon River flows from the steep Andes mountains.
World Heritage
Episode 19
25 minutes 30 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
4 women with colorful hijabs and 1 small child converse while riding in the open back of a truck. 3 men in dark jackets ride in front of them, and 1 looks back at the women. Caption. The capital city was called Hattusha.
World Heritage
Episode 16
25 minutes 19 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
Map of Central America with Mexico highlighted and 2 red markers in Southern Mexico.
24 minutes 57 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
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