Secrets of Archaeology Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I agree with others that this is one of the best historical documentaries available, especially on Classical Mediterranean civilizations (Greece, Rome, and others). There are six discs in the series, each disc containing five episodes of 20 minutes, except the last disc which has only two. Although 20 minutes may not sound like much, so much is packed into each episode that they do not disapoint.
Each episode shows historical ruins related to its subject, beginning with maps to let you know when and where you are, and frequently using animation to reconstruct the ruins as they appeared in their prime. The narration uses the pictures as a starting point to discuss the culture and history represented by the ruins. The series frequently provides a fairly in depth discussion of the culture, ordinary life, religion, etc. of the peoples who lived in these locations, not just stories of battles and rulers.
The other outstanding aspect of this series is that it covers a wide variety of cultures, time periods, and geography. It works best where history can be told as the history of individual cities, which is the case in the Mediterranean world (the great majority of the episodes) and also for the Mayans in America.
A good example of the unusual approach of this series is episode two. From the title "Glorious Rome", I was expecting a tour of classical Rome using models and virtual recreations, since good examples of these are now available. Instead, the episode showed only brief shots of the unreconstructed Roman forum, and centered instead on the ruins of outlying Roman cities to show the common culture which existed over the extent of the empire.
Disc 1
1. Pompeii: A City Rediscovered. 79 AD
2. Glorious Rome, Capital of an Empire. 2nd Cent. AD. (Vaison-la-Romaine, Provence, FR; Tindaris and Morgantina, Sicily, IT; Jerash, Jordan.)
3. Pyramids Designed for Eternity. 3rd Millennium BC [Egypt] (Sakkara, Maidum, Dahshur, Giza)
4. Athens: Western Splendor 460 BC (Parthenon, Acropolis)
5. A Place Called Etruria 540 BC (Tuscany, It; It cities: Murlo (Poggio Civitate), Tarquinia, Volterra (San Cerboni tombs), Populonia, Cerveteri, Chiusi, Bologna (Villanova Culture))
Disc 2
6. The Cities of the Pharaohs. 3,000 BC. [Egypt] (Memphis, Luxor, Thebes, Cairo, Alexandria)
7. Egypt According to Cleopatra. 30 BC. [Egypt] (Alexandria - Pharos; Giza - Pyramids; Dendera - Temple of Hathor; Philae - Temple of Isis; Rome - obelisk, pyramid, temple, statue Esquiline Venus).
8. Greek Cities in Italy. 9th Cent. BC. (Magna Graecia: Delphi; Naples; Cumae - Parthenope; Sybaris - Paestum Poseidonia; Campi Flegrei; Pozzouli [Dicaearchia] - Temple of Serapis [Serapium]; macellum - market building Lake Avernus - Virgil, Hades; Sibyls).
9. The Pyramids of the Sun. 1519 AD. [Mexico]. (Aztec - Tenochtitlan; Teotihuacan - Pyramid of the Sun, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Pyramid of the Moon).
10. The Roads to El Dorado. 15th & 16th Cent. AD. [South America - Peru, Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley, Cuzco; Columbia - Muisca, Lake Guatavita]. "El Dorado" originally referred to a person--the "gilded man", or man covered with gold dust--not a place.
Disc 3
11. The Lost Cities of the Maya. 8th Cent. AD. (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras: Palenque; Chichen Itza; Toltecs - Tula [Central Mexico]; Tulum; Colzumel).
12. The Forgotten Civilizations of Anatolia. [Turkey] (Ionian Greek - Aphrodisias; Hierapolis - Pamukkale hot springs; Gordium - Phrygia - King Minos 8th Cent BC; Hittites - Hattusah - 14th Cent. BC)
13. Travels through Greece. 2nd Cent. AD (Corinth; Temple of Venus; Epidaurus - Asclepieion; Phidias's workshop; Olympia).
14. The Ports of the Desert. 1st Cent. AD (Ma'rib - Sabaean Kingdom [Yemen]; Petra - Nabataeans [Jordan]; Palmyra [Syria]). Roman spice trade.
15. Sailing with the Phoenicians. 5th Cent. BC (Phoenicia - Tyre [Lebanon]; Sardinia - Nuraghe, Nora thermal bath; Carthage [Tunisia] - Harbor; Island of the Admiralty; Byrsa citadel)
Disc 4
16. The Roman Empire in Africa. 1st - 4th Cent. AD. [Maghreb: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia] (Volubilis)
17. Ancient Cities Bordering on Latium. 4th Cent. BC (Hernici-Hernicians; Samnites [Samnium] - Apulia; Umbrians)
18. Retracing the Tracks of Hannibal. 3rd Cent BC (Saguntum Spain; Bardo Museum Tunis; Roman Walls; Carthage, Tophet - human sacrifice?) (Not just war - differences in cultural & cultural interchange)
19. Roman Imprint on the West. 3rd Cent AD. [Spain; France (Provence)] (Provence - Orange, Nimes; Spain - Tarragona, Cadiz) (Impact of Rome on Western Culture)
20. At the Court of the King of Kings. 4th Cent BC. (Iran [Persia]) Cyrus the Great; Zoroastrian Hilltop Altars; Susa; Persepolis)
Disc 5
21. Cities of the Sea and Wind. 1st - 3rd Cent. AD. [Tripolitania (Libya)] (Leptis Magna - Emperor Septimis Severus & Caracalla; Sabratha; Oea [Tripoli], Syrtes desert)
22. Secrets of the Island of Minos. 15th Cent. BC. [Greece; Crete] (Minoans, Atlantis, Crete, Aegean Civilization, Arthur Evans - Knossos, Santorini, Cyclades)
23. The Fabulous Centers of Hellenism. 4th Cent BC. [Turkey (Ionia)] (Alexander the Great, Persia, Pergamun, Ephesus - Temple of Artimis, Library of Celsus)
24. Visit of the Sanctuaries of Apollo. 4th Cent. BC. (Delos Island [Greece] - birthplace of Apollo and Artemis; Didyma [Turkey] - sanctuary, temple & oracle of Apollo; Delphi [Greece] - Delphic oracle, pythian games)
25. Sicily: Greek Legacy in the West. 4th Cent. BC. (Battle of Himera; Sicani; Syracuse & Island of Ortigia; Agrigento - Valley of the Temples).
Disc 6
26. Ancient Itinerary in Ionia. 2nd Cent. BC. [Delos, Kos, Rhodes (Greece); Priene, Miletus (Turkey)] (Priene; boulç, bouleuterion; Epicurian School Philosophy-Thales, Anaximenes, Anaximander; Miletus - Hippodamus of Miletus (urban planning); Delos - slave market, foreign temples; Kos - Asclepius Sanctuary, Hipppcrates; Rhodes-Colossus; "Anatolia" - rising sun)
27. Mycenaeans: The Civilization of Heroes. 3rd to 2nd Millennium BC. [Ebla (Syria); Troy (Turkey), Mycenae (Greece)]. (Ebla-Assyrian City north of Euphrates, 17,000 cuneiform tablets; Troy- Heinrich Schliemann; Tiryns-Cyclopean walls, Pausaneus; Mycenae-lion gate; Agamemnon, megaron)


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Ancient Lives Review

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(More customer reviews)ANCIENT LIVES is a DVD set that is not only educational, but it makes learning about the artists of Ancient Egyptian kings fun and inviting. By the time archaeologist John Romer completes his filming and explanations of the Egyptian artists and their life-style, you want to grab a pick and shovel and hop on the next plane to Thebes and the Nile River.
This 4 episode DVD set (205 minutes plus more on Bonus) is not about the Kings and their lives; but rather, this detailed documentary is about the people who lived generations, lifetimes, in the Workers' Village. These were the scribes, the artists, the carvers, and the craftsmen and their families that decorated the royal tombs and created the antiquities that get all the attention in other Egyptian stories. These were the laborers, the common folk, like you and me.
They not only left written documentation about the rulers, the these scribes also carefully carved their own stories and way of life into the rock walls and pieces of stone around Deir el Medina, the tomb-makers' village. They left their own mark and story among the hills around the valley of the kings, and the scribe's family history is as interesting, or in some ways with more relatedness, than that of Pharaohs, Queens, and their gold plated mummies.
Several royal tomb scribes, beginning with Ramose (1275 to 1241 BCE)provide enough data to follow them through their lives and discover how they lived, how they felt, what they admired, what they dreamed and who they loved. They left behind personal family correspondence, with historic footnotes. It's a textbook via DVD on the ANCIENT LIVES of these common workers, but extraordinary artists.
The "people of the village" faced hardship, hard work, and little reward except the pride of their work. Eventually things like famine, grave plundering, and changes in the pharaohs wishes, brought about major changes in the village, even it's eventual doom.
You'll get some looks inside magnificent tombs; see valuable aesthetic pieces, and hillside scratches; visit museum housed artifacts; and all along this trip, get thoroughly enlightened as to what you are experiencing from John Romer, a famous archaeologist that looks and acts the part of one of the commoner people of the village.
This set includes subtitles, a Bonus featurette called "Pharaohs' Liquid Gold" (about the ancient Egyptian beer that was a staple along with bread), & a booklet to follow during each episode which includes highlights as well as added information of important people met in the episode. This booklet also poses questions usable for educational classrooms, or with your viewing friends. It has a bibliography, a bit on a scribe's education, a bit on hieroglyphics and hieratic writing, and a 2009 piece "The Making of Ancient Lives" by John Romer. More DVD bonus features include Who's Who among Egyptian Deities, and Real-life Indiana Joneses, an archeologist segment.
You'll see a small bit of King Tut and Queen Nefertiti, but you'll enjoy more the story of scribe Harshire (and others), and actually are shown a location Romer thinks will be the next great golden Egyptian dig archaeological windfall. Just ten feet down from where he is standing? Grab your pick and study your Egyptian symbols.
OR, buy this DVD set and enjoy a personally guided ride through rocky tomb-filled Egypt's Nile valley, near Thebes.

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Unlocking the mysteries of DAILY LIFE in ANCIENT EGYPT
How did ordinary Egyptians live in the time of the pharaohs? Renowned British Egyptologist John Romer explores the ruins of an ancient village just outside Thebes, where generations of craftsmen and artists built and decorated royal tombs. There, relics reveal the most intimate details of the people\'s daily lives: their meals, their loves, their quarrels, and even their dreams.
Go inside the pharaohs\' most magnificent tombs and see astonishing art and priceless treasures. Meet the scribes, stonemasons, and high priests who presided over this city of the dead. Learn the secrets of the tomb raiders and the tricks devised to thwart them. This four-part series provides fascinating insights into a civilization now lost to the ages.
As seen on public television.
BONUS FEATURES: Pharaohs\' Liquid Gold, the quest to recreate ancient Egyptian beer 16-page viewer\'s guide with maps, The Life of a Scribe, a history of Egyptian script, The Making of Ancient Lives by John Romer, and more. Who\'s Who among Egyptian Deities Real-Life Indiana Joneses: Archaeologists of Ancient Egypt
One of the world\'s foremost archaeologists, John Romer led the Brooklyn Museum\'s expedition to excavate the tomb of Ramesses XI. Since 1979, he has served as president of the Theban Foundation, an organization for the preservation of Egyptian royal tombs.

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