[Music] do [Music] reality falls [Music] beyond history beyond memory the ancient world conceals many mysteries [Music] from ancient greece to the remote pacific ocean from holy relics to neolithic monuments much of what was known what was found and what was built is now shrouded in legend and myth [Music] we will unravel the secrets of ancient stone circles and monoliths discover the truth behind the enigmatic easter island the mystery of the death of alexander the great explore the wonder of the shroud of turin and the knights templar and delve deep into the extraterrestrial files and ancient aliens [Music] together we shall journey far across both time and space to lift this shroud together we shall discover the top 10 mysteries of the ancient world [Music] our great journey begins 6 000 years ago in northern france here stands around 3000 megalithic standing stones making stonehenge look tiny in comparison these stones collectively known as the carnac stones predate written history having been estimated to have been built in around 4500 bc this is around 2000 years before the egyptians built the great pyramid at giza [Music] the stones themselves are almost perfectly grouped into straight lines and are separated into three main sites across the area who built them why and how are the subjects of much debate and to this day remain a mystery all we know for sure is that they were built by a culture who occupied northern france before the rise of the celtic cultures some scholars have argued that the long rows of stones are aligned to match with the directions of sunsets and solstices there have also been theories stating that the stones acted as astronomical observatories this is similar to some of the theories behind the uses of stonehenge and many other stone circles across the world the people who built this fast stone complex also left their mark through other constructions for example the ruling classes built a large tumulus 12 meters high and 125 meters wide this giant earthen mound acted as a tomb for the chiefs of these mysterious peoples not dissimilar to the ways in which some of the pyramids were used in egypt [Music] among the great standing stones can also be seen a number of large impressive and strange looking chamber tombs called dolmens these tombs consist of several large stones supporting a capstone which were then buried under a mound of earth in many cases the mound has disappeared leaving the curious looking skeleton of huge megalithic stones excavations of these tombs have revealed some strange art carved on the inner surfaces these generally resemble serpents presumably representing their deities they appear to have been a highly religious people perhaps their vast complexes of standing stones were built to honor these strange serpent deities [Music] due to their enigmatic nature many myths surrounded the stones throughout history early christians believed that the stones represented ancient pagan warriors who had all been turned to stone by godly powers of pope cornelius local tradition however links the great stones to the arthurian mythic cycle the people of brittany state that they represent the soldiers of roman legions who were invading france according to this myth the wizard merlin had used his magic to turn the romans into stone thus explaining why they stand in such well-organized and regimented fashion the standing stones of karnak lie beyond the reach of written history archaeology has only been able to tell us so much about this mysterious site and the strange people who built it as such the various peoples throughout history who have encountered this mysterious site have created fabulous tales to explain the presence of so many thousands of megalithic stones indeed even today the carnac stones remain one of the oldest and strangest ancient mysteries thus earning them a place on our top 10 list [Music] we remain now in the foggy realms of prehistory a time beyond the written word a time known only through the strange monuments left to us and the myths passed down through generations however our search for the greatest mysteries of history now takes us across the waters to the island of albion to britain here lies one of the most mysterious wonders of history stonehenge the most famous prehistoric monument in the world stonehenge stands in the english countryside in the county of wiltshire in southern england the site as it survives consists of a ring of standing stones with each stone measuring at around 13 feet high and seven feet wide they generally weigh around 25 tonnes each a considerable amount considering the prehistoric culture who erected them had no forms of advanced machinery [Music] the stones themselves are set in the midst of a dense complex of neolithic and bronze age monuments including several hundred burial mounds archaeologists have dated the construction of stonehenge to around 3000 bc however the structure was built in several stages throughout history and the site was used by pre-neolithic peoples before the stones were even erected in fact the site on which stonehenge was built appears to have been significant as far back as 8 000 bc archaeologists have found the remains of at least five mesolithic post holes these holes would have supported large pine posts which appear to have been east west orientation and of possible ritual significance [Music] the next phase of building at the site of stonehenge began in around 3100 bc this site consisted of a large circular enclosure made from chalk with an entrance to the north and one to the south the exact purposes of this structure are unclear but archaeologists have found the cremated remains of 63 individuals at the site this has led some experts to believe that some of the first stones brought to the site in this period acted as grave markers however scientific analysis of a number of animal remains found near the site in this period seems to reveal that as many as 4 000 people gathered here bringing animals from as far as scotland it seems likely that these early britons came together to celebrate mid-summer and mid-winter festivals up until around 3000 bc archaeologists have continued to find the cremated remains of individuals this has led scholars to believe that the early site of stonehenge was often used as a burial site at this early stage stonehenge was barely stone at all and consisted mostly of wooden structures it is not until around 2600 bc that the builders of stonehenge began to truly adopt stone and begin to build the concentric structures we see today interestingly analysis of the stone has revealed that much of it came from as far as wales a vast distance to transport heavy rocks in neolithic times from around 2600 to 2400 bc a major phase of building activity began a total of 80 stones were erected many of these were truly enormous standing at almost 7.5 metres tall at this time the stonehenge we think of today was beginning to form however much of this large standing stone complex is no longer visible to us as many of the stones were removed from the site throughout history it seems that these enormous stones were possibly transported by placing them on rows of rolling logs a method seen also in china however the exact method by which stonehenge was built is unknown many claim that it would have been impossible for neolithic peoples to build such a structure and point to extraterrestrial intervention [Music] regardless why would this prehistoric culture go to such lengths and efforts to construct such impressive yet mysterious structures the people responsible for stonehenge left no written records and the purposes behind it are hotly debated today [Music] it has been speculated by some that the complex had a seasonal function in fact some of the stones align with the sunset of the winter solstice and the sunrise of the summer solstice this paired with the archaeological evidence for gatherings at these times lends credence to the possibility that the site was used as both a calendar and a place of ritual worship and celebration stonehenge may have also had an astronomical function being designed as a form of celestial observatory allowing for the prediction of eclipses the solstice the equinox and other celestial phenomena some scholars have even suggested that stonehenge may have also been a site of healing this is based upon the sheer number of human remains found at the site with deformities and trauma others state that the site was a place of ancestor worship and linked to the other surrounding neolithic complexes according to this theory stonehenge represented the land of the dead with a ritual journey to stonehenge representing a ceremonial passage from life to death [Music] just like the carnac stones the mystery surrounding this neolithic structure has led to this creation of numerous myths in the 12th century a.d the medieval historian geoffrey of monmouth stated that stonehenge was in fact built by the wizard merlin shrouded in myth its purpose and meaning lost to the ages stonehenge is one of the most mysterious feats of ancient engineering on earth thus stonehenge more than earned its place in our top 10 ancient mysteries [Music] we go now to the ancient bronze age mediterranean a world dominated by three major supernaturals the myceneans of greece the hittites of the near east and the mighty egyptian empire in around 1200 bc all but one of these civilizations egypt disappeared completely from history in an event known as the bronze age collapse the myceneans were once a flourishing civilization in what is today greece their tale begins in around 1500 bc from this date onwards the mycenaeans became the most advanced civilization in europe able to produce incredible works of art construct massive palaces and fortifications and effectively dominate much of the eastern mediterranean through both trade and warfare in fact it was the mycenaeans who were believed to have been the peoples of the homeric myths mighty heroes such as achilles odysseus and agamemnon across the aegean sea the great hittite empire ruled a vast empire from their homeland in modern day turkey the hittites were an advanced civilization able to dominate surrounding kingdoms such as troy using their well-trained armies however by the 13th century bc the hittite empire had weakened considerably having lost lands to the egyptians and the syrians to the south the mighty egyptian empire was flourishing having conquered much of the levant egyptian expansion had often brought them into violent contact with the hittites in fact the largest battle in history to that date had been fought between the two empires at the battle of megiddo memory of this terrible battle survived in the term armageddon [Music] however in the 12th century bc all three of these ancient superpowers encountered a series of disasters which left only egypt surviving though having lost its empire every mycenaean city was destroyed the hittite empire collapsed nearly every major city in the levant was burned to the ground and the egyptians found themselves having to fight tooth and nail against the mysterious people arriving from the sea the infamous sea peoples some historians have referred to this event as the worst and most mysterious disaster in ancient history the end of a golden age in humanity's history and no one knows how exactly it happened it is possible that a number of environmental factors were involved for instance we have evidence for a series of devastating earthquakes hitting the mediterranean at this time this caused major damage to a number of cities we also have evidence for widespread droughts which would have caused mass starvation and in fact the sea level had dropped considerably however what is most curious is the fact that within a period of 50 years almost every significant city in the mediterranean world was burned to the ground and no one knows why could the common people have revolted on mass made desperate by their anger it seems likely however that many of these cities were destroyed by mysterious people known as the sea people these strange peoples always attacked by sea hence the name and raided inland much like the vikings of later periods [Music] references to attacks by sea are found from all three of the ancient superpowers [Music] in greece we hear of the people of pylos increasing coastal patrols constantly on the lookout for attacks from the sea then we hear nothing from them at all and their palaces are burned to the ground it is likely that crete 2 as well as the mainland was attacked for we see the cretans moving their settlements inland to escape this mysterious threat from the city of ugarit in the levant we hear of a desperate plea for help to the king mysterious enemy ships were beginning to appear and attack their territory [Music] the letter reads my father behold the enemy's ships came here my cities were burned and they did evil things in my country does not my father know that all the troops and chariots are in the land of hattie and all the ships are in the land of luca thus our country is abandoned to itself may my father know it the ships of the enemy that came here inflicted much damage upon us no one came to ugarit's aid and the city was completely destroyed the plea fell on deaf ears few escaped the advancing destruction in egypt we also hear of an attack by the sea peoples however unlike their neighbors the egyptians were able to fight them off in a desperate sea battle egypt therefore was able to survive their onslaught albeit in a weakened state the golden age of the egyptian empire had come to an end however it is unlikely that the sea peoples alone were responsible for the bronze age collapse the exact reason behind the total destruction of some of humanity's most impressive civilizations remains unknown thus the bronze age collapse perhaps the most devastating event in all ancient history makes it onto our list of top 10 ancient mysteries it has often been thought that the collapse of the great bronze age civilizations was inspiration for the tales of atlantis this therefore brings us on to our next great ancient mystery the enigmatic city of atlantis according to the 4th century bc philosopher plato the great civilization of atlantis lies beyond the pillars of hercules referring to what is known today as the straits of gibraltar mentioned in his works criteus and thaimaeus plato describes the city of atlantis as a powerful nation based on an island in the mid-atlantic ocean however in their arrogance the atlanteans had offended the gods and plato tells us that they were punished by their submersion of their entire city beneath the waves atlantis fell into the sea and then into myth most of plato's contemporaries and students thought that plato was not actually referring to a real place but using a fictional civilization as a tool to teach political philosophy some however believe that plato was in fact referring to a true civilization especially the later fourth century philosopher krantol who studied plato's works and traveled the world to investigate the tales origins [Music] like krantor many subsequent readers of plato have believed that there is some truth to his words and that plato was either referring to a real city or basing the atlanteans on real people in the 16th century interest in atlantis was renewed with many european scholars associating the mysterious city with the newly discovered americas [Music] european imaginations were further inspired by the discovery of the mayans in central america no one had expected to find such an impressive civilization in the new world and many immediately thought of plato's tales [Music] the european discoverers of these impressive cities of the mains did not originally think the indigenous peoples they encountered were responsible for their construction instead some believe that these great cities and pyramids were built by the atlanteans and that the natives of central america were incapable of founding such an impressive civilization others thought that the mains could only be the inferior descendants of the atlanteans an offshoot of a once technologically sophisticated civilization which had lost its former glory in this way the early atlantean theories were strained by a degree of racism and imperialism europeans were convinced man civilization could not have existed without the help of a more advanced nation a viewpoint influenced by the self-image of european colonisers as the bringers of civilization to the less technologically advanced nations of africa asia and the americas inspired by the great lost civilizations of central and southern america many pseudo-archaeologists would continue their searches for an atlantean american connection well into the modern era the tales of atlantis were made even more fanciful by theosophists such as madame blavatsky and henry albert these theosophists saw the atlanteans as a superior race endowed with psychic and supernatural powers according to the theosophist atlantis reached its peak around one million years ago but disappeared as a result of internal conflict the philosophies conception of atlantis directly contrast plato's plato saw the atlanteans as an antagonistic and deeply flawed race who were eventually defeated in warfare by the superior greeks of athens it seems that time had only increased the mysterious nature of atlantis has subsequent generations created increasingly fantastical additions to the legend it was not until the 1960s when the science behind continental drift and plate tectonics became widely understood that the idea of a lost continent of atlantis became an impossible concept in light of this new locations for atlantis began to be searched for by those convinced of the reality behind the myth the most logical theory proposes that atlantis was based upon the lost ancient minoan city of thera in the aegean sea the island flourished as a naval trading power until it was completely destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption in around 1650 bc the eruption generated a mega tsunami with waves 150m meters high vera and many other minoan cities throughout the aegean were completely destroyed by this event and minoan civilization appears to have never completely recovered its former glory [Music] one theory which does match plato's position of atlantis as outside the gates of hercules states that the atlanteans may have been based on the canary or madeira islands which lie west of the straits of gibraltar some see the location of atlantis as lying somewhere within the bermuda triangle and even cuba other theories have placed atlantis as far north as doggerland in the north sea and even sweden and antarctica in their search for atlantis those who believe in its existence have never been entirely consistent in their theories of its location if there is one place in which atlantis does exist it is in the imaginations of many who have been inspired by plato's tale academics today are unanimous in their belief that plato was using atlantis as a fictional allegory a tool to teach political theory however many still believe in its existence and its mysterious nature has heavily influenced our own culture lost to the waves and lost to history the city of atlantis has forever been one of the great mysteries of the ancient world more than earning its place on our top ten list we now move on to another mysteriously disappearing civilization in the pacific ocean liza baron and almost uninhabited island an island once populated by rich and flourishing ancient civilization an island known to us as easter island in the 19th century the island's population numbered at just over 100 however the great stone monuments which can be seen on their hundreds across the island tells us of a once great ancient civilization these great stone monuments known as maui resembled huge human heads sticking out of the ground and they number at nearly 900 spread across the island these impressive structures were continuously built by these mysterious peoples for a period of 500 years around 1100 and 1600 a.d and they are indicative of the time when the civilization at easter island flourished the statues were carved from volcanic rock quarried from the site of an extinct volcano they appear to have been built to commemorate the death of a clan leader each head took a team of five or six men a whole year to create after which they were transported to various points of the island to be erected the heads were so huge that special methods of transportation had to be developed some of the largest heads in fact weighed up to 82 tons it is believed that each head required a team of around 250 men to transport it using a y-shaped sledge pulled along using rope ties around the statue's neck another possible method of transportation involves tying ropes to the head and rocking it then tugging it forward as it rocked thus using the head's momentum to pull it towards its destination this method would require a team of around 15 men interestingly however only around a quarter of the statues produced were eventually erected the rest were discovered either in the quarry or on their way to be erected it seems the people of the island had not the time to complete their great works before their civilization collapsed [Music] during its height the people of east ireland lived in various stone-built settlements across the island on the coast of the island lived a mysterious group of astronomer priests in stone structures known as tupa these priests like many ancient peoples observed and charted the movement of the heavens the people of east ireland also developed their own writing systems called rongoronga this script consisted of pictographs and geometric shapes and was written right to left then left to right in a winding snake-like fashion the meaning of these strange texts however remains a mystery only the ruling families and the astronomer priests were able to read it and none of these people survived the extinction of their civilization the island appears to have been first settled in around 650 a.d by mysterious tribe from polynesia it is rumored that their chief dreamed of a rich land to the east and so led his people in a great canoe expedition eventually discovering easter island when the civilization was flourishing its nine tribes were all ruled by a great high chief who descended from the island's first chief however the island's prosperity was not long to last as the population increased the island was subject to extensive deforestation and as a result the mass extinction of nearly all of the island's plant life experts believed that the island was once home to many species of plant life which grew in abundance all across the island with some trees growing up to 15 metres by the 18th century 21 species of tree and all species of land birds had become extinct on easter island as a result of over harvesting over hunting and climate change all problems faced by our civilization today the extinction of many of these island trees meant that the people could no longer build fishing vessels and much of the soil lost its fertility greatly affecting agricultural production the loss of their native ecosystem meant also that many of the animals which were a source of food disappeared from the island too by the time europeans arrived at the island in the 18th century the once great civilization was a shadow of its former self the population had diminished drastically no longer able to produce any great stone structures it has even been suggested that the remaining population had to resort to cannibalism to survive in the new world they had created the now weakened and tiny population of easter island eventually fell prey to the european slave trade and disease today the island is sparsely populated by the ancestors of a once great ancient civilization the fall of the easter island civilization has been explained by a number of theories most of these revolve around the exploitation of their natural environment a stark warning to our own civilization could we fall prey to our own overpopulation and environmental destruction will all that remains of us be our monuments the disappearance of easter island civilization is both a mystery and a warning in addition to our top 10 mysteries of the ancient world which may be more relevant today than at any other time we travel now across the waters to south america here in the deserts of peru is a mystery that has long gone unsolved the nazca lines on the dry ground of the peruvian desert can be found hundreds of enormous lines many of them resembling animal and human figures the lines are formed by a shallow trench and cover staggering area 450 square kilometers [Music] the largest figures span nearly 12 000 feet and include carvings of condors hummingbirds monkeys and spiders the lions were created as part of a huge earthwork project by the nazca civilization which flourished for a thousand years between 500 bc and 500 a.d
the lines are so well preserved due to the extremely dry and windless nature of the peruvian deserts for centuries these enormous lines went unnoticed it was only in the 20th century that they began to be rediscovered by civilian and military aircraft flying over the area however the lines are not only visible from aircraft they can also be seen from the surrounding hills and other high places the ancient nazca people used simple tools but advanced surveying techniques to construct the lines however the lines remain their construction remains a great mystery to modern experts archaeologists ethnologists and anthropologists have studied the lines and have come up with an interesting hypothesis they state that the nazca people created them to be seen by their gods in the sky theory supposes that the nazca lines were intended to act as an observatory a tool used to observe places on the distant horizon where the sun and other celestial bodies rose and set during solstices this is not dissimilar to what we have seen at stonehenge many prehistoric cultures constructed great earthworks and stone buildings to observe the stars and seasons and they often linked these observatories to ritual worship of their gods computer-aided studies of some of the animal figures by astronomers has revealed that they correspond with astronomical constellations for example according to computer modelling the giant spider figure is actually a representation of the constellation orion however this theory does not correspond with many of the other figures in the nazca lines so we cannot be sure other theories abandoned the celestial and seasoned theories altogether for instance one explanation suggests that the lions are linked to the nazca culture's worship of mountain and water deities these lines according to this theory form part of a religious ritual honoring these deities with the lines being used as sacred paths leading to areas where they might be properly worshipped the proper worship of these gods was essential in their decision whether or not to provide water to the land a resource especially in demand in such a dry and hospitable land other theories link the lines to possible irrigation schemes planned by the nazca but this does not fully explain the various animal figures some claim these figures exist primarily as fertility gods the wildest theories suppose the nazca lines were either constructed by or for extraterrestrial visitors who would be able to see the lions from their craft although these explanations are not currently accepted by today's academic community who dismissed them due to the lack of evidence for alien activity interestingly however there is still no solid explanation behind the nazca lines by academics the reasons for their construction and the exact methods behind it are a complete mystery to all fields of scientific and historical study another unsolved mystery of the ancient world our next ancient mystery is not of a monument but a man the greatest commander and conqueror of the ancient world alexander the great in 323 bc alexander the great subjugator of the largest empire the world had ever known died under mysterious circumstances born in the macedonian city of pella in 356 bc alexander was mentored by the famous philosopher aristotle until the age of 16. he became king of macedon after his father philip was assassinated suspiciously this assassin was himself slaying before he could be interrogated and it is rumored philip was assassinated in a plot involving alexander and his mother to prevent philip from making his other son and by another woman king when he became king alexander quickly proved himself to be the shrewdest politician and best military commander in the world by the age of 30 he had conquered the largest empire ever known without losing a single battle from the shores of greece to the himalayan mountains and the borders of india alexander's empire seemed to span the world itself it was hailed as a god in egypt and the king of kings in persia he founded over 20 cities all across the world including the famous alexandria [Music] however before he could carry out his plans to conquer the rest of the known world alexander died mysteriously in his palace at babylon after 12 days of suffering the mysterious events began one evening when alexander was holding a feast around mid-evening the king was seized with intense pain and collapsed he was immediately taken to his bed chamber in the palace and given the best medical treatment available however he soon experiences tremors stiffnesses in the neck and short pains in the stomach this was soon followed by excruciating agony whenever and wherever he was touched on the body making treatment almost impossible he was eventually reduced to a fever and delirium and experiencing frequent hallucinations in his final days the most powerful man on earth could not speak and could only move his head and arms ultimately he found it difficult to breathe and he died at the age of just 32. four main theories have been presented to explain alexander's death malaria typhoid alcohol and poisoning malaria is an unlikely explanation this disease is carried by mosquitoes in tropical locations whereas alexander's palace at babylon was in the middle of a desert landscape in what is modern-day iraq thus making the presence of mosquitoes unlikely thai ford is also an unlikely explanation the disease is transmitted through food or water and usually affects an entire population through epidemic it is highly unlikely to result in a lone and isolated case if alexander died of typhoid then so would have many others and this is not mentioned in the historical sources alcohol is perhaps the least likely explanation of them all common symptoms of alcohol poisoning include nausea and vomiting alexander suffered neither of these symptoms one of the most frequent believed theories is that alexander was the victim of assassination by poisoning assassination was rife within the macedonian court it was almost a national tradition after all alexander's own father was assassinated under mysterious circumstances however the strongest argument against poison is that alexander suffered for 12 days before finally dying such long-lasting poisons are thought not to have existed in antiquity common poisons at this time were hemlock arsenic wormwood henbane and autumn crocus all of which act almost instantly if it was poison then it was a calculated and cruel act using a substance not commonly utilized by assassins of the day in fact some possible candidates for the poison have been put forward by toxicologists one theory supposes that alexandra's wine was spiked by the plant known as white hellebore this plant is bitter tasting and so the wine would have had to be sweetened to conceal it but it is possible the king was too drunk to notice according to toxicologists this plant may cause the same symptoms reported to have been suffered by alexander if the white hellebore was used then it seems that the king's killer wanted to see him suffer for a prolonged period and so went to great lengths to discover this new poison indeed there is no doubt that in his conquest of the world alexander may have made a few enemies along the way however theories of such as this are mere speculation we may never know the true killer of alexander the great from prince to king of the known world from man to god alexander's death took him at the height of his power his death is a mystery but so also is his burial location no one knows where alexander is buried and scholars have been on the hunt for it for centuries a legend in life a mystery in death alexander the great earns his place on our list of great mysteries of the ancient world [Music] our next ancient mystery is no man but an object that has been the subject of much controversy and debate the shroud of turin kept in the cathedral of saint john the baptist in turin the shroud is a long piece of linen cloth bearing the image of a man a man many believe to be jesus of nazareth it is believed by many today that this cloth is the very one that wrapped the body of jesus christ after his crucifixion today it is an object of worship for many across the christian world the shroud reveals the entire body of a man who appears to be completely naked and holds his hands across his groin the man appears to be quite tall as well as muscular he has shoulder-length hair a mustache and a beard an image which is strikingly like many representations of jesus seen throughout history there are also various reddish brown marks seen across the body of the mug which have been interpreted by forensic specialists as indicative of wounds for example there is a round wound piercing the man's wrist an upward gouge penetrating his thorax small punctures around his head steams of bloods running down his arms and various other wounds all across his body it seems then that the man who once occupied this shroud suffered most if not all of the wounds which were known to us from the story of jesus crucifixion the origins of the shroud and the image upon it however remains a mystery and are hotly debated topics among theologians historians and scientists the shroud is dated possibly to the middle ages around the 14th century even this however is hotly debated with some questioning whether the documents we have do indeed reference the shuring shroud although there is possibly an even earlier attestation to the shroud from the 1200s when it was reportedly stolen from constantinople by the crusaders however it is unanimously agreed that the shroud appears in documents dating to the 15th and 16th centuries at this time it was originally owned by the house of savoy who in 1578 transferred it to turin where it remains today it was displayed to the public in the 17th century and in the 19th century we see the shroud being photographed for the first time whilst in public exhibition interestingly although the shroud is venerated by millions the papacy has never fully acknowledged it as the authentic image of jesus christ nevertheless much care has gone into its restoration and conservation it is currently sealed within a bulletproof airtight case and is kept at a finely tuned and consistent environment the temperature gaseous composition and humidity inside the case are carefully controlled to ensure the trout is well protected many of the faithful throughout history have believed that the shroud is indeed the one mentioned in the gospels of matthew mark luke and john the shroud is respected by christians of many denominations including baptist catholics lutherans methodists orthodox pentecostals and presbyterians much scientific analysis has been carried out on the shroud the results of which have drawn much controversy radiocarbon dating of the shroud seems to indicate that it dates to either 14th or 13th centuries more than 1 000 years after the crucifixion event the results of this study have been challenged however some state that the sample which the scientists use was contaminated in some way this has been denied by the scientific community who states that the investigation was carried out accurately this has led some believers to completely dismiss the reliability of carbon dating altogether furthermore an examination of the shroud's material itself has led to some unexpected results for example other burial shrouds that have been excavated from tombs near jerusalem have revealed differing and simpler weaving patterns than those seen on the turin shroud this has led some experts to conclude that the tyrin shroud cannot have originated from jerusalem at the time of jesus however an analysis of the dirt particles on the shroud compared with the dirt filed from ancient tombs in jerusalem has indeed revealed them to be almost exactly the same the mysterious contradiction indeed [Music] there's also been much debate as to whether the image on this readout is pigment or real blood chemical analysis of the strand seems to point to the fact that it is real blood of the a b type but other scientists argue that certain other pigments can give similar results to those of blood every argument either supporting or refuting the authenticity of the shroud has resulted in argument from both sides many of the faithful refuse to believe that the shroud is anything but a holy relic of christ while some experts point to various pieces of evidence to disprove its authenticity regardless the origin and nature of the shroud of turin is anything but conclusive today it remains a mystery to faithful unfaithless alike and earns its place among the greatest mysteries of antiquity [Music] the knights templar have long been associated with secrets and conspiracies the actions of this order of warrior monks and their sudden disappearance have been the subjects of much speculation but perhaps the biggest mystery of the order surrounds their origin at the temple mount in jerusalem the site from which they claim their name why did the templars choose this ancient site as their base of operations and what were they looking for in the tunnels below it founded in 1118 in jerusalem by the french knight hugh depends the knights templar soon became the most powerful and wealthy organization in the medieval world initially founded to protect pilgrims visiting the holy land the temple has soon managed to expand their spheres of operation throughout many nations they even became successful bankers they were a formidable military force being the first professional standing army in europe since the fall of the roman empire around 600 years earlier their wealth and power was not to last in 1307 the knights templar in france were arrested by agents of king philip iv all members of the order who did not flee into hiding were rounded up imprisoned and tortured thousands of knights monks and other members of the order were tortured until they confessed to various crimes including heresy homosexuality and fraud most likely these confessions were all false some state that king philip was in heavy debt from his walls and decided to seize templar wealth to balance the books thus orchestrating an elaborate series of accusations to level on the templars in order for his persecutions to seem legitimate to the papacy regardless of the reasons behind the templar's disappearance remains a mystery even today [Music] the penultimate place on our top 10 ancient mysteries is occupied by the works of one of the oldest and most mysterious civilizations in the world we shall now delve into a world of strange ritual magic spells and supernatural beings we shall open the egyptian book of the dead dating to around 1550 bc the book of the dead was used by egyptian priests for millennia its secret spells were said to have guided the soul through the underworld and onto the afterlife and as such copies of it can be found in many burial tombs in sarcophagi the book was not a book as we understand them today with the cover and turnable pages rather it was a painted onto a long scrolls of papyrus the book's spells were written in hieroglyphic or hierarchic script onto these scrolls and were often accompanied by illustrations depicting the dead on their journey into the afterlife however the spells found in the book of the dead can also be seen written on the coffins themselves the book of the dead consisted of around 192 spells and incantations the egyptians were strong believers of the magical power of the voice and ritual speech was thought to possess a great deal of power the egyptian concept of magic called heka was intimately linked to their religious worship magic was used in honour of the gods and some spells were offered to use the power to control them the spells found in the book served as a range of processes some spells give the user mystical knowledge of the afterlife others offer protection against evil forces but some even dealing with the famous weighing of the heart ritual in this ritual the gods weighed the deceased person's heart to determine their purity and to decide whether to allow them into the afterlife each book of the dead was not identical the owner of each copy chose from a large corpus of spells and decided which one suited them the most these spells were then copied down allowing each person to tailor their own unique book of the dead there were however certain conventions which had to mean maintained through all copies and these often depended upon which was fashionable at the time for example in the saint dynasty it was common to organize each chapter into four sections nevertheless a common thread binds all copies of the book it is a single entity of various forms importantly the book of the dead contained important chapters which aimed at preserving the body of the deceased after death along with the person's spirit and intelligence these were all seen as essential qualities to be retained for the persons in the next life the book of the dead states that in the afterlife its reader would join the gods themselves and live in a paradise version of the world of the living they would want for nothing and would live a happy for eternity the book also states that the dead would themselves gain new divine powers however the path to the afterlife was a difficult one the dead would need to pass through a series of gates caverns mounds guarded by supernatural creatures these were grotesque creatures with heads of animals one of these creatures was even known as he who dances in blood the book however provided its owner with the correct spells to ward them off the ordeals ended with the weighing of the heart after passing this test the dead would be reborn into the afterlife the book of the dead is one of the most mysterious documents in ancient history it speaks of strange and powerful spells fierce and grotesque supernatural creatures and a new plane of existence for those who passed the gods tests and proved themselves worthy and just the owner of such a book would possess powers over life and death and over the gods themselves the book of the dead therefore occupies the penultimate place in our top 10 ancient mysteries [Music] the final place in our list belongs to one of the strangest and most revolutionary ideas ever to have been proposed the idea that human advancement in pre-history in ancient history was the result of extraterrestrial intervention our final place belongs to the ancient aliens proponents of this theory state that aliens made contact with humanity at various points in the distant past and influenced our development they provided us with culture technology building techniques and the knowledge of agriculture in return we worshiped them as gods the deities worshiped by all societies were according to this theory actually aliens the idea that aliens visited ancient man and were responsible for human advancement has not been popular in established academia however the theory is based on some interesting points and has a significant following scientists such as carl sagan have stated that extraterrestrial visitations to early man should not be discounted as a fanciful theory that beings possessing the technology of interstellar trouble almost certainly exist sagan was followed by eric von daniken who in 1968 proposed many theories about extraterrestrial visitations in his book charity of the gods danican believed that many of the great constructions and tools created by ancient cultures were far too advanced to have been created by humans and that they were either created by aliens or aliens assisted humans in their making for instance egypt's stonehenge the great prince of giza the nazca lines and the easter island heads as examples danican goes on to point out that many ancient cultures across the world appear to depict spacecraft in their art as well as non-human creatures and artifacts which were too advanced to exist within the culture of the time proponents of theories like this often point to religious texts and mythologies as evidence for example a common theory is based upon the ancient sumerian texts found in cuneiform tablets one of these the enumera ellis states that humanity was created to serve deities known as the anunnaki this has been seen as evidence by some that aliens came to earth to use humanity as slaves another text often cited is the hindu ramayana in this text the gods are portrayed as supernatural entities that transport themselves using strange flying vehicles in fact there are many mentions of mysterious flying craft even the bible has been used as evidence for instance in the book of genesis 200 angels come down to earth to mate with humanity creating a race of giants known as the nephilim these angels are called the watchers they taught humanity metallurgy metal working cosmetics sorcery astrology astronomy and meteorology proponents of the ancient alien hypothesis claim this is an early account of alien interaction with mankind however perhaps the strangest evidence used comes from the book of ezekiel here a vision of ezekiel is recounted in which he sees an immense cloud that emitted a brilliant light according to this account the cloud contained a fire and the center of the fire looked like glowing metal and in the fire was what looked like the four living creatures these creatures are described as winged and roughly humanoid in appearance the passage goes on to describe some strange shiny wheel shaped objects which could fly around and along and moved with the strange humanoid creatures danican states that this passage of ezekiel proves early contact with aliens this account is perhaps the most striking of all due to its similarities with modern ufo sightings some artifacts have also been put forward as evidence for example the elongated schools of some ancient civilizations of the americas are seen as proof that these ancient cultures wish to emulate the appearance of alien visitors critics of these theories have argued that all of this evidence can be explained without resorting to aliens as an explanation in fact these theories have been rejected by all credible fields of study nevertheless can we truly be sure that our ancestors were not visited by beings from another parts of the universe modern experts may be too quick to discard these possibilities one thing is for sure and that is that we cannot be sure perhaps ancient man as he busied himself about with his various concerns was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences far greater than our own regardless the theory of ancient aliens more than merits its place on our list [Music] in our exploration of ancient mysteries we have journeyed far and wide we have flown across the world from the pacific to the atlantic from the english countryside to the far reaches of the new world on our quest we've also traveled through time covering thousands of years of history in our search for the weird and wonderful we've encountered an image of the messiah witnessed the building of the impossible and even glimpsed extraterrestrial life itself though the journey does not have to end here the ancient world is full of mystery and holds many secrets for those curious enough to look [Music] [Music] [Music] you
2021-12-02