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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:01,266 --> 00:00:02,266 ♪ ♪ 2 00:00:02,266 --> 00:00:03,966 ELLA AL-SHAMAHI: Humans. 3 00:00:05,766 --> 00:00:09,133 From hunter-gatherers 4 00:00:09,133 --> 00:00:11,066 to builders of mega-cities 5 00:00:11,066 --> 00:00:15,333 in just a few thousand years. 6 00:00:15,333 --> 00:00:18,733 How did this happen? 7 00:00:18,733 --> 00:00:20,966 Our story so far, 8 00:00:20,966 --> 00:00:22,933 if it teaches us anything, 9 00:00:22,933 --> 00:00:26,233 it's that none of this was a foregone conclusion. 10 00:00:26,233 --> 00:00:27,866 To get here, 11 00:00:27,866 --> 00:00:29,766 we had to harness nature 12 00:00:29,766 --> 00:00:33,033 at a scale we had never known before. 13 00:00:33,033 --> 00:00:34,900 This place is stunning, 14 00:00:34,900 --> 00:00:39,300 and yet a complete and utter death trap. 15 00:00:41,433 --> 00:00:43,666 And as we started to lay down roots... 16 00:00:44,466 --> 00:00:46,166 Wow. 17 00:00:46,166 --> 00:00:47,900 ...we faced new challenges. 18 00:00:47,900 --> 00:00:49,533 (slide projector clicks) 19 00:00:49,533 --> 00:00:52,533 In some houses, there are up to 62 people buried in them. 20 00:00:52,533 --> 00:00:54,233 (slide projector clicks) 21 00:00:54,233 --> 00:00:59,000 AL-SHAMAHI: Each generation building on the last. 22 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:04,500 Sharing ideas, inspiring, and collaborating. 23 00:01:04,500 --> 00:01:08,700 It is so hard to stand here and not have goosebumps. 24 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,600 We learned to communicate in new ways... 25 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,933 This is the birthplace of the alphabet. 26 00:01:17,933 --> 00:01:20,966 ...and built marvels. 27 00:01:20,966 --> 00:01:22,200 So, this is a 28 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,000 snapshot in time 29 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:25,333 of the building 30 00:01:25,333 --> 00:01:26,566 of the Great Pyramid. 31 00:01:26,566 --> 00:01:28,033 And you found it. 32 00:01:30,366 --> 00:01:32,900 "Human: Building Empires." 33 00:01:34,433 --> 00:01:36,766 Right now, on "NOVA." 34 00:01:36,766 --> 00:01:39,766 ♪ ♪ 35 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,200 (birds chirping) 36 00:02:13,233 --> 00:02:16,233 AL-SHAMAHI: Around 300,000 years ago... 37 00:02:17,833 --> 00:02:20,900 ...our species, Homo sapiens, 38 00:02:20,900 --> 00:02:23,366 evolved in Africa. 39 00:02:25,500 --> 00:02:29,133 For generations, small bands of hunter-gatherers 40 00:02:29,133 --> 00:02:31,433 explored the planet. 41 00:02:32,966 --> 00:02:35,366 Learning to survive. 42 00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:40,500 ♪ ♪ 43 00:02:40,500 --> 00:02:45,133 Many other species of human walked the Earth alongside us. 44 00:02:46,466 --> 00:02:49,733 But one by one, they disappeared... 45 00:02:49,733 --> 00:02:53,333 ♪ ♪ 46 00:02:53,333 --> 00:02:56,200 ...until only we remained. 47 00:02:59,866 --> 00:03:03,966 For most of our history, our population 48 00:03:03,966 --> 00:03:05,800 was tiny and fragile. 49 00:03:08,866 --> 00:03:13,600 Every aspect of our lives determined by the natural world. 50 00:03:15,833 --> 00:03:18,033 And yet... 51 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,666 ...everything would change. 52 00:03:29,166 --> 00:03:31,733 Today, there are about eight billion of us, 53 00:03:31,733 --> 00:03:32,900 most of us living 54 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:35,266 in cities like this one, 55 00:03:35,266 --> 00:03:40,566 able to connect in an instant with people across the planet. 56 00:03:40,566 --> 00:03:42,666 And you might think it was inevitable, 57 00:03:42,666 --> 00:03:45,266 the result of progress over time. 58 00:03:45,266 --> 00:03:49,133 But surely our story so far, if it teaches us anything, 59 00:03:49,133 --> 00:03:52,700 it's that none of this was a foregone conclusion. 60 00:03:52,700 --> 00:03:56,533 ♪ ♪ 61 00:03:56,533 --> 00:03:58,866 So how did we get here? 62 00:04:00,366 --> 00:04:05,500 How did humanity transform from scattered groups of nomads 63 00:04:05,500 --> 00:04:08,200 into our modern, interconnected world? 64 00:04:11,033 --> 00:04:15,133 What happened in that final chapter of our story 65 00:04:15,133 --> 00:04:18,666 that took us on a path to this place? 66 00:04:18,666 --> 00:04:23,000 ♪ ♪ 67 00:04:39,966 --> 00:04:44,833 ♪ ♪ 68 00:04:48,133 --> 00:04:52,300 On a remote hilltop in the southeast of Turkey... 69 00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:00,100 ...stands a prehistoric monument steeped in mystery. 70 00:05:00,100 --> 00:05:04,400 ♪ ♪ 71 00:05:18,066 --> 00:05:22,400 It is so hard to stand here and not have goosebumps. 72 00:05:26,566 --> 00:05:30,366 This is the oldest temple 73 00:05:30,366 --> 00:05:34,600 unearthed anywhere on this planet. 74 00:05:38,533 --> 00:05:42,833 It was built 11,500 years ago by hunter-gatherers. 75 00:05:44,233 --> 00:05:48,766 That's 6,000 years earlier than Stonehenge. 76 00:05:48,766 --> 00:05:50,400 And yet, somehow, 77 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:54,333 our ancestors were capable of making this. 78 00:05:58,033 --> 00:06:00,700 This is Göbekli Tepe. 79 00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:04,233 ♪ ♪ 80 00:06:11,100 --> 00:06:14,033 Incredible T-shaped pillars, which you could imagine 81 00:06:14,033 --> 00:06:17,766 would have been holding up a huge roof. 82 00:06:17,766 --> 00:06:20,100 And then if we look at them, 83 00:06:20,100 --> 00:06:23,900 they're covered in these engravings. 84 00:06:23,900 --> 00:06:25,666 So, this is a fox. 85 00:06:25,666 --> 00:06:27,300 There's vultures here. 86 00:06:27,300 --> 00:06:29,800 There's bear, there's wild boar. 87 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:30,833 And here... 88 00:06:32,066 --> 00:06:34,066 This one just has to be my favorite. 89 00:06:34,066 --> 00:06:36,566 Look at these incredible teeth. 90 00:06:36,566 --> 00:06:39,400 And it's hunting one of those wild boars. 91 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,366 And yet, 92 00:06:42,366 --> 00:06:45,966 this incredible feat of architecture 93 00:06:45,966 --> 00:06:49,033 is not the most revolutionary thing about this place. 94 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,033 Göbekli Tepe is not simply a temple. 95 00:06:56,033 --> 00:07:00,200 It is a marker of a species in the midst of change. 96 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,600 Similar sites have been found across the region. 97 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:07,000 ♪ ♪ 98 00:07:14,166 --> 00:07:17,233 In many ways, these prehistoric builders lived 99 00:07:17,233 --> 00:07:20,766 as their ancestors had for thousands of years. 100 00:07:21,966 --> 00:07:23,733 Their days spent foraging and hunting 101 00:07:23,733 --> 00:07:26,000 to feed their families. 102 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,066 (boar squeals, falls) 103 00:07:34,433 --> 00:07:38,800 ♪ ♪ 104 00:07:45,066 --> 00:07:47,833 But they'd made one fundamental change. 105 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,566 After thousands of generations spent as nomads, 106 00:07:53,566 --> 00:07:56,766 following the herds they hunted... 107 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:05,133 ...at places like Göbekli Tepe, 108 00:08:05,133 --> 00:08:08,633 they began to settle down. 109 00:08:14,900 --> 00:08:19,233 The evidence lies not in the temple itself... 110 00:08:20,566 --> 00:08:23,133 ...but in the rubble surrounding it. 111 00:08:30,066 --> 00:08:33,533 Now, this might not look like much compared to that, 112 00:08:33,533 --> 00:08:37,500 but this small square building is actually the remains 113 00:08:37,500 --> 00:08:41,500 of one of the first permanent houses ever built. 114 00:08:47,333 --> 00:08:49,600 That there is a storage vessel, 115 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,500 this is a grinding stone for wild wheat, 116 00:08:52,500 --> 00:08:56,133 and this floor of plaster and stone, 117 00:08:56,133 --> 00:08:58,233 this was somebody's home. 118 00:08:58,233 --> 00:09:03,666 ♪ ♪ 119 00:09:03,666 --> 00:09:07,166 This is one of the first villages. 120 00:09:13,100 --> 00:09:16,200 Archaeologists think maybe a few hundred people 121 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:17,933 were living here. 122 00:09:19,233 --> 00:09:21,766 And calling it home. 123 00:09:25,666 --> 00:09:28,166 For 300,000 years, 124 00:09:28,166 --> 00:09:32,000 Homo sapiens roamed freely. 125 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,933 But now they were gathering together to put down roots. 126 00:09:36,933 --> 00:09:40,600 And so, the question is, why? 127 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,200 And why now? 128 00:09:44,366 --> 00:09:48,700 ♪ ♪ 129 00:09:48,700 --> 00:09:53,566 (birds chirping) 130 00:09:53,566 --> 00:09:56,300 (buzzing) 131 00:09:58,100 --> 00:10:01,333 This was a world of plenty. 132 00:10:01,333 --> 00:10:04,233 Warm and abundant. 133 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,500 But the planet had not always been this way. 134 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,566 Only a few thousand years earlier, 135 00:10:13,566 --> 00:10:16,400 Homo sapiens were on the move... 136 00:10:18,733 --> 00:10:22,766 ...contending with the brutal peak of the last ice age. 137 00:10:24,333 --> 00:10:27,300 Now that the climate had stabilized, 138 00:10:27,300 --> 00:10:31,500 food could remain abundant in a single place for longer. 139 00:10:33,100 --> 00:10:35,733 And so, people started to stay. 140 00:10:36,900 --> 00:10:39,533 And when large groups came together to trade 141 00:10:39,533 --> 00:10:41,966 and share their bounty, 142 00:10:41,966 --> 00:10:44,633 a feature of our brain had an opportunity to flourish 143 00:10:44,633 --> 00:10:46,666 like never before. 144 00:10:46,666 --> 00:10:50,266 ♪ ♪ 145 00:10:50,266 --> 00:10:53,233 Our almost limitless capacity to learn. 146 00:10:54,300 --> 00:10:57,100 ♪ ♪ 147 00:10:59,900 --> 00:11:03,633 An ability with roots that can be traced way back, 148 00:11:03,633 --> 00:11:07,733 right to the beginning of the human story. 149 00:11:07,733 --> 00:11:08,766 (slide projector clicks) 150 00:11:12,666 --> 00:11:15,100 As the distant ancestors of our species 151 00:11:15,100 --> 00:11:17,500 were gradually evolving... 152 00:11:17,500 --> 00:11:18,533 (slide projector clicks) 153 00:11:21,233 --> 00:11:24,166 ...they were developing larger brains. 154 00:11:25,633 --> 00:11:26,666 (slide projector clicks) 155 00:11:29,666 --> 00:11:31,666 But as their brains grew, 156 00:11:31,666 --> 00:11:34,966 the way they were organized was evolving, too. 157 00:11:34,966 --> 00:11:36,000 (slide projector clicks) 158 00:11:37,700 --> 00:11:41,933 Becoming increasingly adaptable, and more able to change 159 00:11:41,933 --> 00:11:45,966 in response to stimulation from the outside world. 160 00:11:45,966 --> 00:11:47,000 (slide projector clicks) 161 00:11:49,566 --> 00:11:52,133 Until they became us. 162 00:11:54,100 --> 00:11:57,666 A species with a highly flexible mind. 163 00:12:01,066 --> 00:12:05,866 ♪ ♪ 164 00:12:05,866 --> 00:12:08,266 We call this flexibility neuroplasticity 165 00:12:08,266 --> 00:12:11,100 because it's like our brains are plastic. 166 00:12:11,100 --> 00:12:12,966 They adapt, they alter, 167 00:12:12,966 --> 00:12:15,300 and they change. 168 00:12:15,300 --> 00:12:18,066 It has some profound effects. 169 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,766 ♪ ♪ 170 00:12:25,566 --> 00:12:28,500 (fire crackling, kids laughing) 171 00:12:28,500 --> 00:12:31,033 ♪ ♪ 172 00:12:31,033 --> 00:12:34,833 AL-SHAMAHI: With such a high level of neuroplasticity, 173 00:12:34,833 --> 00:12:37,733 Homo sapiens' skill at learning from each other 174 00:12:37,733 --> 00:12:40,700 makes for expert collaboration. 175 00:12:44,566 --> 00:12:47,833 ♪ ♪ 176 00:12:47,833 --> 00:12:49,500 At places like Göbekli Tepe, 177 00:12:49,500 --> 00:12:52,933 they gathered together to trade, feast, 178 00:12:52,933 --> 00:12:55,066 and share ideas. 179 00:12:56,933 --> 00:12:58,466 And they carved these ideas 180 00:12:58,466 --> 00:13:01,666 into the stones. 181 00:13:01,666 --> 00:13:03,766 The odd thing about being human 182 00:13:03,766 --> 00:13:07,466 is that we are constantly surrounded by a bunch of things 183 00:13:07,466 --> 00:13:10,266 that are so all-encompassing, 184 00:13:10,266 --> 00:13:12,200 and yet we never really think 185 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,933 about where they started or where they come from. 186 00:13:14,933 --> 00:13:17,200 I'm talking here about culture. 187 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:22,666 ♪ ♪ 188 00:13:22,666 --> 00:13:25,033 Ritual, custom, language, art-- 189 00:13:25,033 --> 00:13:28,866 stories and ideas 190 00:13:28,866 --> 00:13:31,933 that have been passed down orally through generations 191 00:13:31,933 --> 00:13:33,900 and have now found physical form. 192 00:13:40,766 --> 00:13:44,233 Places like Göbekli Tepe became so rich in meaning. 193 00:13:44,233 --> 00:13:45,833 (child laughing) 194 00:13:45,833 --> 00:13:48,133 AL-SHAMAHI: And culture flourished. 195 00:13:48,133 --> 00:13:53,900 ♪ ♪ 196 00:13:53,900 --> 00:13:57,633 Cooperating and building connections... 197 00:13:59,700 --> 00:14:02,700 ...are what our brains are actually set up to do. 198 00:14:02,700 --> 00:14:03,733 (slide projector clicks) 199 00:14:04,866 --> 00:14:06,833 Wherever humans settled down, 200 00:14:06,833 --> 00:14:09,700 an explosion in creativity followed. 201 00:14:09,700 --> 00:14:11,266 (slide projector clicks) 202 00:14:11,266 --> 00:14:14,166 Launching an era of extraordinary innovation. 203 00:14:14,166 --> 00:14:15,400 (slide projector clicks) 204 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,200 We can see the results of this shift 205 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:19,066 in the archaeological record. 206 00:14:19,066 --> 00:14:20,466 (slide projector clicking) 207 00:14:20,466 --> 00:14:23,400 Which begins to seethe with the debris 208 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:25,766 of new technology. 209 00:14:25,766 --> 00:14:26,800 (slide projector clicks) 210 00:14:30,433 --> 00:14:32,733 But one innovation from around this time 211 00:14:32,733 --> 00:14:36,600 would have consequences greater than the settlers could 212 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:38,466 possibly have imagined. 213 00:14:41,700 --> 00:14:42,733 (lamb bleats) 214 00:14:49,066 --> 00:14:52,066 They were now no longer tracking seasonal herds, 215 00:14:52,066 --> 00:14:56,600 but seeking safe, reliable ways 216 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,100 to feed themselves. 217 00:14:58,100 --> 00:14:59,300 (goat bleats) 218 00:14:59,300 --> 00:15:01,100 They'd stopped chasing their food 219 00:15:01,100 --> 00:15:02,933 and started rearing it... 220 00:15:04,833 --> 00:15:09,466 ...providing a regular supply of milk, cheese, and yogurt. 221 00:15:13,066 --> 00:15:14,766 And later, 222 00:15:14,766 --> 00:15:16,400 textiles, like wool. 223 00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:21,033 Season after season. 224 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:25,833 (slide projector clicking) 225 00:15:29,766 --> 00:15:31,166 The farming of animals 226 00:15:31,166 --> 00:15:33,100 marked a watershed moment. 227 00:15:36,933 --> 00:15:40,733 The result of this I don't think could have been predicted. 228 00:15:40,733 --> 00:15:43,200 This altered relationship 229 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:44,800 that they had with animals 230 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,433 altered them, because not long 231 00:15:47,433 --> 00:15:50,000 after they learnt how to do this, 232 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:51,400 something fascinating happened. 233 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:56,000 (fire crackling, baby cooing) 234 00:15:58,633 --> 00:16:01,833 Their population started to boom. 235 00:16:06,233 --> 00:16:08,233 We're not really sure why this happened, 236 00:16:08,233 --> 00:16:09,766 but one compelling theory 237 00:16:09,766 --> 00:16:11,933 is that people staying in one place 238 00:16:11,933 --> 00:16:14,766 and not moving as much, but also having more food, 239 00:16:14,766 --> 00:16:16,433 having more calories, 240 00:16:16,433 --> 00:16:20,766 basically led to mums having more energy for reproduction. 241 00:16:20,766 --> 00:16:24,933 ♪ ♪ 242 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:32,266 As our numbers rose, settlements began springing up. 243 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:39,933 Scattered across an area we now call the Fertile Crescent. 244 00:16:41,966 --> 00:16:45,833 (rooster crows) 245 00:16:48,633 --> 00:16:51,666 As their populations grew, 246 00:16:51,666 --> 00:16:55,300 villages transformed into towns. 247 00:16:55,300 --> 00:16:58,266 ♪ ♪ 248 00:16:58,266 --> 00:16:59,300 (slide projector clicks) 249 00:16:59,300 --> 00:17:04,400 ♪ ♪ 250 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:07,833 (slide projector clicks) 251 00:17:14,733 --> 00:17:19,066 And one particularly large settlement was Çatalhöyük. 252 00:17:19,066 --> 00:17:24,600 ♪ ♪ 253 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,833 A strange forerunner of the towns and cities 254 00:17:27,833 --> 00:17:29,833 we know today. 255 00:17:32,100 --> 00:17:33,333 Wow. 256 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:39,133 Every single one of these is a house? That's right. 257 00:17:39,133 --> 00:17:40,766 And you have to imagine of course, 258 00:17:40,766 --> 00:17:42,633 that each of these houses is a box 259 00:17:42,633 --> 00:17:43,766 with, with a roof. 260 00:17:43,766 --> 00:17:46,233 But, uh, there's no space, really, 261 00:17:46,233 --> 00:17:47,700 between them, like a beehive. 262 00:17:47,700 --> 00:17:50,833 The fact that they're all tightly up against each other 263 00:17:50,833 --> 00:17:54,433 means that the whole thing is much more structurally sound. 264 00:17:55,900 --> 00:17:57,800 AL-SHAMAHI: There's literally no gap. 265 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,633 The only way you can get in the house 266 00:18:00,633 --> 00:18:03,500 is to move along the roofs and go down through a hole 267 00:18:03,500 --> 00:18:05,933 into the house because there's no streets. 268 00:18:07,266 --> 00:18:12,300 ♪ ♪ 269 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:19,433 AL-SHAMAHI: Each dwelling was small and had its door in the ceiling. 270 00:18:22,700 --> 00:18:26,566 The inhabitants lived much of their lives 271 00:18:26,566 --> 00:18:28,200 up on the roofs. 272 00:18:29,733 --> 00:18:32,233 Grinding grain, trading, 273 00:18:32,233 --> 00:18:36,433 and feasting in the bright sunlight above their homes. 274 00:18:37,700 --> 00:18:40,733 And these farmers left behind intriguing signs 275 00:18:40,733 --> 00:18:43,266 that they were here to stay. 276 00:18:43,266 --> 00:18:45,800 What are those holes over there? 277 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:47,066 These are the ancestors 278 00:18:47,066 --> 00:18:49,400 who are buried beneath the floors. 279 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,000 In some houses, there are up to 62 people buried in them. 280 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,133 AL-SHAMAHI: I mean, Ian, 60-odd people being buried, 281 00:18:56,133 --> 00:18:58,000 that's a graveyard in a home. 282 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,233 We've dug up hundreds of burials here. 283 00:19:00,233 --> 00:19:03,066 And what's fascinating is that people were sleeping 284 00:19:03,066 --> 00:19:04,933 just a few centimeters 285 00:19:04,933 --> 00:19:07,100 from the bones of their ancestors. 286 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:10,600 (slide projector clicks) 287 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:14,333 ♪ ♪ 288 00:19:14,333 --> 00:19:15,366 (slide projector clicks) 289 00:19:18,933 --> 00:19:23,433 ♪ ♪ 290 00:19:26,066 --> 00:19:30,900 AL-SHAMAHI: Between the dead, the living, and their animals, 291 00:19:30,900 --> 00:19:34,300 this thriving town was densely packed. 292 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:39,233 At its height, some people think there were 8,000 people 293 00:19:39,233 --> 00:19:40,833 living at Çatalhöyük, 294 00:19:40,833 --> 00:19:43,466 so that's one of the largest settlements 295 00:19:43,466 --> 00:19:45,933 on the planet at this point. 296 00:19:45,933 --> 00:19:50,233 And yet, the formula for success that was playing out here 297 00:19:50,233 --> 00:19:53,800 also turned out to be a bit of a disaster. 298 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:55,966 (goat bleating) 299 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,733 Our pioneering farmer ancestors couldn't have known it, 300 00:20:01,733 --> 00:20:05,133 but they had opened Pandora's box. 301 00:20:07,100 --> 00:20:08,133 (slide projector clicks) 302 00:20:11,566 --> 00:20:14,600 Amongst the many burials of Çatalhöyük... 303 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:15,633 (slide projector clicks) 304 00:20:17,100 --> 00:20:21,633 ...were skull after skull with clear signs of violent impact. 305 00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:25,333 ♪ ♪ 306 00:20:25,333 --> 00:20:28,600 And it's something not only seen at Çatalhöyük. 307 00:20:29,966 --> 00:20:31,000 (slide projector clicks) 308 00:20:32,566 --> 00:20:33,666 (slide projector clicking) 309 00:20:33,666 --> 00:20:35,966 In many early farming settlements, 310 00:20:35,966 --> 00:20:40,400 we start to see the unmistakable signs of violence. 311 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:41,433 (slide projector clicks) 312 00:20:43,266 --> 00:20:46,300 Suggesting the two might be connected. 313 00:20:47,366 --> 00:20:51,466 ♪ ♪ 314 00:20:51,466 --> 00:20:55,166 Choosing to live like this, in such close proximity 315 00:20:55,166 --> 00:20:57,000 with your neighbors, 316 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,166 with the animals which you're breeding, 317 00:21:00,166 --> 00:21:03,233 with your rubbish, 318 00:21:03,233 --> 00:21:06,066 in a way that has never been seen before, 319 00:21:06,066 --> 00:21:08,666 leads to this cascade. 320 00:21:10,833 --> 00:21:16,166 The densely populated towns had become exposed to new dangers. 321 00:21:16,166 --> 00:21:19,633 Living with their animals spread disease. 322 00:21:19,633 --> 00:21:21,800 Their dependence on crops made them vulnerable 323 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:23,300 to failed harvests. 324 00:21:23,300 --> 00:21:26,900 (people shouting) 325 00:21:26,900 --> 00:21:28,866 AL-SHAMAHI: And with ever-growing competition for the land 326 00:21:28,866 --> 00:21:30,500 near the settlement, 327 00:21:30,500 --> 00:21:34,066 people were not only trying to battle nature, 328 00:21:34,066 --> 00:21:36,266 they were battling each other. 329 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,766 ♪ ♪ 330 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,266 These challenges prevented towns 331 00:21:51,266 --> 00:21:53,866 from growing into great metropolises. 332 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:59,100 Instead, growth was followed by collapse 333 00:21:59,100 --> 00:22:01,666 and often exodus. 334 00:22:07,766 --> 00:22:09,933 And as the early town dwellers 335 00:22:09,933 --> 00:22:12,833 left their homes and farms in droves, 336 00:22:12,833 --> 00:22:14,766 they faced a choice. 337 00:22:16,866 --> 00:22:18,866 To settle down again 338 00:22:18,866 --> 00:22:23,066 or rejoin the vast majority of humans across the globe 339 00:22:23,066 --> 00:22:25,766 still living nomadic lives. 340 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,966 ♪ ♪ 341 00:22:39,666 --> 00:22:42,700 For me, this is one of the biggest mysteries 342 00:22:42,700 --> 00:22:46,300 in the history of our species. 343 00:22:46,300 --> 00:22:50,366 Because for the very first settlers, it was a disaster. 344 00:22:50,366 --> 00:22:53,666 They were facing disease and famine. 345 00:22:53,666 --> 00:22:56,366 And yet, at the very same time, 346 00:22:56,366 --> 00:23:00,700 across the planet, hunter-gatherers were thriving. 347 00:23:00,700 --> 00:23:03,933 And that way of life we know works, 348 00:23:03,933 --> 00:23:08,000 because today, millions of people live like that. 349 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,200 They have made it to the 21st century 350 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,600 just like the rest of us. 351 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,600 And yet we know how this story ends. 352 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:20,200 Most of us live in huge cities like this. 353 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,566 ♪ ♪ 354 00:23:27,566 --> 00:23:31,966 ♪ ♪ 355 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:35,500 So, what set us on a path 356 00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:38,266 to where we are now? 357 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,400 Clues can be found along the great rivers 358 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,966 of the ancient world. 359 00:23:56,966 --> 00:24:00,500 ♪ ♪ 360 00:24:10,900 --> 00:24:14,166 There are bits of our story where geography 361 00:24:14,166 --> 00:24:17,000 just does not feel like a fluke. 362 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,200 Where, if it was gonna happen, 363 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,000 it was always gonna happen here, and that's how you feel 364 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,400 on the Nile as an archaeologist. 365 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,966 Because five-and-a-half thousand years ago, 366 00:24:26,966 --> 00:24:30,400 if you wanted to build something permanent 367 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,733 and you were in Egypt or Mesopotamia, 368 00:24:32,733 --> 00:24:34,900 which is mostly in modern-day Iraq, 369 00:24:34,900 --> 00:24:37,900 the only real place to do it was along the Nile 370 00:24:37,900 --> 00:24:40,033 or the Tigris and Euphrates. 371 00:24:40,033 --> 00:24:43,033 ♪ ♪ 372 00:24:43,033 --> 00:24:46,166 Because beyond the thin strips of green 373 00:24:46,166 --> 00:24:49,000 that cut through this arid landscape, 374 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,300 there is very little but sand and death. 375 00:24:52,300 --> 00:24:57,500 ♪ ♪ 376 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,133 This narrow strip of habitable land 377 00:25:05,133 --> 00:25:09,533 was one of the few places to grow food and raise animals. 378 00:25:11,100 --> 00:25:12,633 But to produce enough, 379 00:25:12,633 --> 00:25:15,933 they had to control this natural resource. 380 00:25:15,933 --> 00:25:18,566 The people needed to direct the water 381 00:25:18,566 --> 00:25:20,100 on to their fields 382 00:25:20,100 --> 00:25:24,000 and harvest en masse once a year. 383 00:25:25,533 --> 00:25:30,700 And so, they had no choice but to live and work together. 384 00:25:34,366 --> 00:25:36,733 ♪ ♪ 385 00:25:40,766 --> 00:25:43,533 The people flooded into the Nile Valley, 386 00:25:43,533 --> 00:25:45,633 jostling for space. 387 00:25:45,633 --> 00:25:49,100 (people talking in background) 388 00:25:49,100 --> 00:25:52,466 ♪ ♪ 389 00:25:52,466 --> 00:25:55,700 AL-SHAMAHI: But now, instead of abandoning their communities 390 00:25:55,700 --> 00:25:57,900 when the towns became overcrowded... 391 00:25:57,900 --> 00:26:00,233 (people talking in background) 392 00:26:00,233 --> 00:26:02,333 ...they restructured them. 393 00:26:02,333 --> 00:26:06,033 ♪ ♪ 394 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,433 When you live in a small group, 395 00:26:10,433 --> 00:26:12,000 you've all got to be good, 396 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:13,333 or at least competent, 397 00:26:13,333 --> 00:26:15,333 at everything to survive. 398 00:26:15,333 --> 00:26:18,500 But living in a larger group, 399 00:26:18,500 --> 00:26:20,600 you can suddenly specialize. 400 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,866 Some of you might become really good 401 00:26:22,866 --> 00:26:24,900 at a particular kind of textile-making. 402 00:26:24,900 --> 00:26:26,166 Others might become stone makers, 403 00:26:26,166 --> 00:26:28,533 butchers, bakers. 404 00:26:28,533 --> 00:26:31,533 Probably not candlestick makers, yet. 405 00:26:31,533 --> 00:26:34,633 All cogs in a huge machine 406 00:26:34,633 --> 00:26:37,800 at a scale that had never been seen before. 407 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:42,900 ♪ ♪ 408 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,866 The people of these busy settlements 409 00:26:46,866 --> 00:26:49,166 were becoming part of a social group... 410 00:26:49,166 --> 00:26:52,466 ♪ ♪ 411 00:26:52,466 --> 00:26:55,700 ...with hundreds or thousands of strangers. 412 00:26:57,633 --> 00:26:58,900 And in the process, 413 00:26:58,900 --> 00:27:02,166 laying the foundation for something brand-new. 414 00:27:02,166 --> 00:27:04,266 ♪ ♪ 415 00:27:04,266 --> 00:27:06,566 (birds chirping) 416 00:27:11,666 --> 00:27:14,433 Now, I know archaeologists are constantly pointing at walls 417 00:27:14,433 --> 00:27:17,200 and trying to convince people of how important they are, 418 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,833 but this wall, this absolutely huge wall, 419 00:27:20,833 --> 00:27:24,900 is pretty much all that's left of the original city of Abydos. 420 00:27:24,900 --> 00:27:29,466 Abydos was one of the very first cities in Egypt, 421 00:27:29,466 --> 00:27:32,733 and walls that look like this would have surrounded the city, 422 00:27:32,733 --> 00:27:35,733 indicating a momentous shift in the way 423 00:27:35,733 --> 00:27:37,366 humans live together. 424 00:27:37,366 --> 00:27:40,100 Because to be on this side of the wall 425 00:27:40,100 --> 00:27:42,266 meant protection 426 00:27:42,266 --> 00:27:44,433 and access to the grain stores. 427 00:27:44,433 --> 00:27:46,166 But to be on that side of the wall 428 00:27:46,166 --> 00:27:48,066 meant to literally be without. 429 00:27:48,066 --> 00:27:50,966 Now, humans have always been tribal. 430 00:27:50,966 --> 00:27:55,166 We've always been able to act and think as part of a group. 431 00:27:55,166 --> 00:27:58,566 But what places like this prove 432 00:27:58,566 --> 00:28:03,766 is that tribalism was scalable to the size of a city. 433 00:28:03,766 --> 00:28:07,200 ♪ ♪ 434 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,566 All along the great rivers of the ancient world... 435 00:28:10,566 --> 00:28:12,133 (slide projector clicks) 436 00:28:12,133 --> 00:28:14,866 ...huge cities began to appear 437 00:28:14,866 --> 00:28:16,400 as our ancestors 438 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,233 found the secret to living at scale. 439 00:28:19,233 --> 00:28:22,200 ♪ ♪ 440 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,800 (slide projector clicks) A change which would propel us forward 441 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:27,233 at an astonishing rate. 442 00:28:27,233 --> 00:28:30,366 (people talking in background) 443 00:28:30,366 --> 00:28:32,233 AL-SHAMAHI: The cities thrived. 444 00:28:32,233 --> 00:28:37,500 ♪ ♪ 445 00:28:37,500 --> 00:28:39,733 Their newly specialized populations 446 00:28:39,733 --> 00:28:42,933 invented, made, and traded 447 00:28:42,933 --> 00:28:45,666 an unprecedented number of objects. 448 00:28:45,666 --> 00:28:49,566 (people talking in background) 449 00:28:49,566 --> 00:28:51,433 And in the process, 450 00:28:51,433 --> 00:28:52,966 created a tool, 451 00:28:52,966 --> 00:28:55,233 unassuming at first glance, 452 00:28:55,233 --> 00:28:58,433 that would become a powerful instrument. 453 00:29:01,266 --> 00:29:03,766 I know they don't look like much. 454 00:29:03,766 --> 00:29:08,233 They look like just square pieces of bone. 455 00:29:08,233 --> 00:29:11,533 They were found in Abydos, in a tomb 456 00:29:11,533 --> 00:29:15,266 thought to be that of a king 457 00:29:15,266 --> 00:29:17,033 known as the Scorpion King 458 00:29:17,033 --> 00:29:18,766 from about 5,300 years ago. 459 00:29:18,766 --> 00:29:21,300 Now, some of these symbols are 460 00:29:21,300 --> 00:29:23,266 very recognizable. 461 00:29:23,266 --> 00:29:24,966 That's obviously a bird. 462 00:29:27,066 --> 00:29:29,366 This is a plant of some kind. 463 00:29:29,366 --> 00:29:31,566 And notice the holes in them. 464 00:29:31,566 --> 00:29:35,233 These are effectively labels or tags. 465 00:29:35,233 --> 00:29:38,533 And these symbols 466 00:29:38,533 --> 00:29:40,600 perhaps represented the provenance 467 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,833 where the item that they were attached to came from. 468 00:29:43,833 --> 00:29:47,633 Perhaps they have a quantity, as well, attached to them. 469 00:29:47,633 --> 00:29:48,933 And then, 470 00:29:48,933 --> 00:29:52,300 someone had this absolutely revolutionary idea. 471 00:29:52,300 --> 00:29:55,866 What if they strung them together? 472 00:29:57,900 --> 00:30:02,966 ♪ ♪ 473 00:30:08,333 --> 00:30:10,466 With some local knowledge 474 00:30:10,466 --> 00:30:12,466 to give them a shared meaning, 475 00:30:12,466 --> 00:30:14,066 gradually, the rows of images 476 00:30:14,066 --> 00:30:16,066 became more complex. 477 00:30:19,033 --> 00:30:22,433 Until 478 00:30:22,433 --> 00:30:24,633 we stopped labeling 479 00:30:24,633 --> 00:30:26,666 and started writing. 480 00:30:35,966 --> 00:30:39,133 Detailed knowledge and culture 481 00:30:39,133 --> 00:30:41,033 that had previously been passed down, 482 00:30:41,033 --> 00:30:44,233 generation to generation to generation, 483 00:30:44,233 --> 00:30:48,633 was now able to be preserved in a completely different way. 484 00:30:48,633 --> 00:30:50,800 And the thing with writing 485 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,300 is that, like so many of the giant leaps forward 486 00:30:54,300 --> 00:30:56,200 that we have made as a species-- 487 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:58,566 and I, I'm thinking here about the invention of agriculture, 488 00:30:58,566 --> 00:31:00,966 and metalworks, and the wheel-- 489 00:31:00,966 --> 00:31:03,933 writing does seem like an idea 490 00:31:03,933 --> 00:31:07,033 whose time had come. 491 00:31:07,033 --> 00:31:09,466 Because it doesn't just happen in Egypt. 492 00:31:09,466 --> 00:31:13,966 ♪ ♪ 493 00:31:13,966 --> 00:31:17,066 Again and again across the Earth, 494 00:31:17,066 --> 00:31:19,366 we invented forms of writing. 495 00:31:19,366 --> 00:31:23,433 ♪ ♪ 496 00:31:25,433 --> 00:31:31,166 Giving our facts, stories, and ideas lasting form. 497 00:31:33,366 --> 00:31:37,466 (people talking in background) 498 00:31:37,466 --> 00:31:39,600 AL-SHAMAHI: And we still have no conclusive evidence 499 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,400 as to how, or even whether, 500 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:44,966 these events influenced each other 501 00:31:44,966 --> 00:31:47,233 or whether they happened organically, 502 00:31:47,233 --> 00:31:51,133 as a result of needing to keep track of things at that scale. 503 00:31:51,133 --> 00:31:52,666 But however it happened, 504 00:31:52,666 --> 00:31:54,200 once writing was a thing, 505 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,566 once it was out there in the world, 506 00:31:56,566 --> 00:32:00,833 then nothing would be the same ever again. 507 00:32:00,833 --> 00:32:05,033 ♪ ♪ 508 00:32:05,033 --> 00:32:08,566 Now laws, customs, and beliefs 509 00:32:08,566 --> 00:32:11,566 could be recorded permanently in ink. 510 00:32:18,133 --> 00:32:20,766 But with over 700 symbols, 511 00:32:20,766 --> 00:32:24,000 this technology required years of study to master. 512 00:32:25,833 --> 00:32:30,433 And so was the sole preserve of those trained to use it-- 513 00:32:30,433 --> 00:32:33,433 scribes working for the ruling class. 514 00:32:37,966 --> 00:32:40,066 And the ability to send out 515 00:32:40,066 --> 00:32:43,333 detailed instructions to people across the land 516 00:32:43,333 --> 00:32:45,933 gave the rulers enormous power 517 00:32:45,933 --> 00:32:49,100 to influence, instruct, and build. 518 00:32:50,333 --> 00:32:53,266 (slide projector clicking) 519 00:32:53,266 --> 00:32:54,766 In 2013, 520 00:32:54,766 --> 00:32:57,666 a team of archaeologists were excavating 521 00:32:57,666 --> 00:32:59,333 a cave on the Red Sea coast... 522 00:32:59,333 --> 00:33:00,766 (slide projector clicks) 523 00:33:02,433 --> 00:33:06,400 ...when they found ancient fragments of inscribed papyrus. 524 00:33:08,233 --> 00:33:09,266 (slide projector clicks) 525 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,633 Preserved there for over 4,000 years... 526 00:33:17,633 --> 00:33:18,733 (slide projector clicks) 527 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,133 ...they're believed to be the oldest ever found... 528 00:33:24,133 --> 00:33:28,666 ♪ ♪ 529 00:33:28,666 --> 00:33:34,500 ...and a time capsule from the reign of an iconic ruler. 530 00:33:34,500 --> 00:33:36,633 So, this is... 531 00:33:36,633 --> 00:33:38,933 This is your actual excavation notebook from the time? 532 00:33:38,933 --> 00:33:41,233 PIERRE TALLET: Yeah, yeah-- every day, I was recording 533 00:33:41,233 --> 00:33:42,666 the papyri, 534 00:33:42,666 --> 00:33:45,100 and we were surprised to find most of them 535 00:33:45,100 --> 00:33:46,500 have the name of a king, 536 00:33:46,500 --> 00:33:48,966 and this pharaoh is Khufu, 537 00:33:48,966 --> 00:33:50,466 the builder of the Great Pyramid. 538 00:33:52,166 --> 00:33:53,200 (slide projector clicks) 539 00:33:54,500 --> 00:33:57,866 AL-SHAMAHI: Khufu ruled Egypt for over two decades, 540 00:33:57,866 --> 00:34:01,100 and one of humankind's most iconic constructions 541 00:34:01,100 --> 00:34:03,366 was built to honor him: 542 00:34:03,366 --> 00:34:05,766 the first of the pyramids of Giza. 543 00:34:12,166 --> 00:34:16,933 The team discovered around 1,000 pieces of papyrus, 544 00:34:16,933 --> 00:34:20,033 revealing a vastly complex construction project. 545 00:34:21,700 --> 00:34:22,766 Wow. Yeah. 546 00:34:22,766 --> 00:34:24,500 It belongs to a kind of elites 547 00:34:24,500 --> 00:34:25,500 at that time, 548 00:34:25,500 --> 00:34:27,533 because we don't think that 549 00:34:27,533 --> 00:34:28,700 more than one percent of the population 550 00:34:28,700 --> 00:34:30,400 was able to read and write. 551 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:31,400 It's a logbook, 552 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:33,266 and for example here, 553 00:34:33,266 --> 00:34:35,033 on the first day of the month, 554 00:34:35,033 --> 00:34:37,233 they are sending a boat to Heliopolis 555 00:34:37,233 --> 00:34:38,833 to fetch the food for the workers. 556 00:34:38,833 --> 00:34:40,233 And when it arrives, 557 00:34:40,233 --> 00:34:41,400 it's written in red, 558 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,533 because it's much more important for them 559 00:34:43,533 --> 00:34:44,666 than everything else. 560 00:34:45,933 --> 00:34:48,766 About 40 days, you have a precise record 561 00:34:48,766 --> 00:34:50,100 of what, what he is doing. 562 00:34:51,666 --> 00:34:54,533 Egyptian extracted fine limestone blocks 563 00:34:54,533 --> 00:34:57,300 that were used to, for the building 564 00:34:57,300 --> 00:34:58,933 of the outer casing of the pyramids. 565 00:34:58,933 --> 00:35:00,900 So, this is... 566 00:35:00,900 --> 00:35:02,366 This is telling us 567 00:35:02,366 --> 00:35:04,166 how they built... Mm. 568 00:35:04,166 --> 00:35:05,833 ...the pyramids, basically. Yeah, this is, this... 569 00:35:05,833 --> 00:35:07,700 This, this is the administration behind it all. This is, yeah. 570 00:35:07,700 --> 00:35:10,966 That, that's absolutely incredible. 571 00:35:10,966 --> 00:35:15,466 So, this is a snapshot in time 572 00:35:15,466 --> 00:35:18,100 of the building of the Great Pyramid. 573 00:35:18,100 --> 00:35:19,100 Mm. 574 00:35:19,100 --> 00:35:21,633 And you found it. 575 00:35:21,633 --> 00:35:23,866 ♪ ♪ 576 00:35:23,866 --> 00:35:25,866 Without all those records, 577 00:35:25,866 --> 00:35:28,100 I think the pyramid would not have been possible. 578 00:35:28,100 --> 00:35:33,133 ♪ ♪ 579 00:35:35,833 --> 00:35:38,433 AL-SHAMAHI: You can't really overstate 580 00:35:38,433 --> 00:35:41,733 the significance of finding a document like that. 581 00:35:41,733 --> 00:35:45,833 One from such a pivotal moment in history. 582 00:35:45,833 --> 00:35:47,733 And when you read the translation, 583 00:35:47,733 --> 00:35:50,266 you definitely do get a sense 584 00:35:50,266 --> 00:35:53,033 of what a logistical feat it was, 585 00:35:53,033 --> 00:35:56,466 building these things. 586 00:35:56,466 --> 00:36:00,633 But you do also get a real sense 587 00:36:00,633 --> 00:36:04,000 of how mundane and bureaucratic it all was, 588 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,233 just kind of ordinary humans doing ordinary human things. 589 00:36:07,233 --> 00:36:11,300 Between the invention of writing 590 00:36:11,300 --> 00:36:13,833 and the building of the pyramids, 591 00:36:13,833 --> 00:36:16,633 there were no major technological advancements 592 00:36:16,633 --> 00:36:18,300 that we know of in Egypt. 593 00:36:20,666 --> 00:36:22,933 And so, for 4,500 years, 594 00:36:22,933 --> 00:36:25,700 people have looked at these 595 00:36:25,700 --> 00:36:29,166 and just had their breath taken away, 596 00:36:29,166 --> 00:36:33,600 and wondered how on Earth were they built. 597 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:37,533 And perhaps the answer is just this simple: 598 00:36:37,533 --> 00:36:40,133 writing built the pyramids. 599 00:36:40,133 --> 00:36:43,833 ♪ ♪ 600 00:36:43,833 --> 00:36:47,800 And even though they were originally built for the elites, 601 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:52,400 they actually became symbols of national identity, 602 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,000 which bind huge groups of people together 603 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,133 on an unconscious level. 604 00:36:57,133 --> 00:37:00,900 ♪ ♪ 605 00:37:00,900 --> 00:37:02,800 The unit of human cooperation 606 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,400 had grown from tribe to village 607 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,566 to town to city... 608 00:37:11,766 --> 00:37:13,933 ...and now to nation. 609 00:37:13,933 --> 00:37:16,966 ♪ ♪ 610 00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:24,933 But alongside the emergence of these nation states 611 00:37:24,933 --> 00:37:29,433 was a more sinister development at a new scale. 612 00:37:29,433 --> 00:37:30,600 (slide projector clicking) 613 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,766 What had once been tribal skirmishes 614 00:37:33,766 --> 00:37:36,133 became state warfare... 615 00:37:36,133 --> 00:37:38,433 (slide projector clicking) 616 00:37:38,433 --> 00:37:42,533 ...recorded by the victors in art and writing. 617 00:37:42,533 --> 00:37:44,333 (slide projector clicks) 618 00:37:44,333 --> 00:37:46,933 The emerging superpowers began 619 00:37:46,933 --> 00:37:49,900 launching military campaigns against their neighbors 620 00:37:49,900 --> 00:37:54,500 for land, resources, and manpower. 621 00:37:56,066 --> 00:38:01,166 ♪ ♪ 622 00:38:04,900 --> 00:38:08,666 Many of the early civilizations follow this pattern 623 00:38:08,666 --> 00:38:13,233 of growth, innovation, writing, 624 00:38:13,233 --> 00:38:15,733 and an ever more stratified society. 625 00:38:17,633 --> 00:38:19,200 By 4,000 years ago, 626 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:22,133 we'd clearly made some massive strides 627 00:38:22,133 --> 00:38:23,366 to the modern world, 628 00:38:23,366 --> 00:38:25,300 with the rise of the civilizations 629 00:38:25,300 --> 00:38:27,433 that were supporting so many more people, 630 00:38:27,433 --> 00:38:31,500 and about 70 million of us walking this planet. 631 00:38:32,833 --> 00:38:35,333 But. 632 00:38:35,333 --> 00:38:38,300 The disparity in the human condition 633 00:38:38,300 --> 00:38:41,633 had never been so wide. 634 00:38:41,633 --> 00:38:45,066 Some people were living gods, and they would go on 635 00:38:45,066 --> 00:38:48,700 to build monuments like these to themselves 636 00:38:48,700 --> 00:38:50,400 for centuries. 637 00:38:51,933 --> 00:38:54,433 But many more were slaves, who were forced to live 638 00:38:54,433 --> 00:38:56,833 in the shadows of the splendor 639 00:38:56,833 --> 00:38:58,566 that they'd helped to create. 640 00:39:00,900 --> 00:39:03,333 And humankind's powerful new tool, 641 00:39:03,333 --> 00:39:04,700 writing, 642 00:39:04,700 --> 00:39:09,100 still remained in the hands of just a tiny number. 643 00:39:10,566 --> 00:39:12,100 If we were going to get to the future, 644 00:39:12,100 --> 00:39:13,500 the here and now, as you and I know it, 645 00:39:13,500 --> 00:39:18,133 it was going to require a spark from somewhere else. 646 00:39:22,700 --> 00:39:27,733 ♪ ♪ 647 00:39:37,466 --> 00:39:39,333 Almost 4,000 years ago, 648 00:39:39,333 --> 00:39:42,666 a small group made a journey 649 00:39:42,666 --> 00:39:48,400 to one of the most inhospitable places on Earth... 650 00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:50,366 ♪ ♪ 651 00:39:50,366 --> 00:39:53,433 ...through the baking, barren waste 652 00:39:53,433 --> 00:39:56,966 of the Sinai Desert. 653 00:39:56,966 --> 00:40:00,933 But here, in this desolate landscape, 654 00:40:00,933 --> 00:40:04,033 they would change the world. 655 00:40:04,033 --> 00:40:07,466 ♪ ♪ 656 00:40:07,466 --> 00:40:09,833 This place is stunning, 657 00:40:09,833 --> 00:40:14,033 and yet a complete and utter death trap. 658 00:40:15,700 --> 00:40:17,600 It was of very little interest 659 00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:19,433 to the Egyptian elites. 660 00:40:19,433 --> 00:40:22,400 That is, until someone found something 661 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:24,700 in these mountains. 662 00:40:26,333 --> 00:40:28,400 Lots and lots of copper. 663 00:40:29,700 --> 00:40:31,866 And this stuff, turquoise. 664 00:40:31,866 --> 00:40:33,200 (slide projector clicking) 665 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:36,200 Raw materials that could be transformed 666 00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:40,000 into jewels and ornaments of great value. 667 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:41,033 (slide projector clicks) 668 00:40:42,733 --> 00:40:43,766 (slide projector clicks) 669 00:40:46,833 --> 00:40:50,766 If you could extract them from this harsh landscape. 670 00:40:55,966 --> 00:40:57,733 Far to the north 671 00:40:57,733 --> 00:41:00,166 was the tiny land of Retjenu. 672 00:41:00,166 --> 00:41:03,133 When Egypt demanded laborers 673 00:41:03,133 --> 00:41:06,300 for this treacherous mining mission, 674 00:41:06,300 --> 00:41:11,033 it was the unfortunate people of this small state 675 00:41:11,033 --> 00:41:13,966 who had no choice but to answer the call. 676 00:41:17,900 --> 00:41:24,200 ♪ ♪ 677 00:41:26,833 --> 00:41:30,066 I can't imagine what it would have been like 678 00:41:30,066 --> 00:41:33,966 to be dragged here to work in the turquoise mines. 679 00:41:33,966 --> 00:41:38,200 In the blazing heat, in the middle of nowhere. 680 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:43,233 It must have been like 681 00:41:43,233 --> 00:41:45,466 being dropped onto the surface of a different planet. 682 00:41:45,466 --> 00:41:49,633 ♪ ♪ 683 00:41:53,066 --> 00:41:56,900 And even the Egyptians probably wondered 684 00:41:56,900 --> 00:41:58,900 if they would make it back home. 685 00:41:58,900 --> 00:42:03,000 ♪ ♪ 686 00:42:07,033 --> 00:42:10,533 The Egyptians turned to their gods for protection. 687 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:13,533 And here, high up 688 00:42:13,533 --> 00:42:16,433 on a desolate plateau, far from home, 689 00:42:16,433 --> 00:42:19,633 they built a temple to ask for it. 690 00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:31,233 Remnants have survived remarkably unscathed 691 00:42:31,233 --> 00:42:33,600 for almost 4,000 years. 692 00:42:36,900 --> 00:42:40,833 Frozen in time by the bone-dry desert. 693 00:42:51,366 --> 00:42:54,466 This temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor, 694 00:42:54,466 --> 00:42:57,333 who is the goddess of turquoise and miners. 695 00:42:57,333 --> 00:42:59,700 And they were documenting and celebrating their presence 696 00:42:59,700 --> 00:43:00,933 and worshipping their gods. 697 00:43:02,133 --> 00:43:04,200 And each one of these pillars 698 00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:07,933 represents one of the missions. 699 00:43:07,933 --> 00:43:10,533 And they are hierarchical, so, you've got 700 00:43:10,533 --> 00:43:11,900 the pharaoh at the top, 701 00:43:11,900 --> 00:43:14,833 and it goes through the ranks. 702 00:43:14,833 --> 00:43:16,333 You've got stonemasons, 703 00:43:16,333 --> 00:43:18,000 et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, until, 704 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:22,233 this is the brother of the prince of Retjenu. 705 00:43:22,233 --> 00:43:24,933 Retjenu is where the miners came from. 706 00:43:24,933 --> 00:43:27,333 And yet the miners are so lowly 707 00:43:27,333 --> 00:43:30,366 that they're not even named on the pillars. 708 00:43:30,366 --> 00:43:32,600 But they would have come through here. 709 00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:34,400 They would've seen this grandeur, 710 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:36,000 this splendor. 711 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:40,700 One theory is, the miners saw these hieroglyphs 712 00:43:40,700 --> 00:43:44,100 and also wanted to immortalize their presence here. 713 00:43:48,466 --> 00:43:49,833 But there was a problem. 714 00:43:49,833 --> 00:43:51,400 They weren't part of the elites, 715 00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:52,900 and so they couldn't write. 716 00:43:52,900 --> 00:43:56,700 ♪ ♪ 717 00:43:56,700 --> 00:44:01,233 It's thought the miners did what we humans have always done. 718 00:44:03,833 --> 00:44:06,366 They copied what they'd seen 719 00:44:06,366 --> 00:44:09,133 and made it their own. 720 00:44:11,066 --> 00:44:15,666 ♪ ♪ 721 00:44:21,466 --> 00:44:23,700 This is one of the turquoise mines. 722 00:44:23,700 --> 00:44:26,166 And if you look all over the walls, 723 00:44:26,166 --> 00:44:27,533 there are these scratches 724 00:44:27,533 --> 00:44:32,233 from where the workers' pickaxes have been. 725 00:44:32,233 --> 00:44:34,433 But here, something else is going on. 726 00:44:35,866 --> 00:44:37,200 There are about 30 or 40 of them 727 00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:39,600 all over this place. 728 00:44:40,733 --> 00:44:42,433 Some of these have been copied 729 00:44:42,433 --> 00:44:44,500 from hieroglyphics, but some are completely new. 730 00:44:44,500 --> 00:44:45,866 And here's how the system works. 731 00:44:45,866 --> 00:44:48,433 You take the symbol 732 00:44:48,433 --> 00:44:50,866 and you say the name, 733 00:44:50,866 --> 00:44:52,833 but you only take the first sound, 734 00:44:52,833 --> 00:44:54,700 and you discard the rest. 735 00:44:54,700 --> 00:44:57,133 So, for example, this here, 736 00:44:57,133 --> 00:44:58,900 this is an ox. 737 00:44:58,900 --> 00:45:01,000 You can see the horns and the head here. 738 00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:04,066 To the miners, this would be aleph. 739 00:45:04,066 --> 00:45:05,633 Now, aleph, 740 00:45:05,633 --> 00:45:07,266 just take the first sound, "ah," 741 00:45:07,266 --> 00:45:08,700 discard the rest. 742 00:45:08,700 --> 00:45:11,433 This is another symbol, this is the symbol for house. 743 00:45:11,433 --> 00:45:13,500 To them, it would be bet. 744 00:45:13,500 --> 00:45:17,233 So, you just take the "beh" sound at the beginning. 745 00:45:17,233 --> 00:45:19,600 And if you put these two together, 746 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:22,066 you start understanding what you're actually looking at here. 747 00:45:22,066 --> 00:45:25,233 This is the birthplace 748 00:45:25,233 --> 00:45:26,966 of the alphabet. 749 00:45:30,966 --> 00:45:32,400 This new script 750 00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:34,133 was simpler to learn than hieroglyphics 751 00:45:34,133 --> 00:45:37,800 because the alphabet did not represent complete words, 752 00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:40,233 but spoken sounds. 753 00:45:43,066 --> 00:45:45,700 It was able to convey any thought 754 00:45:45,700 --> 00:45:48,600 with only 20 to 30 symbols. 755 00:45:51,466 --> 00:45:54,066 These miners are the ones 756 00:45:54,066 --> 00:45:55,366 who gave birth to this, 757 00:45:55,366 --> 00:45:57,133 and their legacy is still with us today 758 00:45:57,133 --> 00:45:58,333 and is so important. 759 00:45:58,333 --> 00:46:03,200 ♪ ♪ 760 00:46:04,833 --> 00:46:07,433 In the centuries and millennia that followed... 761 00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:12,233 ...nearly all the early written languages 762 00:46:12,233 --> 00:46:16,500 fell into obscurity as those civilizations waned. 763 00:46:19,033 --> 00:46:22,333 But this alphabet would only grow, 764 00:46:22,333 --> 00:46:24,666 spreading across the planet, 765 00:46:24,666 --> 00:46:28,933 reshaping and branching into many different forms. 766 00:46:28,933 --> 00:46:29,966 (slide projector clicking) 767 00:46:32,266 --> 00:46:33,833 It now forms the basis 768 00:46:33,833 --> 00:46:36,966 of most known written languages... 769 00:46:38,300 --> 00:46:43,166 ♪ ♪ 770 00:46:43,166 --> 00:46:45,133 ...allowing millions, 771 00:46:45,133 --> 00:46:48,400 and then billions, of ordinary humans 772 00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:51,366 to access knowledge, to communicate, 773 00:46:51,366 --> 00:46:53,300 and to document their thoughts, 774 00:46:53,300 --> 00:46:55,066 and their existence, 775 00:46:55,066 --> 00:46:59,233 in every corner of the globe. 776 00:47:01,533 --> 00:47:03,200 For me, this is one 777 00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:04,766 of the most powerful moments 778 00:47:04,766 --> 00:47:06,400 in the human story, 779 00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:09,333 because unbeknownst to the underdog, 780 00:47:09,333 --> 00:47:11,966 they had changed the world. 781 00:47:11,966 --> 00:47:16,266 One of civilization's most profound and revolutionary ideas 782 00:47:16,266 --> 00:47:19,133 didn't come from an educated elite. 783 00:47:19,133 --> 00:47:24,500 It came from inside these dark and miserable mines, 784 00:47:24,500 --> 00:47:26,166 through the copying and innovating 785 00:47:26,166 --> 00:47:28,566 of lowly migrant workers. 786 00:47:28,566 --> 00:47:34,133 ♪ ♪ 787 00:47:39,466 --> 00:47:42,800 (traffic humming in distance, horns honking) 788 00:47:48,300 --> 00:47:51,533 ♪ ♪ 789 00:47:51,533 --> 00:47:54,966 The invention of writing marks an ending and a beginning. 790 00:47:54,966 --> 00:47:57,066 ♪ ♪ 791 00:47:57,066 --> 00:48:01,300 Because prehistory-- so, the period before writing-- 792 00:48:01,300 --> 00:48:03,066 we could only really piece together 793 00:48:03,066 --> 00:48:05,933 using fragments and artifacts. 794 00:48:05,933 --> 00:48:09,333 And now recorded time, history, had begun. 795 00:48:11,033 --> 00:48:15,100 And what we see is that as writing spreads, 796 00:48:15,100 --> 00:48:19,233 the pace of human innovation accelerates. 797 00:48:19,233 --> 00:48:22,433 ♪ ♪ 798 00:48:22,433 --> 00:48:24,933 Because that is the power 799 00:48:24,933 --> 00:48:28,200 of being able to document and lay down knowledge. 800 00:48:28,200 --> 00:48:30,866 (bird squawking) 801 00:48:33,633 --> 00:48:37,666 ♪ ♪ 802 00:48:37,666 --> 00:48:43,466 Generation after generation building on the last, 803 00:48:43,466 --> 00:48:45,800 retaining and accumulating knowledge. 804 00:48:48,066 --> 00:48:49,800 Stone became bronze. 805 00:48:49,800 --> 00:48:52,100 Iron became silicon. 806 00:48:53,366 --> 00:48:55,733 Handwritten became printed. 807 00:48:57,266 --> 00:48:59,333 Printed became typed. 808 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:05,266 And gradually, we built the future. 809 00:49:06,500 --> 00:49:09,633 This is the very final bone 810 00:49:09,633 --> 00:49:11,333 of our series. 811 00:49:11,333 --> 00:49:15,200 This is actually one of the three ear bones. 812 00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:17,833 And just like every human bone 813 00:49:17,833 --> 00:49:18,933 we've encountered, 814 00:49:18,933 --> 00:49:21,766 whether Homo sapiens or otherwise, 815 00:49:21,766 --> 00:49:25,366 it represents a person. 816 00:49:25,366 --> 00:49:27,500 This individual had a family, 817 00:49:27,500 --> 00:49:31,366 parents, perhaps children, friends. 818 00:49:31,366 --> 00:49:34,233 But what's particularly remarkable 819 00:49:34,233 --> 00:49:38,700 is how much we now know about these ancient ancestors of ours, 820 00:49:38,700 --> 00:49:42,100 thanks to modern temples of knowledge, 821 00:49:42,100 --> 00:49:43,333 like this one. 822 00:49:43,333 --> 00:49:47,133 The scientists here are able to extract DNA 823 00:49:47,133 --> 00:49:48,900 from an individual who, in this case, 824 00:49:48,900 --> 00:49:51,166 lived about 1,600 years ago, 825 00:49:51,166 --> 00:49:52,333 from a piece of bone 826 00:49:52,333 --> 00:49:55,766 that is so tiny, delicate, and precious. 827 00:49:55,766 --> 00:49:58,733 And they're able to ask questions, 828 00:49:58,733 --> 00:50:02,166 like whether industrialization and agriculture 829 00:50:02,166 --> 00:50:04,900 actually affected our DNA, 830 00:50:04,900 --> 00:50:07,766 whether we're still evolving. 831 00:50:09,100 --> 00:50:10,833 And to think 832 00:50:10,833 --> 00:50:12,300 that our knowledge 833 00:50:12,300 --> 00:50:13,733 has got to the point 834 00:50:13,733 --> 00:50:16,800 where we're even able to entertain 835 00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:19,533 such huge questions 836 00:50:19,533 --> 00:50:22,200 from something so tiny. 837 00:50:23,866 --> 00:50:27,033 For me, there's a poetry in that. 838 00:50:27,033 --> 00:50:30,333 ♪ ♪ 839 00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:36,433 We can look back 840 00:50:36,433 --> 00:50:38,833 on when nature and luck were on our side 841 00:50:38,833 --> 00:50:42,400 and when they weren't. 842 00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:45,933 Where we made the right decisions 843 00:50:45,933 --> 00:50:49,233 and where we went wrong. 844 00:50:50,566 --> 00:50:54,666 But what underpins our story and makes it unique 845 00:50:54,666 --> 00:50:58,800 is far more than just our will to survive. 846 00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:02,166 It's our cultural drive to come together, 847 00:51:02,166 --> 00:51:05,533 to learn from and inspire each other, 848 00:51:05,533 --> 00:51:10,033 to go further than what has gone before. 849 00:51:12,533 --> 00:51:15,500 We are the very last species of human 850 00:51:15,500 --> 00:51:17,366 to walk this Earth. 851 00:51:17,366 --> 00:51:19,266 And the most fascinating thing 852 00:51:19,266 --> 00:51:22,900 about our 300,000-year-long story 853 00:51:22,900 --> 00:51:26,633 is that we have no idea how much is left. 854 00:51:26,633 --> 00:51:30,433 Is this basically the whole of our story, 855 00:51:30,433 --> 00:51:33,800 or are we on the first act or even prologue, 856 00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:36,733 with a long future ahead of us? 857 00:51:36,733 --> 00:51:38,866 We have no idea. 858 00:51:38,866 --> 00:51:43,033 But we are one species with one future. 859 00:51:43,033 --> 00:51:47,300 Now, you could never have predicted how we got here. 860 00:51:47,300 --> 00:51:49,233 And where we go next 861 00:51:49,233 --> 00:51:51,033 is up to all of us. 862 00:51:51,033 --> 00:51:57,066 ♪ ♪ 863 00:52:33,133 --> 00:52:36,000 ♪ ♪ 864 00:52:36,933 --> 00:52:44,466 ♪ ♪ 865 00:52:48,300 --> 00:52:55,833 ♪ ♪ 866 00:52:59,666 --> 00:53:07,266 ♪ ♪ 867 00:53:08,900 --> 00:53:16,433 ♪ ♪ 868 00:53:18,066 --> 00:53:25,600 ♪ ♪ 62225

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