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[narrator]
What is this misshapen
9,000-year-old clay head?
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[Kevin MacDonald]
The recreation of
the features of the living
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00:00:08,896 --> 00:00:13,448
suggest this was part of
an ancestral cult.
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[narrator] Can this bizarre
machine really harness
intergalactic energy?
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00:00:18,275 --> 00:00:20,724
[Sascha Auerbach] It could
repel an alien invasion
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and improve your sex life.
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[narrator]
What do the drawings
on this ancient tablet mean?
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It's a map of the unknown.
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00:00:35,689 --> 00:00:39,758
[narrator] These are the most
remarkable and mysterious
objects on Earth,
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00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,137
hidden away in museums,
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00:00:43,172 --> 00:00:45,689
laboratories
and storage rooms.
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Now, new research
and technology
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can get under their skin
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like never before.
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We can rebuild them,
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pull them apart
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and zoom in
to reveal the unbelievable,
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the ancient
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and the truly bizarre.
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These are the world's
strangest things.
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In a corner of
the British Museum
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sits a strange misshapen head.
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It was discovered
nearly 70 years ago
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in one of the world's
earliest cities.
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When it was found,
it was quite unique.
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No one really knew
what it was for
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and no one expected
anything like this.
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[narrator] Now this object
can be examined
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in minute detail.
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This is the Jericho Head.
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[Kevin] The first thing that
draws you in are
its bright shell eyes.
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And then you notice its
light brown plaster skin.
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It's a haunting object.
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[narrator] And there is
a reason it looks so haunting.
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Under the plaster,
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there is an actual,
real human skull.
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[narrator] Why is a human head
treated this way?
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How is it made?
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And who is the person
beneath the plaster?
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The ancient city of Jericho
lies in the Jordan Valley
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in modern-day Palestine.
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Jericho is famous to us,
for one, the bible of course,
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the famous Walls of Jericho.
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But, actually,
it's a very ancient place.
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[narrator] One of the world's
earliest cities,
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founded more than
11,000 years ago.
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[Altaweel] Athens doesn't
exist for another 4,000 years.
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Or if we're talking about
a place like London,
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it doesn't exist for
another 7,000 years.
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[narrator] According to
theOld Testament,
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the Walls of Jericho
collapse
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when the Israelites
blow their horns.
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But in 1953,
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pioneering archaeologist
Kathleen Kenyon and her team
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discover that the oldest walls
of ancient Jericho
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date back far beyond
biblical times.
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[Kevin] We're looking at
an earlier walled settlement,
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stretching back to around
10,000 years before present.
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[narrator] In the ruins of
this earliest settlement,
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they make an
extraordinary discovery.
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[Kevin] This looked like
large cobble or boulder.
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But as it was excavated
and emerged,
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it became clear that
what they had
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was a reconstituted
human head.
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[narrator] A clay face has
been sculpted onto the skull.
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[Altaweel] They see a large
hole where the nose is,
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which presumably is
where a plastered nose
would have been.
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There's dirt also coming out,
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which the archaeologists
assumed was actually infill
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after the skull had been
buried by surrounding dirt.
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And there's also a large hole
in the back of the skull.
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[narrator] It's unlike
anything the archaeologists
have ever seen.
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It's a skull which long ago
was effectively
brought back to life
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by the introduction of
shell and earth.
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[narrator] This strange thing
is crafted by someone who died
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5,000 years before
the pyramids were built.
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Why do they rebuild a face
on a human skull?
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The skull is sent to the
British Museum for analysis,
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but 1950s technology
has limitations.
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Early attempts to X-ray it
showed only a cloudy mass.
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[narrator] One thing they can
see clearly
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is the large hole
on the back of the skull.
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It's assumed to be
burial damage.
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It's not.
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More than 60 years later,
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it's finally revealed
how wrong that assumption is
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when the British Museum
teams up with Imperial College
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to apply the latest
CT scanning technology.
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[Altaweel]
We see cutting marks at the
back of the head in this hole.
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It's clear that somebody
had actually
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deliberately cut out
this hole, uh,
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away from the skull,
that it was carefully cut,
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uh, not to damage
other areas of the skull.
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[narrator] The interior of the
skull is packed with earth.
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It was assumed to have
fallen in after burial.
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But that turns out to be
just as wrong.
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[Kevin] The scan showed that
the soil within the skull
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had been carefully applied
layer by layer
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to support the fragile
interior bone structures
of the skull.
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[narrator]
We now understand how
this strange thing is made.
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Someone painstakingly
cuts out a hole
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and packs this skull
with soil.
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They even leave behind
their finger marks,
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still visible
10,000 years later.
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Then, they create the face.
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[Altaweel] Plastering the head
would have taken perhaps
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some multiple applications
to get it quite right
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and to mold the features,
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particularly the nose that
would have likely been there.
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But also the eyes.
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We know they used shells
from the Mediterranean
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that was about 60 miles
away from Jericho.
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So, clearly,
they're importing materials.
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So this is something
that they really cared for.
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It's not something they just
made haphazardly.
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They took some time
in shaping this
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and putting in precious
objects into the skull.
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[narrator] But who could be
important enough
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to deserve so much effort
after death?
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The skull beneath
the clay face reveals
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this was
almost certainly a man
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and even his age.
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[Mark Benecke]
The older you get,
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the more your bone parts
start to attach to each other.
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So from that, you can deduce
how old a person was.
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And in this case,
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the person was probably around
40 to 50 years when he died.
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[narrator]
And stripping back the dirt
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shows that he suffers at least
one injury during his life.
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[Kevin] Examining their nose
which is twisted to one side,
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it was apparent that,
at one point in their life,
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they had suffered from
a broken nose.
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[narrator]
This skull tells the story of
a short hard life.
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But it also reveals something
very, very strange.
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[Benecke]
The head is unusually formed.
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This form of the head
is not natural.
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[narrator] The shape of
the skull is distorted.
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And the thickness of
the bone varies
more than a normal skull.
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Cranial distortion like this
cannot happen after death.
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Somebody intentionally
changed the shape of
the head of the person
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by binding it and
applying force to the head
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so it's deformed.
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[narrator] This can only be
performed on an infant.
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To get a desired
deformation of the skull,
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you have to do it very early,
you have to start very early,
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one month after birth
until six months after birth,
approximately.
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[narrator] Tightly-wrapped
bindings slowly squeeze
his soft infant skull.
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When the bones fuse
at around two years,
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his deformed head shape
is fixed forever.
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This unusual practice is known
in a number of cultures.
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[Kevin] Cranial deformation
has been practiced
in many different times
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and places
throughout the world.
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[Altaweel] The head is often
used as a way to make
someone more prominent,
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to perhaps make him stick out.
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So it is a kind of
cultural practice
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to make an individual become
sort of distinct.
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[narrator] This can be
a mark of tribal allegiance,
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a sign of beauty
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or elite social status.
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Whatever it means to
the people of ancient Jericho,
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it tells us this man is
special from birth.
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Who is he?
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[narrator]
More than 9,000 years ago,
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someone carefully
and deliberately
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created a clay face
on the skull of a dead man.
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Modern facial
reconstruction techniques
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finally allow us to stare
into his living face.
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[Altaweel] So they're doing
effectively what the ancients
were trying to do
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with regards to the skull,
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which is recreate what
the face actually looked like,
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but this time using
laser scans
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and 3D printing to
create a face.
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[narrator]
Modeling the missing lower jaw
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on other ancient
Jericho skulls
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muscle by muscle,
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through layer upon layer
of tissue and skin,
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the face of a man appears.
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The process that begins
with clay and shells
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nearly 10,000 years ago
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is finally complete.
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This is the face of
someone very important
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to the people
of ancient Jericho.
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And he is not alone.
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More than 50 other decorated
skulls have now been found
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across the region,
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including ten from
Jericho alone.
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This curation of
plastered skulls
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was undertaken
much more widely
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than was previously thought.
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[narrator] And they all
share something in common.
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There is no body.
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[Altaweel] Keeping the skull,
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not necessarily
the rest of the skeleton,
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shows that the head had
a great importance,
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which was treated in
a very venerated way
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relative to the rest of
the skeleton.
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[narrator]
Could this decorated skull
be part of a religion?
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Some kind of skull cult?
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[Altaweel]
Most of the skulls that
have been found in Jericho
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were in places that were
prominent in display.
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They're looking
the same direction.
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They often are
near each other.
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So they probably even
put down a kind of a shelf
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or some kind of pedestal
to show them.
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[narrator] It seems that
in ancient Jericho,
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these decorated skulls
take pride of place,
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keeping their shell eyes
on the living.
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[Kevin]
Current interpretations
suggest that these skulls
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brought back to life through
the addition of plaster
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00:11:44,724 --> 00:11:48,586
were part of a kind of
ancestral cult.
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[narrator] But why do
the living of ancient Jericho
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00:11:50,931 --> 00:11:53,310
create a cult of
their dead ancestors
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00:11:53,344 --> 00:11:55,413
in their own homes?
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00:11:57,241 --> 00:12:01,896
The explanation may lie
in Jericho's most
famous innovation.
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00:12:01,931 --> 00:12:05,655
It is one of the world's
first cities.
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[Altaweel]
This is a period of great
innovation for societies.
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00:12:08,310 --> 00:12:10,620
They began to use agriculture,
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00:12:10,655 --> 00:12:14,241
specifically domestication of
different plants and animals.
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00:12:14,275 --> 00:12:17,034
Some had decided
to settle into villages,
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00:12:17,068 --> 00:12:18,965
decided to live
for long periods of time
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00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,482
or even the entire year
in one specific site,
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00:12:21,517 --> 00:12:23,586
which was quite a novelty
in this period.
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[narrator]
For the first time in history,
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00:12:25,517 --> 00:12:28,827
large numbers of people
call the same place home.
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00:12:30,344 --> 00:12:34,551
But this means finding
an entirely new way
to live with each other,
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00:12:34,586 --> 00:12:38,413
crowded in together behind
the city's 12-foot walls.
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00:12:39,310 --> 00:12:41,517
They need a way
to avoid conflicts
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00:12:41,551 --> 00:12:45,413
developing between that other
great invention of the city,
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00:12:45,448 --> 00:12:46,862
neighbors.
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[Altaweel] When humans
begin to settle,
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00:12:48,448 --> 00:12:51,413
they have to create a range of
different cultural practices
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00:12:51,448 --> 00:12:54,034
that allow them to succeed
in this kind of lifestyle
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00:12:54,068 --> 00:12:55,551
of where they stay in
one place
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00:12:55,586 --> 00:12:56,965
for long periods of time.
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[narrator]
Archaeologists suspect that
236
00:12:58,551 --> 00:13:01,655
the cult of ancestors
this skull represents
237
00:13:01,689 --> 00:13:04,551
acts as a kind of social glue,
238
00:13:04,586 --> 00:13:08,241
connecting the citizens
to their past, to their home
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00:13:08,275 --> 00:13:10,931
and, most importantly,
to each other.
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00:13:10,965 --> 00:13:14,586
Innovating ancestors as a way
of associating ownership
241
00:13:14,620 --> 00:13:15,931
and tying yourself to the land
242
00:13:15,965 --> 00:13:18,137
becomes a kind of
cultural phenomenon
243
00:13:18,172 --> 00:13:20,620
and reflects a kind of
practical understanding
244
00:13:20,655 --> 00:13:21,931
that you need to
belong to the land
245
00:13:21,965 --> 00:13:24,068
and you need to
take care of the land.
246
00:13:24,103 --> 00:13:27,344
[narrator] This dead man helps
bind living people together
247
00:13:27,379 --> 00:13:29,655
in a whole new way,
248
00:13:29,689 --> 00:13:34,448
which makes this strange thing
incredibly important.
249
00:13:34,482 --> 00:13:37,068
This decorated skull
may have been central
250
00:13:37,103 --> 00:13:41,275
to the early success of
one of mankind's
greatest achievements,
251
00:13:42,862 --> 00:13:44,551
the city.
252
00:13:50,620 --> 00:13:54,068
Hidden among trees in a small
forest near Rangeley, Maine,
253
00:13:54,103 --> 00:13:55,965
stands a strange machine
254
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,172
designed to harness
a powerful source of energy.
255
00:14:00,586 --> 00:14:03,586
It looks big and long,
but also futuristic.
256
00:14:04,551 --> 00:14:06,206
[narrator]
According to its inventor,
257
00:14:06,241 --> 00:14:08,793
it can drill holes
in the atmosphere
258
00:14:08,827 --> 00:14:11,206
and trigger tornadoes.
259
00:14:11,241 --> 00:14:15,275
This contraption effectively
looks like a massive ray gun.
260
00:14:15,310 --> 00:14:17,344
[narrator] Now,
using the latest technology,
261
00:14:17,379 --> 00:14:20,482
we can examine it
in unprecedented detail.
262
00:14:23,206 --> 00:14:26,724
This is the cloudbuster.
263
00:14:26,758 --> 00:14:29,931
[Andrea Sella] It was supposed
to control the weather.
264
00:14:29,965 --> 00:14:32,310
It could make it rain.
265
00:14:32,344 --> 00:14:34,655
It could stop the rain.
266
00:14:34,689 --> 00:14:38,000
Just imagine being able
to control droughts
267
00:14:38,034 --> 00:14:39,862
or control a flood.
268
00:14:39,896 --> 00:14:43,689
[narrator] But this isn't
the only trick
of this new form of energy.
269
00:14:43,724 --> 00:14:46,413
[Sascha]
And as an added bonus,
270
00:14:46,448 --> 00:14:48,827
it could repel
an alien invasion
271
00:14:48,862 --> 00:14:51,896
and improve your sex life.
272
00:14:51,931 --> 00:14:54,344
[narrator] This energy seems
to have the potential
273
00:14:54,379 --> 00:14:56,137
to change the world.
274
00:14:56,172 --> 00:14:57,896
If you could control this,
275
00:14:57,931 --> 00:15:01,034
you could make essentially
anything you wanted happen.
276
00:15:01,068 --> 00:15:04,448
[narrator] Who builds this
game-changing weather gun?
277
00:15:04,482 --> 00:15:07,068
What is the source
of its power?
278
00:15:07,103 --> 00:15:09,310
And could it actually work?
279
00:15:17,517 --> 00:15:20,206
[narrator] The cloudbuster
is created in 1952
280
00:15:20,241 --> 00:15:22,137
by Dr. Wilhelm Reich.
281
00:15:23,517 --> 00:15:25,793
Now, this is quite
a contraption,
282
00:15:25,827 --> 00:15:28,000
this multiple-tubed device
283
00:15:28,034 --> 00:15:30,931
mounted on a klin
then a swiveling mechanism
284
00:15:30,965 --> 00:15:34,137
so it can be pointed
in any direction.
285
00:15:34,172 --> 00:15:37,068
It's got the metallic
umbilical cables
286
00:15:37,103 --> 00:15:39,172
that kind of thread down.
287
00:15:39,206 --> 00:15:41,482
[narrator] These are designed
to channel energy
288
00:15:41,517 --> 00:15:44,413
that triggers a change
in the atmosphere.
289
00:15:44,448 --> 00:15:49,379
So Reich's idea is that
by attaching this umbilicus
290
00:15:49,413 --> 00:15:50,793
to a body of water
291
00:15:50,827 --> 00:15:53,620
and pointing the muzzles
of the device
292
00:15:53,655 --> 00:15:56,827
at the correct direction
in the atmosphere,
293
00:15:56,862 --> 00:16:01,000
it could draw this energy
out of the sky
294
00:16:01,034 --> 00:16:03,896
and deposit it into the water.
295
00:16:05,827 --> 00:16:07,931
The movement of this
mysterious energy
296
00:16:07,965 --> 00:16:10,068
out of the atmosphere
297
00:16:10,103 --> 00:16:11,793
would cause clouds to form
298
00:16:11,827 --> 00:16:14,482
and, subsequently,
rain to fall.
299
00:16:16,655 --> 00:16:20,827
[narrator] Who is the man
who believes he can really
control the weather
300
00:16:20,862 --> 00:16:23,103
with his
astonishing cloudbuster?
301
00:16:25,862 --> 00:16:28,482
Wilhelm Reich is not the
kind of person you'd expect
302
00:16:28,517 --> 00:16:31,103
to dream up a world-changing
weather machine.
303
00:16:33,103 --> 00:16:37,000
His interests begin not
in physics or engineering,
304
00:16:38,034 --> 00:16:39,793
but in the mind.
305
00:16:39,827 --> 00:16:42,827
Reich was born in Austria
in 1897,
306
00:16:42,862 --> 00:16:45,482
a time which was part of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
307
00:16:45,517 --> 00:16:49,517
and he studied medicine at
the University of Vienna.
308
00:16:49,551 --> 00:16:53,551
[narrator] In the 1920s, Reich
is a brilliant psychoanalyst
309
00:16:53,586 --> 00:16:57,241
and protege of the
discipline's founding father,
310
00:16:57,275 --> 00:16:59,000
Sigmund Freud.
311
00:16:59,034 --> 00:17:01,517
[Keon West] He took a lot of
Freud's ideas about
312
00:17:01,551 --> 00:17:03,655
people having these needs
and these desires.
313
00:17:03,689 --> 00:17:06,241
And there's always this
tension between what we need
314
00:17:06,275 --> 00:17:07,448
and whether
that need is fulfilled.
315
00:17:08,896 --> 00:17:11,896
[narrator] The more Reich digs
into needs and desires,
316
00:17:11,931 --> 00:17:14,379
the more he focuses
on Freud's ideas
317
00:17:14,413 --> 00:17:18,344
about the role of sexual
desire in mental health.
318
00:17:18,379 --> 00:17:20,586
[Sascha] He believes that
repressing sexual outlets
319
00:17:20,620 --> 00:17:22,517
can lead to neuroses.
320
00:17:22,551 --> 00:17:24,931
So his argument is that
321
00:17:24,965 --> 00:17:28,172
if you discharge
these sexual urges,
322
00:17:28,206 --> 00:17:31,482
it will have a psychoanalytic
healing effect.
323
00:17:31,517 --> 00:17:33,965
[narrator] But Reich
is just getting started.
324
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,655
He gradually becomes convinced
that sex is the sole cause
325
00:17:38,689 --> 00:17:41,965
and sole cure
for almost any illness,
326
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,896
mental or physical.
327
00:17:43,931 --> 00:17:47,310
This increasingly extreme
interpretation of Freud's work
328
00:17:47,344 --> 00:17:49,413
doesn't go down well.
329
00:17:49,689 --> 00:17:51,379
By 1939,
330
00:17:51,413 --> 00:17:53,655
his ideas are
considered so radical
331
00:17:53,689 --> 00:17:55,724
and so contrary
332
00:17:55,758 --> 00:17:58,517
to the general clinical
practices of psychoanalysis
333
00:17:58,551 --> 00:18:00,137
that he is kicked out
of the movement.
334
00:18:02,551 --> 00:18:06,793
[narrator] And Freud's
followers aren't the only ones
Reich falls out with.
335
00:18:06,827 --> 00:18:09,827
He also falls out with
the actual Reich...
336
00:18:09,862 --> 00:18:11,310
[soldiers] Heil!
337
00:18:11,344 --> 00:18:13,034
...the Third Reich.
338
00:18:15,068 --> 00:18:18,965
The Nazis assert that he is
part of a Jewish conspiracy
339
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,655
to undermine the health
and well-being of Europe
340
00:18:22,689 --> 00:18:25,586
and they ordered his
books burned.
341
00:18:25,620 --> 00:18:28,724
[narrator] Reich is forced
to flee to the United States.
342
00:18:31,793 --> 00:18:36,172
And it's there that
he creates the cloudbuster.
343
00:18:38,034 --> 00:18:41,448
But how does he make the leap
from upsetting fascists
344
00:18:41,482 --> 00:18:43,793
to upsetting the weather?
345
00:18:46,241 --> 00:18:47,655
In the 1930s,
346
00:18:47,689 --> 00:18:50,620
with the help of some
very accommodating friends,
347
00:18:50,655 --> 00:18:53,620
Reich sets out to find
a scientific explanation
348
00:18:53,655 --> 00:18:56,827
for the healing properties
of sexual desire.
349
00:18:57,896 --> 00:18:59,724
[Keon]
So he took Freud's idea
350
00:18:59,758 --> 00:19:01,310
and tried to
measure something,
351
00:19:01,344 --> 00:19:04,000
something bioelectrical
or chemical or physical.
352
00:19:05,068 --> 00:19:07,586
[narrator]
As the friends get friendlier,
353
00:19:07,620 --> 00:19:10,724
Reich records an increase
in electrical activity.
354
00:19:11,862 --> 00:19:14,413
He's certain it's
evidence of some kind of
355
00:19:14,448 --> 00:19:17,517
previously unidentified
bioelectrical energy.
356
00:19:18,275 --> 00:19:20,551
He names it orgone.
357
00:19:24,137 --> 00:19:26,793
Through an elaborate
series of experiments,
358
00:19:26,827 --> 00:19:31,068
Reich convinces himself
that he's rewritten
the laws of the universe.
359
00:19:32,137 --> 00:19:35,517
Reich argues that
the entire planet is covered
360
00:19:35,551 --> 00:19:38,965
with an envelope
of this orgone energy.
361
00:19:40,793 --> 00:19:44,413
[Andrea] It was responsible
for stuff out in space,
362
00:19:44,448 --> 00:19:46,241
like galaxies.
363
00:19:46,275 --> 00:19:47,896
But at the same time,
364
00:19:47,931 --> 00:19:52,206
it was also kind of
channeled through people.
365
00:19:52,241 --> 00:19:55,275
It produced the life force.
366
00:19:57,517 --> 00:19:59,103
[narrator] In 1940,
367
00:19:59,137 --> 00:20:02,724
Reich invents a device
to harness the healing powers
368
00:20:02,758 --> 00:20:05,379
of this miraculous energy.
369
00:20:05,413 --> 00:20:09,482
He built what he calls
an orgone accumulator.
370
00:20:09,517 --> 00:20:12,896
[narrator] Reich claims that
inside the wood and steel box,
371
00:20:12,931 --> 00:20:16,068
orgone is absorbed
through the patient's skin
372
00:20:16,103 --> 00:20:18,413
to cure them
of almost anything.
373
00:20:18,448 --> 00:20:21,931
And he started to conduct
experiments and treatments
374
00:20:21,965 --> 00:20:24,137
using the accumulator box
on patients
375
00:20:24,172 --> 00:20:27,068
who had cancer
and schizophrenia.
376
00:20:28,827 --> 00:20:30,482
[narrator]
But Reich goes further,
377
00:20:30,517 --> 00:20:34,620
theorizing that orgone can
literally change the world.
378
00:20:35,517 --> 00:20:39,137
And in 1952,
he sets out to prove it
379
00:20:39,172 --> 00:20:41,758
by creating the cloudbuster.
380
00:20:41,793 --> 00:20:43,241
[Sarah] Reich had made
a lot of claims about
381
00:20:43,275 --> 00:20:45,586
what the cloudbuster could do,
but the key thing was
382
00:20:45,620 --> 00:20:47,620
the fact that you could
take it anywhere,
383
00:20:47,655 --> 00:20:49,137
you could point it at the sky
384
00:20:49,172 --> 00:20:51,275
and you could make it rain.
385
00:20:51,310 --> 00:20:54,344
[narrator] Reich's momentous
claims seemed crazy.
386
00:20:54,379 --> 00:20:58,034
Could there be any real
science to support his idea
387
00:20:58,068 --> 00:21:00,931
of controlling the weather
with the cloudbuster?
388
00:21:07,482 --> 00:21:11,068
[narrator] In the 1950s,
Wilhelm Reich's
bizarre cloudbuster
389
00:21:11,103 --> 00:21:13,482
promises to bring
an end to droughts.
390
00:21:14,103 --> 00:21:16,310
But will it work?
391
00:21:16,344 --> 00:21:17,620
[Sarah] In 1953,
392
00:21:17,655 --> 00:21:20,241
there had been a drought
that had been going on
for months
393
00:21:20,275 --> 00:21:21,896
in Maine in the US.
394
00:21:21,931 --> 00:21:23,551
And, in particular,
the blueberry farmers
395
00:21:23,586 --> 00:21:25,206
were worried about
their crop.
396
00:21:25,241 --> 00:21:28,724
[narrator] Blueberry plants
take seven years to mature.
397
00:21:28,758 --> 00:21:32,896
So a dead crop means
years of financial hardship.
398
00:21:32,931 --> 00:21:35,379
The farmers are desperate.
399
00:21:35,413 --> 00:21:38,344
Enter Wilhelm Reich
and his cloudbuster.
400
00:21:39,344 --> 00:21:41,758
[Andrea] He wheels out
his device.
401
00:21:41,793 --> 00:21:46,482
He connects it up to a source
of clear, pure water.
402
00:21:46,517 --> 00:21:48,620
He points it at the sky.
403
00:21:48,655 --> 00:21:50,241
And they begin to operate it.
404
00:21:54,068 --> 00:21:55,517
And the next day...
405
00:21:57,413 --> 00:21:58,862
it rains.
406
00:22:02,827 --> 00:22:05,862
[narrator]
Official records confirm
a quarter of an inch of rain
407
00:22:05,896 --> 00:22:07,586
falls the following day.
408
00:22:09,206 --> 00:22:10,965
The blueberry farmers
are very happy.
409
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:12,103
Reich gets paid.
410
00:22:12,793 --> 00:22:15,379
For Reich, this is a triumph.
411
00:22:15,413 --> 00:22:18,482
There is clearly
cause and effect.
412
00:22:19,724 --> 00:22:22,413
[narrator] Does this prove
the cloudbuster works?
413
00:22:22,448 --> 00:22:25,068
Or has Reich just caught
a lucky break?
414
00:22:25,689 --> 00:22:27,689
It sounds nuts,
415
00:22:27,724 --> 00:22:30,275
but can you really
control rainfall?
416
00:22:32,896 --> 00:22:34,551
[Andrea]
One of the key requirements
417
00:22:34,586 --> 00:22:37,862
in order to be able to make
an actual raindrop
418
00:22:37,896 --> 00:22:39,965
is to have something,
419
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:41,551
what's called
a condensation input,
420
00:22:42,413 --> 00:22:44,482
a little sort of
starting point
421
00:22:44,517 --> 00:22:46,965
on which the drop can form.
422
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,344
And so if you put tiny
solid particles into the air,
423
00:22:51,379 --> 00:22:53,034
then they will be enough
424
00:22:53,068 --> 00:22:55,551
to actually start
the formation of droplets
425
00:22:55,586 --> 00:22:58,000
which will then fall to Earth.
426
00:22:58,034 --> 00:23:02,275
[narrator] Scientists have
tried deliberately depositing
silver iodide,
427
00:23:02,310 --> 00:23:06,241
or dry ice,
inside clouds to induce rain.
428
00:23:07,517 --> 00:23:09,620
It's called cloud-seeding.
429
00:23:11,206 --> 00:23:14,068
And the jury's still out
on whether it works.
430
00:23:16,206 --> 00:23:19,965
But that didn't stop
the US government
from weaponizing it.
431
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,344
In 1967, the 54th Weather
Reconnaissance Squadron
432
00:23:24,379 --> 00:23:27,172
conducts what's called
Operation Popeye.
433
00:23:27,206 --> 00:23:30,103
The motto of which was
"make mud, not war."
434
00:23:30,137 --> 00:23:33,103
And their goal was to
extend the monsoon season
435
00:23:33,137 --> 00:23:36,931
over the Ho Chi Minh Trail,
softening the roadbed
436
00:23:36,965 --> 00:23:41,275
and causing
transportation problems
in the movement of supplies
437
00:23:41,310 --> 00:23:43,655
from North Vietnam
into the combat areas.
438
00:23:45,275 --> 00:23:47,965
[narrator] It's impossible
to know if it really works.
439
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,551
After all, it can rain a lot
in the jungle
440
00:23:50,586 --> 00:23:53,413
pretty much whatever you do.
441
00:23:53,448 --> 00:23:55,862
But one thing we do know
is this approach
442
00:23:55,896 --> 00:24:00,206
can only work if you add
particles to the clouds.
443
00:24:00,241 --> 00:24:03,241
And that's a problem
for the cloudbuster.
444
00:24:03,275 --> 00:24:07,241
It doesn't blast particles
into the atmosphere.
445
00:24:07,275 --> 00:24:10,448
In fact, it doesn't actually
seem to do anything.
446
00:24:11,551 --> 00:24:14,310
[Sascha] The device has
no buttons or trigger
447
00:24:14,344 --> 00:24:16,344
or on switch of any sort.
448
00:24:16,379 --> 00:24:18,862
You just point it
at the clouds,
449
00:24:18,896 --> 00:24:20,724
and that's that.
450
00:24:20,758 --> 00:24:24,103
[narrator] So why does it rain
on the blueberry crop?
451
00:24:25,413 --> 00:24:28,413
Maybe it's nothing more
than the luck of the draw.
452
00:24:28,448 --> 00:24:31,379
[Andrea] Most of us
can buy a lottery ticket.
453
00:24:31,413 --> 00:24:32,896
You might win once.
454
00:24:33,482 --> 00:24:34,724
What you need to do
455
00:24:34,758 --> 00:24:37,586
is to do it
over and over again
456
00:24:37,620 --> 00:24:41,241
and really show that
there are statistics there.
457
00:24:41,275 --> 00:24:45,310
And what Reich does is
he tries it once
458
00:24:45,344 --> 00:24:48,448
and he sees what he wants.
459
00:24:48,482 --> 00:24:51,310
But the reality is
that it tells him nothing.
460
00:24:52,413 --> 00:24:53,896
[narrator]
Despite the grand claims,
461
00:24:53,931 --> 00:24:57,689
there's no scientific evidence
that the cloudbuster works.
462
00:24:58,517 --> 00:25:01,000
But that doesn't stop Reich.
463
00:25:01,034 --> 00:25:03,310
His cloudbuster
is about to graduate
464
00:25:03,344 --> 00:25:05,172
from saving blueberries
465
00:25:05,206 --> 00:25:06,793
to saving the world.
466
00:25:10,482 --> 00:25:12,827
Reich goes on
to test his experiments
467
00:25:12,862 --> 00:25:14,448
in the Arizona desert.
468
00:25:14,482 --> 00:25:16,000
Whilst he's operating
the cloudbuster,
469
00:25:16,034 --> 00:25:18,862
he notices that there is
an increase in cloud cover
470
00:25:18,896 --> 00:25:20,344
and in humidity.
471
00:25:20,379 --> 00:25:23,379
And he attributes this to
the power of the cloudbuster
472
00:25:23,413 --> 00:25:25,206
and the orgone energy.
473
00:25:25,241 --> 00:25:28,896
[narrator] Then the cloud
cover mysteriously breaks up.
474
00:25:28,931 --> 00:25:31,172
But Reich has
an explanation for this.
475
00:25:32,586 --> 00:25:34,793
[narrator] And even by
Reich's standards,
476
00:25:34,827 --> 00:25:36,275
it's pretty out there.
477
00:25:36,310 --> 00:25:39,793
[Sascha] Spotting a light
over the Catalina Mountains,
478
00:25:39,827 --> 00:25:44,275
Reich becomes convinced that
the Earth is under attack
479
00:25:44,310 --> 00:25:45,448
by aliens.
480
00:25:46,551 --> 00:25:49,241
He claims that they are
releasing a substance
481
00:25:49,275 --> 00:25:51,655
called deadly
orgone radiation.
482
00:25:52,896 --> 00:25:55,448
He writes that we are
at war with a power
483
00:25:55,482 --> 00:25:57,586
previously unknown to man.
484
00:25:59,241 --> 00:26:04,275
[narrator] Luckily,
Reich has the perfect weapon
to defeat the aliens.
485
00:26:04,310 --> 00:26:06,413
[Sascha] Armed with
two cloudbusters,
486
00:26:06,448 --> 00:26:09,241
Reich fights
what he claims to be
487
00:26:09,275 --> 00:26:12,000
"a climactic
interstellar battle"
488
00:26:12,034 --> 00:26:15,620
with the aliens over
the skies of Arizona.
489
00:26:17,034 --> 00:26:18,896
Not the craziest idea
ever floated in Arizona,
490
00:26:18,931 --> 00:26:20,000
just for the record.
491
00:26:21,896 --> 00:26:25,275
[narrator] But while Reich
is busy fighting aliens,
492
00:26:25,310 --> 00:26:28,172
he's missing a much more
dangerous enemy.
493
00:26:38,206 --> 00:26:39,793
[narrator] Armed with
his cloudbuster,
494
00:26:39,827 --> 00:26:42,482
psychoanalyst and inventor
Wilhelm Reich
495
00:26:42,517 --> 00:26:45,379
battles drought
and blasts aliens.
496
00:26:47,034 --> 00:26:48,896
But his work is
attracting the attention
497
00:26:48,931 --> 00:26:51,655
of an even more
powerful adversary,
498
00:26:52,586 --> 00:26:54,586
the US government.
499
00:26:55,379 --> 00:26:57,206
Reich is a committed socialist
500
00:26:57,241 --> 00:27:00,724
with a radical attitude
to sexual freedom.
501
00:27:00,758 --> 00:27:02,758
He rings all the alarm bells
502
00:27:02,793 --> 00:27:04,172
for a government
paranoid about
503
00:27:04,206 --> 00:27:06,689
the threat of subversives.
504
00:27:06,724 --> 00:27:09,551
He attracts quite a lot of
negative media attention.
505
00:27:09,586 --> 00:27:12,655
[narrator]
The government turns
Reich's work against him,
506
00:27:12,689 --> 00:27:16,172
not the cloudbuster,
but his earlier invention,
507
00:27:16,206 --> 00:27:18,206
the orgone accumulator.
508
00:27:18,241 --> 00:27:21,586
[Sarah] He was presenting
the orgone accumulator box
509
00:27:21,620 --> 00:27:23,620
as a legitimate
medical device,
510
00:27:23,655 --> 00:27:27,517
which they argued he didn't
have the evidence to back up.
511
00:27:27,551 --> 00:27:29,896
[narrator] The orgone
accumulator is banned.
512
00:27:30,896 --> 00:27:32,206
[Sarah]
Unfortunately, for Reich,
513
00:27:32,241 --> 00:27:35,413
one of his agents
sells one of the boxes
514
00:27:35,448 --> 00:27:37,344
without him even
being involved,
515
00:27:37,379 --> 00:27:38,965
and the FDA
considered this to be
516
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:40,103
a breach of the injunction.
517
00:27:41,379 --> 00:27:44,551
[narrator] Reich is sentenced
to two years in prison.
518
00:27:46,344 --> 00:27:51,137
And FDA agents destroy
his accumulators and books.
519
00:27:51,172 --> 00:27:54,310
[Sascha] Over 6 tons of
Reich's writing are collected
520
00:27:54,344 --> 00:27:57,586
and burned at
a public incinerator.
521
00:27:57,620 --> 00:28:00,137
Any material related to orgone
is fair game.
522
00:28:00,172 --> 00:28:02,517
And it all goes up in smoke.
523
00:28:02,551 --> 00:28:04,896
[narrator]
Reich's reputation is ruined.
524
00:28:07,068 --> 00:28:10,448
Aged 60, the creator of
the radical cloudbuster
525
00:28:10,482 --> 00:28:13,103
dies of a heart attack
while still in prison.
526
00:28:15,655 --> 00:28:18,172
But his ideas
don't die with him.
527
00:28:19,206 --> 00:28:21,000
And it's easy to see why.
528
00:28:22,689 --> 00:28:24,896
[Keon] It's really nice
to believe that there's just
529
00:28:24,931 --> 00:28:26,931
one energy that flows
through the universe,
530
00:28:26,965 --> 00:28:28,344
and that it's the source
of everything
531
00:28:28,379 --> 00:28:30,275
and the solution
to everything.
532
00:28:30,310 --> 00:28:32,586
When you have a really
complicated, difficult world,
533
00:28:32,620 --> 00:28:34,758
you can understand
the appeal of an answer
534
00:28:34,793 --> 00:28:36,862
that's both simple
and enjoyable,
535
00:28:36,896 --> 00:28:38,448
even if it's
not the right answer.
536
00:28:40,172 --> 00:28:43,862
[narrator]
Despite no scientific proof
that orgone exists,
537
00:28:43,896 --> 00:28:46,862
Reich's fans are still
turning out online plans
538
00:28:46,896 --> 00:28:50,068
to build your very own
cloudbuster today.
539
00:28:51,241 --> 00:28:53,137
Just don't expect it to rain.
540
00:29:01,448 --> 00:29:03,827
Locked away in the vaults
of the British Museum
541
00:29:03,862 --> 00:29:05,931
is a strange clay tablet.
542
00:29:07,206 --> 00:29:12,241
It took years to be deciphered
and its importance understood.
543
00:29:13,310 --> 00:29:15,551
It's a map of the unknown.
544
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,344
[narrator] Now,
using the latest technology,
545
00:29:19,379 --> 00:29:23,000
we can begin to decode
this ancient artifact.
546
00:29:27,655 --> 00:29:31,172
This is the Babylonian
Map of the World.
547
00:29:32,620 --> 00:29:35,000
[Abigail Graham]
While this is,
technically speaking, a map,
548
00:29:35,034 --> 00:29:37,172
it's so much more than that.
549
00:29:37,206 --> 00:29:41,275
It is the oldest map
of the world.
550
00:29:41,310 --> 00:29:45,034
This map dates to more than
2,500 years ago.
551
00:29:46,137 --> 00:29:48,482
[narrator]
It stands 4.8 inches high
552
00:29:48,517 --> 00:29:51,793
and 3.2 inches wide.
553
00:29:51,827 --> 00:29:56,965
Curious diagrams and cryptic
text cover its surface.
554
00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,000
[Kevin]
You've got living cities,
you've got dead cities,
555
00:30:00,034 --> 00:30:02,551
you've got
mythological places,
556
00:30:02,586 --> 00:30:05,103
you've got the notion of
the end of the world.
557
00:30:10,551 --> 00:30:15,000
[narrator] And at the heart of
this map is a mystery.
558
00:30:15,034 --> 00:30:17,344
What do the symbols
and writing mean?
559
00:30:18,827 --> 00:30:20,482
Why was it made?
560
00:30:21,517 --> 00:30:24,448
Is this really
a map of the world?
561
00:30:30,241 --> 00:30:32,275
The map is discovered
in 1881
562
00:30:32,310 --> 00:30:35,172
in the lost city of Shapur,
563
00:30:35,206 --> 00:30:38,310
17 miles southwest of
modern-day Baghdad.
564
00:30:40,172 --> 00:30:43,793
It is part of
a 70,000-tablet bonanza.
565
00:30:43,827 --> 00:30:46,000
And under this
avalanche of finds,
566
00:30:46,034 --> 00:30:48,551
its significance is missed.
567
00:30:51,206 --> 00:30:55,137
[Kevin] This object was
pretty much put to one side
568
00:30:55,172 --> 00:30:58,275
for eight years until
its importance was discovered
569
00:30:58,310 --> 00:31:01,137
as one of the first maps
of the world.
570
00:31:01,172 --> 00:31:04,172
[narrator]
The information on the tablet
is in cuneiform form,
571
00:31:04,206 --> 00:31:07,068
the oldest written language
on Earth,
572
00:31:07,103 --> 00:31:09,827
and it reveals
a lost civilization.
573
00:31:13,620 --> 00:31:16,413
In the center of the map
is a hole,
574
00:31:16,448 --> 00:31:19,758
a device often found on
cuneiform tablets.
575
00:31:21,241 --> 00:31:23,034
Above this lies a rectangle,
576
00:31:23,068 --> 00:31:26,655
representing a mighty city
labeled as Babylon.
577
00:31:28,034 --> 00:31:30,000
[Abigail] We know it's
the city of Babylon
578
00:31:30,034 --> 00:31:32,896
because the other rectangle
that runs through it
579
00:31:32,931 --> 00:31:34,413
is the Euphrates River.
580
00:31:34,448 --> 00:31:36,344
And Babylon was famous for
being the city
581
00:31:36,379 --> 00:31:39,655
that was on both sides
of the Euphrates River.
582
00:31:39,689 --> 00:31:43,034
[narrator] When the map is
made around 2,600 years ago,
583
00:31:43,068 --> 00:31:46,517
Babylon is home to
200,000 people.
584
00:31:46,551 --> 00:31:49,344
It is the largest city
on Earth
585
00:31:49,379 --> 00:31:53,103
and the location of
the greatest wonders of
the ancient world,
586
00:31:54,068 --> 00:31:56,241
the Hanging Gardens
of Babylon,
587
00:31:57,586 --> 00:31:59,689
the Ishtar Gate
588
00:31:59,724 --> 00:32:02,137
and theBible's
Tower of Babel.
589
00:32:03,275 --> 00:32:05,655
So it's no surprise
that this map of the world
590
00:32:05,689 --> 00:32:08,689
revolves around
mighty Babylon.
591
00:32:08,724 --> 00:32:13,000
[Abigail] They're setting out
their concept of their kingdom
and who they are
592
00:32:13,034 --> 00:32:15,310
through the means of a map
593
00:32:15,344 --> 00:32:18,379
in which they place
themselves in the center.
594
00:32:18,413 --> 00:32:20,793
And everything that
isn't themselves
595
00:32:20,827 --> 00:32:22,620
on the periphery.
596
00:32:22,655 --> 00:32:24,206
[narrator]
Beyond Babylon itself,
597
00:32:24,241 --> 00:32:27,931
other features of
this lost world appear.
598
00:32:27,965 --> 00:32:30,379
[Abigail] There are also
just plain circles
599
00:32:30,413 --> 00:32:31,965
that fall in various places,
600
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,103
and these are ruins of
ancient cities.
601
00:32:37,724 --> 00:32:39,931
[narrator] There are mountains
marked in the north
602
00:32:39,965 --> 00:32:44,310
in roughly the same location
as the Taurus Mountains
of southern Turkey.
603
00:32:47,103 --> 00:32:50,551
A swamp in the south
corresponds to the marshlands
604
00:32:50,586 --> 00:32:53,482
of the Euphrates and
Tigris floodplains.
605
00:32:54,655 --> 00:32:57,931
But there is something
strange about this tablet.
606
00:32:58,655 --> 00:33:00,620
Unlike maps as we know them,
607
00:33:00,655 --> 00:33:03,448
it has no scale,
no measure of distance,
608
00:33:03,482 --> 00:33:06,689
no roads, no paths.
609
00:33:06,724 --> 00:33:10,793
The Babylonian map is not
a map which will allow you
610
00:33:10,827 --> 00:33:13,965
to find where you are
in the world.
611
00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,137
[narrator] This map clearly
isn't for navigation.
612
00:33:17,172 --> 00:33:19,344
So what is it for?
613
00:33:27,241 --> 00:33:30,103
[narrator]
Getting from A to B using
the oldest map of the world
614
00:33:30,137 --> 00:33:32,413
would be impossible.
615
00:33:32,448 --> 00:33:35,793
Yet the Babylonians
do seem to have
the knowledge and the skill
616
00:33:35,827 --> 00:33:37,724
that a mapmaker would need.
617
00:33:40,413 --> 00:33:44,000
[Kevin] We know that
the Babylonians
had surveying skills.
618
00:33:44,034 --> 00:33:47,034
So if you could make
a more accurate map,
619
00:33:47,689 --> 00:33:49,000
but you make something
620
00:33:49,034 --> 00:33:51,896
which is rather less detailed
and crude,
621
00:33:51,931 --> 00:33:53,413
there must be another
reason for it.
622
00:33:54,931 --> 00:33:56,551
[narrator] The answer to that
may begin
623
00:33:56,586 --> 00:34:00,965
with the lines surrounding
this lost Babylonian world.
624
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,137
There's a circle that
goes around it
625
00:34:03,172 --> 00:34:05,793
called the Bitter River.
626
00:34:05,827 --> 00:34:08,965
By "bitter," we're talking
about the kind of salt seas.
627
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,931
[narrator] The map does not
end at the Bitter Sea,
628
00:34:11,965 --> 00:34:14,206
it shows land beyond it,
629
00:34:14,241 --> 00:34:16,310
but it looks very different.
630
00:34:16,344 --> 00:34:20,965
The outer bodies of land
are shaped like triangles,
631
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,620
reducing as they head
towards the abyss
632
00:34:24,655 --> 00:34:27,310
at the edge of the world.
633
00:34:27,344 --> 00:34:30,034
Some people have even said
the way that they're presented
634
00:34:30,068 --> 00:34:32,448
as kind of triangles
coming out
635
00:34:32,482 --> 00:34:36,310
represents the way
you'd have seen the land
approaching by sea.
636
00:34:40,413 --> 00:34:42,310
[narrator]
These are distant places
637
00:34:42,344 --> 00:34:44,517
outside the boundary
of the Bitter Sea
638
00:34:44,551 --> 00:34:46,655
and beyond the lands
of Babylon.
639
00:34:47,275 --> 00:34:48,413
Some of the labels say,
640
00:34:48,448 --> 00:34:51,517
"Oh, the sun
never shone here.
641
00:34:51,551 --> 00:34:54,000
It was dark as night."
642
00:34:54,034 --> 00:34:57,620
And there were places where
birds wouldn't fly.
643
00:34:57,655 --> 00:34:59,896
[narrator] These may well be
partially-known places
644
00:34:59,931 --> 00:35:03,275
based on travelers' tales
or handed-down stories.
645
00:35:05,379 --> 00:35:07,275
[Abigail] They have it
on the map
646
00:35:07,310 --> 00:35:09,000
and they've tried
to map it out.
647
00:35:09,034 --> 00:35:12,137
It's something that
you know is there,
648
00:35:12,172 --> 00:35:15,793
but you don't really have
enough information
649
00:35:15,827 --> 00:35:21,379
to describe it or
even kind of put it properly.
650
00:35:21,413 --> 00:35:24,275
[narrator] Later mapmakers
called such unknown lands
651
00:35:24,310 --> 00:35:26,689
"terra incognita."
652
00:35:26,724 --> 00:35:29,068
[Abigail] In cartography,
terra incognita
653
00:35:29,103 --> 00:35:31,241
is the "land unknown."
654
00:35:32,310 --> 00:35:35,655
We often get the phrase
"hic sunt leones,"
655
00:35:35,689 --> 00:35:37,448
"here be lions."
656
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,103
"Here be dragons."
657
00:35:40,137 --> 00:35:43,517
[narrator] In the absence of
facts or firsthand experience,
658
00:35:43,551 --> 00:35:47,689
mapmakers use
their imagination
to fill in the gaps.
659
00:35:47,724 --> 00:35:52,517
It's amazing, really,
because it's not just
describing a place,
660
00:35:52,551 --> 00:35:57,137
but it's almost describing
a philosophical concept
661
00:35:57,172 --> 00:35:59,344
of something that
you don't know
662
00:35:59,379 --> 00:36:02,137
and, therefore,
can't even imagine.
663
00:36:05,620 --> 00:36:08,344
[narrator]
The text on the tablet
also includes references
664
00:36:08,379 --> 00:36:11,172
to strange wildlife.
665
00:36:11,206 --> 00:36:14,482
[Abigail]
You have all different types
of exotic animals,
666
00:36:14,517 --> 00:36:17,034
almost otherworldly creatures,
667
00:36:17,068 --> 00:36:21,103
like gazelles
and a scorpion man.
668
00:36:21,137 --> 00:36:22,758
And that kind of
captures the idea
669
00:36:22,793 --> 00:36:26,413
that they're seen as these
otherworldly, mythic places.
670
00:36:27,655 --> 00:36:29,931
[narrator] The heavily damaged
text on the front
671
00:36:29,965 --> 00:36:32,517
includes references
to legendary figures
672
00:36:32,551 --> 00:36:35,241
and the Babylonian
creation myth.
673
00:36:36,275 --> 00:36:38,172
This map and
the writing on the tablet
674
00:36:38,206 --> 00:36:43,551
are effectively a description
of more than just the
Babylonians physical world.
675
00:36:43,586 --> 00:36:45,896
It's their cosmology.
676
00:36:45,931 --> 00:36:49,379
This is a strange
blending of worlds,
677
00:36:49,413 --> 00:36:51,793
of the known world,
678
00:36:51,827 --> 00:36:55,034
of a mythological world
beyond.
679
00:36:55,068 --> 00:36:58,620
[narrator] But one theory
suggests that this map
could be more
680
00:36:58,655 --> 00:37:01,896
than just a description of
a belief system.
681
00:37:01,931 --> 00:37:04,758
Could it have
a more Earthly purpose?
682
00:37:10,068 --> 00:37:13,172
1,700 years before
the map is made,
683
00:37:13,206 --> 00:37:17,137
Babylon is part of the
first great empire on Earth.
684
00:37:17,172 --> 00:37:20,172
And at the center of
everything is its ruler,
685
00:37:20,206 --> 00:37:23,551
the legendary
Sargon the Great.
686
00:37:23,586 --> 00:37:26,965
[Kevin] The time of Sargon
was the golden age.
687
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:32,206
This goes back many centuries
to around 2,300 BC.
688
00:37:32,241 --> 00:37:37,206
A multiethnic civilization
stretched over
a great breadth of land
689
00:37:37,241 --> 00:37:40,689
with roots by land and sea.
690
00:37:42,275 --> 00:37:46,448
This was potentially
the world's first empire.
691
00:37:49,310 --> 00:37:51,379
[narrator] But since then,
Babylon has become
692
00:37:51,413 --> 00:37:55,758
just a pale shadow of
its former greatness.
693
00:37:55,793 --> 00:37:59,000
[Kevin] It was no longer
the golden age of Sargon.
694
00:37:59,034 --> 00:38:02,862
This region was no longer
a world leader.
695
00:38:02,896 --> 00:38:06,000
Babylon had been
conquered by Assyria
696
00:38:06,034 --> 00:38:09,344
and was in a perpetual
state of revolt.
697
00:38:09,379 --> 00:38:12,965
It was ridden by conflict
and civil war.
698
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:17,137
[narrator] Yet this map shows
a Babylon-centric world view.
699
00:38:17,172 --> 00:38:20,551
That could be because
the empire strikes back.
700
00:38:20,586 --> 00:38:23,551
They kick the Assyrians
out of Babylon.
701
00:38:23,586 --> 00:38:25,896
[Kevin] By the 7th
and 6th centuries BC,
702
00:38:25,931 --> 00:38:28,448
we do see
a glimmer of change
703
00:38:28,482 --> 00:38:32,379
with a short-lived
Neo-Babylonian Empire.
704
00:38:32,413 --> 00:38:33,827
[narrator] In this period,
705
00:38:33,862 --> 00:38:36,448
Babylonian culture
and arts blossomed
706
00:38:36,482 --> 00:38:41,172
and spectacular palaces
and temples are built
across the empire,
707
00:38:41,206 --> 00:38:43,689
particularly in Babylon.
708
00:38:43,724 --> 00:38:47,689
This era features the iconic
King Nebuchadnezzar,
709
00:38:47,724 --> 00:38:51,448
who, of course,
we all know created the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
710
00:38:53,310 --> 00:38:55,068
[narrator] In the text
on the front,
711
00:38:55,103 --> 00:38:57,517
the map talks of
the Babylonian creator god,
712
00:38:57,862 --> 00:38:59,689
Marduk.
713
00:38:59,724 --> 00:39:03,137
And it suggests one of
the distant triangular lands
714
00:39:03,172 --> 00:39:05,758
may be home to
both Utnapishtim,
715
00:39:05,793 --> 00:39:07,931
their equivalent of Noah,
716
00:39:07,965 --> 00:39:10,379
and Sargon himself.
717
00:39:10,413 --> 00:39:14,310
It's like a golden hits
of Babylonian mythology.
718
00:39:14,344 --> 00:39:17,655
One means of interpretation
might be to say
719
00:39:17,689 --> 00:39:22,000
that this map served as
a harkening back to that age.
720
00:39:22,034 --> 00:39:25,310
[narrator] Could its purpose
have been to revive ideas
721
00:39:25,344 --> 00:39:28,551
of Babylon's lost golden past?
722
00:39:28,586 --> 00:39:32,931
It's tempting to connect it
with the resurgence of Babylon
723
00:39:32,965 --> 00:39:35,103
in the 7th and 6th centuries
724
00:39:35,137 --> 00:39:38,551
and this short secondary
golden age
725
00:39:38,586 --> 00:39:41,620
and see it as
an attempt to appeal
726
00:39:41,655 --> 00:39:44,413
to the glorious past
of the area.
727
00:39:46,896 --> 00:39:49,103
[narrator] That's consistent
with what we know
728
00:39:49,137 --> 00:39:51,827
of the Neo-Babylonian world.
729
00:39:51,862 --> 00:39:54,310
[Kevin]
Archaeologically speaking,
there's other evidence
730
00:39:54,344 --> 00:39:56,620
of the Neo-Babylonian state
731
00:39:56,655 --> 00:40:01,275
using the past as
a form of legitimation.
732
00:40:01,310 --> 00:40:05,034
[narrator] We know they
restore one of Sargon's
great ancient cities,
733
00:40:05,068 --> 00:40:08,137
Ur, including
its towering ziggurat.
734
00:40:09,034 --> 00:40:11,793
And they restore the Esagila,
735
00:40:11,827 --> 00:40:15,862
the great temple to Marduk in
the center of Babylon itself.
736
00:40:18,448 --> 00:40:21,344
The Neo-Babylonians
certainly wouldn't be alone
737
00:40:21,379 --> 00:40:25,793
in using a glorious past
to help shape the present.
738
00:40:25,827 --> 00:40:29,689
[Kevin] If we look,
for example,
at Mussolini in the 1930s,
739
00:40:29,724 --> 00:40:33,241
he used the Roman past
and archaeology
740
00:40:33,275 --> 00:40:38,206
as a means of discussing
Italian greatness
741
00:40:38,241 --> 00:40:42,172
and the Italian right
to reconquer North Africa.
742
00:40:42,793 --> 00:40:45,689
More recently in history,
743
00:40:45,724 --> 00:40:50,000
we see Saddam Hussein
doing the same thing in Iraq.
744
00:40:50,034 --> 00:40:51,517
[narrator]
Could the Babylonian map
745
00:40:51,551 --> 00:40:54,344
also have been intended
to draw a parallel
746
00:40:54,379 --> 00:40:56,793
with past greatness?
747
00:40:56,827 --> 00:41:00,172
Although it's a tempting
theory and seems to fit,
748
00:41:00,206 --> 00:41:03,034
modern scholars are skeptical.
749
00:41:03,068 --> 00:41:05,965
The one thing we can say
with some certainty
750
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:08,862
is this ancient clay tablet
shows us the world
751
00:41:08,896 --> 00:41:10,793
the mapmaker wants us to see.
752
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,758
[Kevin] Much like the map
of the world today
753
00:41:15,793 --> 00:41:17,206
and its projections,
754
00:41:17,241 --> 00:41:19,482
the relative size
of continents,
755
00:41:19,517 --> 00:41:22,344
This is all guarded by
the priorities of
756
00:41:22,379 --> 00:41:24,000
the people who were
drawing the maps.
757
00:41:26,586 --> 00:41:30,620
[narrator]
We just can't be certain
what this mapmaker intended.
758
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,896
Is this strange thing
made as a map?
759
00:41:34,931 --> 00:41:37,068
As a cosmological guide?
760
00:41:37,103 --> 00:41:39,517
Or as a piece of propaganda?
761
00:41:39,551 --> 00:41:42,206
[Abigail] What's so intriguing
about his object
762
00:41:42,241 --> 00:41:46,413
is the fact that
we probably won't ever know
763
00:41:46,448 --> 00:41:51,206
exactly what it was
meant to be used for.
764
00:41:51,241 --> 00:41:55,344
[narrator] Unfortunately,
the Neo-Babylonian Empire
that likely created it
765
00:41:55,379 --> 00:41:58,517
lasts less than a century.
766
00:41:58,551 --> 00:42:02,724
But this remnant of that
short-lived period remains,
767
00:42:02,758 --> 00:42:07,172
the oldest-known map of
the world in existence.
58160
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