Treasure Seekers

S01E07: Mysteries of the Nile

A former circus performer drawn to Egypt’s mystique, Giovanni Belzoni developed a passion for uncovering its secrets and discovered that he possessed an extraordinary talent for archaeological discovery. But another man made what is perhaps the most well known find in Egypt. Howard Carter worked in vain for seven years to locate the tomb of King Tutankhamun. In 1922, just as his funding was drying up, Carter and his team unearthed the elusive tomb. The rest is ancient history.

Overview

This is a tale of hidden treasure and the scientific shaping of our past, told through the stories of the adventures and discoveries of great archaeologists.

Episodes

S01E01 Africa's Forgotten Kingdoms

January 1, 2000 60 min
Deep in the heart of southern Africa, in present-day Zimbabwe, a great civilization rose and flourished in the 9th century A.D. Its magnificent walled city stood as testament to a thriving, sophisticated culture called Great...

S01E02 Code of the Maya Kings

January 1, 2000 60 min
Great cities in ruins, lost in the jungles of Central America and Mexico. Who would have built these cities? It would take more than a century and two extraordinary people to uncover the secrets of...

S01E03 Empires of India

January 1, 2000 60 min
Famed for its wealth, cultural treasures, and spirituality, India has beckoned the outsiders for centuries. Many have vied for control of this fabled and diverse land. Two great empires, one established by invading Moguls, the...

S01E04 Glories of Angkor Wat

January 1, 2000 60 min
In 1858, a young French naturalist, Henri Mouhot, set out to discover new animal species in Southeast Asia. Instead, he stumbled on the lost city of Angkor. Uncovering temple after temple hidden by jungle, Mouhot...

S01E05 In the Shadow of Ancient Rome

January 1, 2000 60 min
Wealthier and more powerful than any other ancient civilization, the Roman Empire enjoyed a long period of prosperity. But perhaps the greatest treasure of this period was not its riches, but its myth. The image...

S01E06 Lost Cities of the Inca

January 1, 2000 60 min
Setting out in search of Vilcabamba, a hidden jungle city built in one of the more remote and inaccessible regions of the Inca Empire, Hiram Bingham stumbled upon one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of...

S01E07 Mysteries of the Nile

January 1, 2000 60 min
A former circus performer drawn to Egypt’s mystique, Giovanni Belzoni developed a passion for uncovering its secrets and discovered that he possessed an extraordinary talent for archaeological discovery. But another man made what is perhaps...

S01E08 Quest for the Grail

January 1, 2000 60 min
The legend of the Holy Grail, written in 1185, seized the European imagination and maintains its hold to the present day. It was the most sacred of relics, the vessel alleged to have held both...

S01E09 The Edge of the Orient

January 1, 2000 60 min
Early in the 19th century, the fog that long had shrouded Mesopotamia began to lift, in large part due to French-born Austen Henry Layard. Journeying to the upper Tigris valley, Layard gained the right to...

S01E10 The Silk Road

January 1, 2000 60 min
When East met West along Asia’s silk route, the collision of culture and tradition changed the course of world history. Winding tens of thousands of miles between China and Europe, the Silk Road enabled the...

S01E11 Tibet's Hidden Kingdom

January 1, 2000 60 min
In the 19th century, as it became aware of the colonial designs of European power on central Asia, Tibet expelled westerners and closed its frontiers. As its isolation deepened, so did Tibet's allure and mystique....

S01E12 China's Frozen Desert

January 1, 2000 60 min
A Chinese monk's description of oasis cities during a 7th Century pilgrimage would prove invaluable to another explorer more than 1000 years later. Sir Aurel Stein found cities buried in sand and a 1000 year-old...

S01E13 Glories of the Ancient Aegean

January 1, 2000 60 min
Most people thought that the city of Troy was fictitious, but in the 19th Century a German industrialist followed the clues in Homer and uncovered the ruins of the great ancient cities of Troy and...

Cast

Gavin MacFadyen
Gavin MacFadyen
Narrator

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