Ancient Voices

Dated from a distant epoch 12,000 years ago, the skull of a human female, dubbed "Luzia," is discovered in Brazil. But Luzia and other similar remains uncovered belong to none of the races known to have set foot in the Americas at that time. Who, then, was Luzia? What astonishing journey might she and her kind undertaken to forge one of the hemisphere's first human 40footholds?

A century ago, the remote desert wastelands of the Amarna plain began to yield tantalizing clues to an extraordinary and enigmatic chapter in Egyptian history. Temples destroyed or defaced, a radical pharaoh and his dream city violently and deliberately forgotten. But why? Now, unlock the mystery behind this once-mighty vanished city and the revolutionary ruler, Akhenaten, and his legendary wife, Nefertiti, that ruled there. And discover why Egyptian pharaohs, including Akhenaten's own son, Tutankhamun, would go to such lengths to erase all evidence of this amazing desert experiment.

The once-mighty city of Cahokia now lies beneath the superhighways and sprawling neighborhoods of modern St. Louis. Larger than medieval London during its heydey a thousand years ago, with huge construction projects, remarkable engineering, enormous ceremonial mounds and miles of "suburbs," stunningly sophisticated works of art...and startling rites of sacrificial barbarism, Cahokia was an astonishing achievement of civilization in any time.

According to both the Bible and the Koran, a mighty flood once submerged the ancient world beneath a planet-wide deluge of mythic proportions. But what if the myth flows from reality? Now, renowned experts and their breakthrough discoveries offer a glimpse of the scientific truth behind the story of Noah's Flood.

It's the most precious object in Christendom. Charged with divine power. Visible only to the pure of mind and body. Rumored at times to be a platter, a stone or most recently, a chalice, it's said to have held the blood of the dying Christ. And since medieval times, the Holy Grail has held a powerful fascination for those in pursuit of it-from rank charlatans to religious visionaries. Investigate tantalizing evidence of the Grail's survival into modern times, and see how eerily similar Grail stories persisting across cultures continue to inspire the search for the mystic power-source of this most sacred of vessels.

Archaeologists, smugglers, scholars, nomads - all are locked in a race to track down fragments of one of history's most controversial discoveries - the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1947, a young Bedouin shepherd stumbled upon cryptic writings that had lain hidden for nearly 2,000 years. As eager scholars deciphered the documents, an astonishing truth came to light. The Scrolls could hold the key to both Judaism and the very birth of Christianity. But only a few have ever been found. Join the quest to find and save the remaining Scrolls. Meet the resourceful traders and tribe�s people who may be the best hope for locating the priceless relics...or the greatest threat to their survival. Witness a high-tech reconstruction of a "lost" scroll.

On a windswept English plain, the colossal ediface of Stonehenge looms as one of the ancient world's most remarkable structures - and one of history's most inscrutable riddles. Who were the Ice Age barbarians that laid out the site's first wooden posts more than 10,000 years ago? What "primitive" technology could have created the henge's increasingly massive stone structures? And most baffling of all, why was Stonehenge built at all?

Concealed for millennia beneath the burial mounds of a once-mighty but misunderstood African empire, the skeletons of hundreds of royal servants line the interior of their king's grave. But was this a voluntary mass suicide-or mass murder? Once Egypt's rival in power and glory, the Nubian Empire remained shrouded in mystery until the 1920s. Even so, archaeologists and explorers have only recently begun to credit such sophistication and splendor to its black populace. But why did such a civilized culture resort to such a violent and bizarre way of burying their dead? And what are its surprising links to modern-day suicides cults like Jonestown and Heaven's Gate?

As intricate as it is enormous, the Taj Mahal is renowned as the most spectacular building on earth. Built more than 300 years ago by the mighty Emperor Shah Jahan to memorize his beloved Queen, it has stood for centuries as the ultimate monument to love. But new evidence now reveals a different side of the Taj Mahal - and the extraordinary and contradictory person who created it.

Beneath the sprawl of modern-day Mexico City lie the once-glorious remains of the Aztec Capital of Tenochtitlan. From this teeming 15th-century hub, the Aztecs ruled a realm of fabulous architecture, advanced science and intricate artwork. But they are best known for their reliance on human sacrifice and violent conquest to control their world. Why, then, did a civilization capable of such beauty and accomplishment harbor such violence at its very heart? Join leading researchers on a journey from the magnificent past of North America's greatest empire to its poignant remnants today. Note - this is a re-edit of Blood and Flowers - In Search of the Aztecs.

The New World at the dawn of the 16th century, where one tale fired the imagination of the newly arrived conquistadors like no other. The story of a kingdom of solid gold: El Dorado. Now trek into modern-day Colombia in the fevered footsteps of seekers from the earliest Spaniards to the treasure hunters of this century.

The Aztec Indians, who are known for their domination of southern and central Mexico, ruled between the 14th and 16th centuries. Their name is derived from Azatlan, the homeland of the north. The Aztecs also call themselves Mexica and there language came from the Nahuatlan branch of the Uto-Aztecan family. The Aztecs were formed after the Toltec civilization occurred when hundreds of civilians came towards Lake texcoco. Late families were unfortunate and were forced to go to the swamp lands. In the swamp lands there was only one piece of land to farm on and it was totally surrounded by more marshes . The Aztec families some how converted these disadvantages to a might empire known as they Aztec Empire. People say the empire was partially formed by a deeply believed legend. As the the legend went it said that Aztec people would create a empire on in a swampy place where they would see an eagle eating a snake while perched on a cactus which is growing out of a rock in the swamplands. This is what priests claimed they saw while entering the new land. By the year 1325 Their capital city was finished. They called it Tenochtitlan. In the the capital city aqueducts (piping) were constructed, bridges were built, and chinapas were made. Chinapas were little islands formed by pilled up mud. On these chinapas Aztecs grew corn, beans, chili peppers, squash, tomatoes, and tobacco. Tenochtitlan (the capital city) was covered in giant religious statues in order to pay their respects to the gods. In the Aztec religion numerous gods controlled an Aztec�s daily life. Some of these gods include: Uitzilpochtli (the sun god), Coyolxauhqui (the moon goddess), Tlaloc (the rain god), and Quetzalcoatl (the inventor of the calendar and writing). Another part of the Aztec religion was human sacrifices. For their sacrifices the priest would lay the man or woman over a convex (rounded) stone, then he would take a sharp knife and cut the victims heart out. They did this because they believed that good gods could prevent bad gods from doing evil things and they also believed that good gods got their strength from human blood and hearts so they had sacrifices in order to keep their gods strong. For major rituals warriors were sacrificed, for the warrior this was one of the greatest honors and for minor rituals prisoners were used. In an Aztec marriage the grooms shirt is tied to the brides dress in order to express there bonding and after the wedding incents were burned for 4 days before proceeding with the marriage. In 1519 Hernando Cortes, a Spanish explorer, led over 500 men into Aztec territory to search for gold. Aztecs thought he was a representative for a certain white skinned god so they respected him. It all changed when the Aztecs saw that Hernando was melting down their golden statues and shipping them back to Spain. The Aztecs decided to attack Hernando and his men. The Aztecs were successful and drove the Spanish away. In 1520 the Spanish attacked the Aztec's capital city and destroyed their civilization. That was the end of the Aztec's mighty empire had built so long ago.