00:00This is not a dune set. This is a very real desert in Niger.
00:10Jado was probably built by the nomadic Sao people and is filled with Xars, which are fortified houses made of salt and clay, with giant walls and secret passages.
00:22Located deep in the desert, it was once a vital stop for trans-Saharan caravans, but is now a hotspot for smugglers and bandits.
00:31The site has been off-limits since 2002 due to its dangers. The origin of the Xars remain a mystery.
00:39No archaeological studies have been conducted, leaving many questions unanswered.
00:43Even today, shifting sands reveal and conceal parts of these ancient ruins, fueling local speculation about what might still be hidden beneath the desert.
00:54Speaking of connective tunnels, scientists were blown away by the discovery of lava tubes in Saudi Arabia.
01:05These underground passages form when molten lava cools down.
01:09Researchers believe that ancient nomadic groups may have utilized these tunnels to survive the super-harsh desert climates.
01:17While excavating the tunnels, archaeologists uncovered artifacts, rock art, and skeletal remains.
01:23The art and animal bones show that the people who used the tunnels were probably sheep and goat herders.
01:30They're still piecing together whether these groups lived in the tunnels for extended periods or just used them as temporary shelters.
01:40The Great Pyramid of Giza has been standing for thousands of years, but it's still hiding secrets.
01:47Using special scanning technology, scientists found two hidden structures under an ancient burial ground.
01:53The first is a shallow L-shaped structure, and below it is a much larger space that could be a final resting place or a chamber.
02:03The smaller structure was filled with sand on purpose, while the deeper one might be an empty chamber.
02:10Experts believe the two are connected, possibly as an entrance leading to a secret chamber.
02:15This is big news, because it might give us some more insight into who built the pyramids and why.
02:25The world is full of ancient writing, but some messages refuse to give up their secrets, like the mystery of the Bashplemi tablet.
02:33This unusual stone, pulled from a lake in Georgia, is covered in symbols no one can read.
02:40Even with modern technology, experts are completely stumped.
02:44The tablet is about the size of a book, with 60 symbols carefully carved into its surface.
02:50But 39 of them don't match any known language.
02:53Some resemble scripts from ancient civilizations in the Middle East, India, and Egypt, but none are an exact match.
03:02To make things even trickier, part of the tablet is broken off, meaning a piece of the puzzle is missing forever.
03:10To rule out a hoax, scientists studied the tablet closely.
03:14They confirmed it's made of vesicular basalt, an extremely tough local rock.
03:20Whoever carved these symbols must have been really skilled.
03:25Based on similar archaeological finds, experts believe the tablet could date back thousands of years,
03:31possibly to the late Bronze or early Iron Age.
03:35Some symbols repeat, which could mean their numbers.
03:38Maybe it's an inventory list, a record of battles, or even an offering to the deities.
03:44Until someone cracks the code, the Bash-Plemy tablet remains an unsolved mystery from the depths of history.
03:53Experts are still stumped with what this Minoan disk might mean.
03:58The Phaistos disk is one of the most mysterious finds from the Minoan civilization.
04:04This 6-inch clay object, discovered in 1908, has strange spiral markings that no one has fully decoded yet.
04:12The disk has 241 symbols on both sides, showing everything from people and animals, to tools and plants.
04:21Experts have come up with many theories about what the symbols mean.
04:25Some think it's an early form of Greek.
04:27Others suggest it's a prayer or a hymn.
04:31And some even believe it could be a letter from a king in Anatolia to a Greek ruler.
04:36Let's see who will be the first to figure this out.
04:39It's always a fun day at an archaeologist's office when they find something as big as a 2,000-year-old marble head.
04:49A French archaeologist's mission went digging inside an old medieval house near Alexandria in Egypt,
04:55and found a statue's head depicting an old, possibly ill, man.
04:59This statue dates from the last Egyptian dynasty, before it became part of the Roman Empire.
05:06And the site where it was found is associated with the likes of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony.
05:12For archaeologists, even the smallest finds at this site means a lot.
05:16You've heard of Lucy, right?
05:21The Australopithecus that was an early ancestor for us humans.
05:26Well, scientists found some of her species' footprints somewhere in Tanzania.
05:31The so-called Laetoli footprints are over 3 million years old.
05:36The trail stretched 88 feet and has about 70 footprints,
05:41left behind when a bunch of early humans walked across some wet volcanic ash.
05:46What's cool is that these early humans were already walking on two feet, like us,
05:51not all hunched over like apes.
05:54The close spacing of the prints shows they probably had short legs and a shorter stride than we do today.
06:03In an ancient Egyptian temple, archaeologists uncovered a shrine unlike any other,
06:09a place dedicated to falcons and two mysterious deities.
06:13One deity had a falcon's head, while the other wore a crown with a sun disc and cow horns.
06:21But the most baffling discovery was an inscription that read,
06:24It is improper to boil a head in here.
06:27At the heart of the shrine, there are 15 headless falcons carefully arranged on a pedestal,
06:33likely as offerings to the falcon-headed deity.
06:36One theory suggests the birds were boiled first, perhaps to pluck their feathers,
06:42before being placed in the shrine, following the strange rule carved into stone.
06:49Archaeologists also found a 13-inch iron harpoon nearby.
06:53Its true purpose remains unknown,
06:55although the shrine also held remains of fish, mammals, and bird eggs,
07:00suggesting that their rituals may have included feasting.
07:06And speaking of ancient Egypt, meet Hathor.
07:10Scientists named her after the ancient Egyptian deity of motherhood, music, and singing.
07:16This wooden statue, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
07:20was thought to be just a beautiful artifact,
07:22until a surprising secret was uncovered.
07:26Using an X-ray machine, experts found a mechanical operating system inside it,
07:31with pulleys and axles connecting her shoulder to her left leg.
07:36When activated, the system made her hand raise and lower,
07:40an engineering marvel from over 3,000 years ago.
07:44The statue was created during Egypt's Middle Kingdom,
07:47around 1800 BCE,
07:50and is often compared to 19th-century automata,
07:53due to its advanced design.
07:56It's believed the statue was used in religious ceremonies,
07:59symbolizing Hathor's role in dance and music.
08:05An unexpected discovery happened in northern Kuwait,
08:08where a Kuwaiti-Polish team uncovered a mysterious 7,500-year-old statue.
08:14The statue features an elongated skull,
08:17no mouth, narrow eyes, and a flattened nose.
08:21This feature is thought to be an Ophidian figurine,
08:24named after the Greek word for snake,
08:26and it was likely made by the Ubaid culture,
08:29a civilization known for their pottery skills.
08:33While no one knows exactly what role this weird statue played,
08:37it might have been linked to rituals or symbolic practices.
08:39Some scientists think these figurines,
08:43found in homes or final resting places,
08:45were tied to important cultural beliefs.
08:50We couldn't mention unresolved mysteries of this world
08:53without speaking about these elongated skulls.
08:56In the deserts of Peru,
08:58researchers uncovered five ancient skeletons,
09:01two with unnaturally elongated skulls.
09:04While head-shaping was common in many cultures,
09:08these skulls defy explanation.
09:11Local legends tell tales of the so-called Gentiles,
09:15a mysterious race banished underground by the powerful deities.
09:20Some say this is what the skulls represent.
09:23Others think this is some type of genetic anomaly,
09:26which was confirmed after finding an infant skull,
09:29too large to be artificially shaped.
09:32.
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