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00:00A team of geologists conducting an aerial survey over the vast Libyan desert make a surprising discovery.
00:08It's an airplane from World War II.
00:11An American B-24D Liberator bomber.
00:15So what plane is this and how did it end up in the middle of the Libyan desert?
00:22A team of archaeologists conducting a survey in Turkey reveal intricate carvings and symbols at the Gebekli Tepe pillar.
00:30In addition to images of wild birds, snakes, and scorpions, there are several rows of a V-shape carved into
00:38one of the pillars of the largest enclosure.
00:40What does that mean and how does that connect with the megalith's intended purpose?
00:48Archaeologists are excavating a site near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem when they uncover a strange structure.
00:54They unearthed a walled complex carved right into the Roth face that spanned an area of over 2,000 square
01:03feet.
01:04What exactly was this place and how is it connected to the Temple Mount?
01:09Ancient lost cities.
01:12Forgotten treasures.
01:15Mysterious structures.
01:16As new technology uncovers remarkable tales hidden beneath the deserts of the world,
01:23the secrets in the sand will finally be revealed.
01:41Dominated by actively shifting sand dunes that reach heights of 350 feet,
01:48the Kalanchuo Sand Sea covers over 23,000 square miles of desert in eastern Libya.
01:55A sand sea, or Urg, as it's known in Arabic,
02:00is an area consisting of at least 20% windblown sand
02:04and receiving no more than 6 inches of annual precipitation.
02:09So the resulting climate in active Urgs like the Kalanchuo is dry, hot, and windy,
02:16making this part of eastern Libya particularly treacherous and inhospitable.
02:23While the intense sandstorms create significant challenges for settlement,
02:28underneath all that sand, Libya holds massive oil reserves.
02:32Drilling for oil was first authorized in 1955,
02:35and in recent years, that country has been producing over a million barrels per day,
02:40creating billions of dollars in annual revenue.
02:50Geologists prospecting for an oil company are flying over eastern Libya
02:54when they spy something unusual on the ground below.
02:59They were conducting a survey of an area that included the Kalanchuo Sand Sea,
03:03and they spotted something that, from the plane,
03:06looked like a huge damaged vehicle of some kind, half buried in the sand.
03:12The geologists alert the authorities,
03:15and a ground crew is dispatched to investigate.
03:19What they find astounds them.
03:23It's an airplane from World War II.
03:28An American B-24D Liberator bomber.
03:32These planes measured roughly 65 feet long and 18 feet high,
03:38had a high cruise speed, long range, and the ability to carry a heavy payload.
03:46But in comparison with its contemporaries,
03:49the B-24 was difficult to fly and had poor low-speed performance.
03:54Despite this, at around 18,500 units,
03:59it held the record for the world's most produced bomber.
04:04On first inspection, it was clear the plane had not been shot down.
04:08It appears to have made a controlled descent,
04:12then skidded across a flat stretch of sand and gravel
04:17for over 2,000 feet when it landed.
04:22The stress of the crash broke the main body of the plane just behind the wings.
04:27But aside from that, it was largely intact, including the propellers.
04:32How did it end up in the middle of the Libyan desert?
04:39Searching for answers, the team examines the bomber's wreckage.
04:46Eerily, the plane's interior contained the crew's belongings,
04:50rations, even flasks of water and coffee.
04:53The dry desert conditions had preserved almost everything
04:57from the aircraft's last mission.
05:01All of the plane's .50 caliber machine guns and ammo were still there.
05:05One of the machine guns was even still working.
05:07The bomber's radio, also working.
05:10But although the airplane's engines did not work anymore,
05:13it was clear from analyses that the engine was running
05:17when the plane crashed.
05:20The rear escape hatch doors were open,
05:22and all of the plane's parachutes and life preservers were missing.
05:25All these findings support a mostly functional airplane
05:29abandoned by its crew,
05:31rather than a terrible crash with all on board.
05:37We know that during World War II,
05:40there was an allied base in Sulu, Libya.
05:43So it's reasonable to assume that this plane originated there.
05:47But that still doesn't tell us the identity of the mystery wreck.
05:54Military records show that on April 4th, 1943,
05:5925 American Air Force bomber planes took off from the base at Sulu.
06:06Their mission was a high-altitude attack
06:08on the Axis-held port of Naples, Italy.
06:14By 1943, the fate of North Africa had become critical to the outcome of the war,
06:20as control of the region meant access to Mediterranean sea routes
06:24and a launch pad for invasions into Southern Europe.
06:31At 2.50 p.m., the bomb group took off for Italy.
06:36Unfortunately, sandstorms created poor visibility,
06:38so all the planes aborted the mission
06:41and returned safely to the base at Soluch that night.
06:44That is, all of them but one.
06:47The lone exception was the Lady Be Good.
06:51The Lady Be Good carried on until she was almost at her target,
06:54at which point she turned around and headed home alone.
06:58And that was the last known detail about the plane's movement.
07:02But the assumption was that it went down somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea.
07:09For several years following the war,
07:11neither the plane nor its crew had been located,
07:14making it one of the most famous lost airplanes of World War II.
07:17So the big question is,
07:19is the aircraft in the desert the wreck of the Lady Be Good?
07:26A full inspection of the crash site reveals the plane's identity.
07:31But the mystery of its fate only deepens.
07:35They found the flight logs and two notebooks
07:38containing the names of each of the nine crew members.
07:41And the interior of the plane also contained identifying marks of the Lady Be Good.
07:48So, without a doubt, this was the famous missing airplane.
07:53Discovered, recovered, and parts of it in remarkably good working condition.
07:59We know that the rear escape hatch doors were open,
08:02and all of the life preservers and parachutes were gone.
08:05So it's safe to assume that the crew bailed out of the Lady Be Good
08:09at some point before the crash.
08:11But where?
08:12And where are their bodies?
08:20During the initial search, several items were found in the sand,
08:26confirming the crew had survived their jump from the plane.
08:30Improvised arrowheads had been created from used parachutes all pointing north.
08:37A pair of servicemen's rubber boots were also discovered
08:41almost 20 miles north of the crash site.
08:44It was believed the crew placed these items as directional markers
08:49to lead air and sea rescue teams to their location.
08:54But despite months of searching, no remains were found.
09:00A year later, oil surveyors discovered the first five bodies of the Lady Be Good crew.
09:08They were on a plateau under the sand sea along with equipment,
09:12canteens, flashlights, pieces of parachute, and flight jackets.
09:17They had trekked 85 miles before finally succumbing to the brutal desert heat.
09:27Three more bodies were eventually recovered at various distances from the first five,
09:32indicating they had the strength to continue,
09:35but ultimately they too collapsed from dehydration and exposure.
09:39The remains of the ninth crew member has still not been found.
09:43Tragically, if the airmen had walked south instead of north after their parachute escape,
09:49they would have arrived at the plane wreck with a working radio and plenty of rations.
09:56Tragically, the Lady Be Good crashed hundreds of miles from its intended flight path
10:00and over 400 miles from the Mediterranean Sea,
10:03where it was believed to have disappeared.
10:06So what went so horribly wrong?
10:10Is it possible the rookie crew couldn't handle a bomber
10:13with a reputation for being challenging to fly?
10:22Tragically, the Lady Be Good.
10:27A re-examination of the Lady Be Good's missing in action report
10:31sheds light on a possible explanation.
10:35The official version essentially places the blame on the navigator
10:40who was serving as a navigator for the first time.
10:44In the report, it states he misinterpreted a directional reading
10:50sent from an allied airbase in Benina, resulting in the plane going off course.
10:57A more recent study points to failure by an airbase operator in Benghazi
11:02to respond to the Lady Be Good's radio calls for help
11:05because he mistakenly believed that the airplane was German.
11:12Both scenarios highlight the possibility that human error was a factor.
11:18And while it was the maiden mission for all nine on board,
11:22they were highly trained expert servicemen.
11:24And it's almost impossible to state definitively
11:27if their rookie status played a role in the plane's disappearance.
11:32So is it possible that poor flying conditions contributed to the crash?
11:39The last known contact between the Lady Be Good
11:42and the home base in Salute provides a critical clue.
11:46All 25 bombers from the mission turned back towards the base
11:50because of high winds and poor visibility.
11:54The Lady Be Good was the last to do so.
11:58And as she was making her way back,
12:00the crew radioed the base for navigational assistance.
12:04The base responded by firing flares into the night sky,
12:09but they were likely unseen by the pilot,
12:11who kept flying and overshot the base.
12:16They continued south for two hours deep into the desert
12:20until the Lady Be Good ran out of fuel.
12:22At this point, the crew decided to bail
12:24and let the empty plane glide for another 16 miles
12:28until it skidded to a relatively gentle crash in the sand.
12:33It's like the crew believed they were over the Mediterranean Sea
12:37when they jumped
12:38because they took their life preservers with them.
12:41Once they landed, they began to walk north,
12:45perhaps heading into the wind,
12:47believing once again they were close to the Mediterranean
12:50and possibly safety.
12:53Unfortunately, they were over 400 miles from the sea.
12:59Now recovered, parts of the Lady Be Good
13:02have been sent to various military museums for commemoration.
13:07And while the story has a tragic ending for those involved,
13:11it is also a story of courage, perseverance,
13:15and the human will to survive the harshest conditions on Earth.
13:3360 miles north of the Syrian border,
13:36Turkey's Harun Plain spreads for 580 square miles
13:40between the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
13:44Like most of southeastern Turkey
13:47in what used to be called Mesopotamia,
13:48the Harun Plain is characterized by dry conditions
13:52with large fluctuations between the hot days and the cool nights.
13:57The region rarely gets more than 15 inches of rain per year.
14:02The terrain is mostly made up of limestone plateaus
14:05with occasional patches of grassland steps.
14:10Evidence of human activity in the area dates to the pre-pottery Neolithic period,
14:15roughly 9,500 to 8,000 BCE,
14:18a time when tribes of hunter-gatherers
14:20were beginning to transition towards settled communities.
14:23By the 3rd millennium BCE,
14:25the plain emerged as an important trade hub,
14:28connecting the Tigris River to the Mediterranean Sea.
14:32The region is best known for an archaeological site called the Gebekli Tepe,
14:38which means Potbelly Hill in Turkish.
14:41Built roughly 12,000 years ago,
14:44the Gebekli Tepe features four massive circular stone monuments
14:48that sit at the crest of a hill overlooking the plain.
14:53The pillars of the site are among the earliest known examples
14:57of megalithic structures,
14:59and their circular shape has led Gebekli Tepe
15:02to being called the world's first temple.
15:06A team of archaeologists is surveying a section of the Gebekli Tepe pillars
15:11containing intricate carvings and strange symbols
15:14when they make a curious discovery.
15:16In addition to images of wild birds, snakes, and scorpions,
15:21which were interpreted to be mythological representations,
15:25there are several rows of a V-shape
15:27carved into one of the pillars of the largest enclosure,
15:31which is known as Enclosure D.
15:34Elsewhere, that same V symbol
15:36appears to be worn around the neck of a large bird-like beast.
15:43On other pillars, there are circles, or discs,
15:47carved right below the placement of the horizontal slab of the rock,
15:50kind of like where the two lines of the T intersect.
15:54Now, inside the disc, at its center,
15:57is a second smaller circle,
15:59so it sort of looks like a donut.
16:01What does that mean,
16:03and how does that connect with the megalith's intended purpose?
16:15One of the most famous examples of a man-made megalith is Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza,
16:22the largest and oldest of the Giza pyramid complex.
16:27Constructed for the pharaoh Khufu of the 4th dynasty,
16:30it was completed around the early 25th century BCE
16:34as a mortuary temple to honor the king.
16:38The Great Pyramids were central to the Egyptians' many elaborate funerary rituals,
16:44all intended to prepare the king for the afterlife.
16:48But they were also created to honor their various gods
16:51that held the highest position in divine society,
16:56including the solar deity Ra,
16:58who is usually credited with the creation of the world
17:01and was connected with the life-giving power of the sun.
17:07In northeast Scotland,
17:09many stone circles and other megalithic remains from the Bronze Age
17:13have been discovered near Aberdeenshire.
17:16They often featured recumbent stone circles
17:19with one large stone on its side, flanked by upright stones,
17:22and are believed to be monuments created to honor astronomical phenomena
17:26such as the solstice and the equinox.
17:30So given these megalith's associations
17:32with the power and pathway of the sun and moon,
17:35is it possible the markings on the pillars of Gobekli Tepe
17:38were also connected to the solar and lunar calendars?
17:50A team of archaeologists is surveying a section of the Gobekli Tepe pillars
17:55containing intricate carvings and strange symbols
17:58when they make a curious discovery.
18:00A deeper exploration of the pillars' circular shapes
18:05points to a potential answer.
18:09Solar disks and lunar crescents
18:11are frequently depicted in ancient cultures all around the world
18:14because the sun and moon are often viewed as religious deities.
18:19Maybe the Gobekli Tepe disk shapes
18:22represent the sun and moon
18:24with one circle inside the other.
18:28One of the most significant archaeological finds in the past century
18:32was the Nabra sky disk,
18:34discovered buried in Mittelberg Hill near the German town of Nabra.
18:38The bronze disk, 12 inches in diameter and weighing nearly five pounds,
18:42is a beautiful depiction of the sun, crescent moon,
18:45and a cluster of seven stars,
18:47believed to be the constellation Pleiades.
18:51Radiocarbon dating puts the item's origin as being from 1500 to 1700 BCE,
18:58consistent with the early European Bronze Age,
19:01making the disk the oldest depiction of astronomical phenomenon
19:05known from anywhere in the world.
19:10The enclosed area surrounding Mittelberg Hill
19:13was originally settled in the Neolithic era.
19:16If you're standing in the enclosure's entrance,
19:19the sun set perfectly every summer solstice
19:22right behind the highest peak of the Harts Mountains,
19:2550 miles to the northwest.
19:27It's believed that the Nabra disk
19:29was created to record and commemorate that specific event.
19:35So, is it possible that the Gobekli Tepe
19:38also contained information about a single event
19:41in the astronomical calendar,
19:43coded and carved into those stone pillars?
19:49A re-examination of the V-shaped carvings
19:53leads to a breakthrough.
19:54One of the marked pillars was found to have 365
19:57of the V-shapes carved into it.
20:00And from this, it was interpreted as each V
20:02representing one day.
20:05It was then possible to count a solar calendar
20:07of 365 days, consisting of 12 lunar months
20:12and 11 extra epigominal days,
20:14the days added to a calendar
20:16to make it synchronized with the solar year,
20:18like our leap year day of February 29th.
20:22A separate day appeared as a V
20:24worn around the neck of a bird-like beast
20:27in the shape of the solstice constellation.
20:29It was believed the isolated V was a representation
20:33of the actual solstice recorded right onto
20:36the Gobekli Tepe pillar.
20:39If this were the case, the implications would be huge.
20:42Up to this point, the Nabra sky disk
20:45was considered the oldest known depiction
20:47of solar and lunar phenomena.
20:49But the Gobekli Tepe was created
20:51thousands of years before that.
20:55Based on the analysis of the double-circled disk
20:58and the V-shape, it seems entirely possible
21:00that those who built the Gobekli Tepe
21:02had astronomical knowledge that included
21:05a clear observation of the course of the sun,
21:07including the single-event solstice.
21:09So why was this information so important to them?
21:12And what did they do with this knowledge?
21:17A deeper dive into the known history of Gobekli Tepe
21:20reveals a critical clue.
21:24Until the site's discovery in 1994,
21:27archaeologists generally believed
21:29that humans only began building organized societies
21:32and complex structures
21:34after the emergence of agriculture.
21:36And it was only after those events
21:39that complex religions emerged.
21:42And while this fertile crescent region of Mesopotamia
21:46was considered one of the birthplaces
21:48of organized farming,
21:50Gobekli Tepe was built
21:51by a pre-agricultural society.
21:55This pushes back the origins
21:56of the first megalithic structure
21:58to the late Paleolithic era
22:00of the hunter-gatherer.
22:03Amazingly, the builders of Gobekli Tepe
22:06were organized and settled enough
22:08to accomplish its temple-like creation
22:10without the use of pack animals
22:12or specialized tools.
22:15They also had a spiritual life
22:18that likely included rituals
22:19to celebrate the summer or winter solstice.
22:22But there was another practical explanation
22:25for the significance of the solstice.
22:28As Mesopotamian societies transitioned
22:31from hunter-gatherers
22:32to early Neolithic farmers,
22:34it became far more important
22:36to pay close attention to the seasons.
22:39For societies dependent on agriculture
22:41for their food,
22:43knowing when to plant
22:44and when to harvest
22:46becomes a matter of life and death.
22:51So the picture that emerges
22:53is of a community coming together
22:55to celebrate and honor
22:56the changing of the seasons,
22:58whether that's an abundance of food,
23:00a drought,
23:00or colder temperatures.
23:04Over 30 years after its discovery,
23:07the Gobekli Tepe continues
23:09to fascinate and educate.
23:11And it no doubt still contains
23:13a multitude of secrets
23:15waiting to be revealed.
23:30stretching across the vast rock plateau
23:33between the Dead Sea
23:34and the Mediterranean,
23:36Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities
23:39in the world.
23:42Jerusalem sits in the foothills
23:44of the Judean Mountains
23:46at an elevation
23:47of nearly 3,000 feet.
23:49Its Mediterranean climate
23:50is characterized
23:51by hot, dry summers
23:53and mild, wet winters.
23:55The three major Abrahamic religions,
23:58Judaism, Christianity, and Islam,
24:01all consider Jerusalem
24:02a holy city.
24:03So throughout its long history,
24:05it's been a popular
24:06pilgrimage destination.
24:08But Jerusalem has also been a center
24:11for religious and political conflict.
24:13Governed by multiple dynasties
24:15over the years,
24:16the city has been attacked,
24:17besieged, and conquered
24:18over a hundred times.
24:24According to the Hebrew Bible,
24:26King David conquered Jerusalem
24:28from the Jebusites
24:29and established it as the capital
24:31of the Kingdom of Israel.
24:34David's son, King Solomon,
24:36commissioned the building
24:36of the first temple
24:37in the 10th century BCE.
24:40The first temple is said
24:42to have stood
24:43on the Temple Mount,
24:44where the later second temple stood,
24:46a sacred area of Old Jerusalem
24:48surrounded by fortified walls.
24:54A team of archaeologists
24:55is excavating a site
24:57near Temple Mount
24:58when they make
24:59a surprising discovery.
25:02On the eastern slope
25:03of the mount,
25:04they unearthed
25:05a walled complex
25:07carved right into
25:08the rock face
25:09that spanned an area
25:10of over 2,000 square feet.
25:15The complex was uncovered
25:17but divided into
25:18a series of chambers
25:19ranging in size
25:20from 20 by 10 feet
25:21to 8 by 6 feet.
25:24The first chamber
25:26opened onto
25:26all the other ones,
25:28which indicated
25:28it was the center
25:30of the complex.
25:31So what exactly
25:32was this place?
25:33And how is it connected
25:35to the Temple Mount?
25:45This wasn't the first time
25:46that archaeologists
25:47had stumbled
25:48on the mysterious chambers
25:49near Temple Mount.
25:51In 1909,
25:53a British adventurer
25:54named Montague Parker
25:55embarked on a search
25:57for the elusive
25:58Ark of the Covenant,
25:59which was alleged
25:59to contain
26:00the original
26:01Ten Commandment tablets
26:02along with other treasures.
26:04When word got out
26:05that a team
26:06of foreign treasure hunters
26:07was digging into
26:08one of the world's
26:09most sensitive
26:09and sacred landmarks,
26:11it caused a massive outcry
26:13and the dig was abandoned.
26:15But during his excavations,
26:17Parker uncovered
26:18three of the Temple Mount chambers
26:20and concluded
26:21that they were tombs.
26:24According to tradition,
26:26the Jews wouldn't bury
26:27their dead
26:28inside the city walls.
26:30So Jerusalem
26:31was surrounded
26:32by buried tombs,
26:34which were primarily
26:35intended for
26:35high-ranking officials,
26:37priests,
26:38and their families.
26:39So is it possible
26:41that Parker was right?
26:43Is the Temple Mount discovery
26:45a series of ancient tombs
26:47for powerful priests
26:49and rulers of Judea?
26:52As the excavation continues,
26:55each one of the chambers
26:56reveals a clue.
26:59In the center
27:00of one of the rooms,
27:01there's a circular depression
27:02cut right into the rock floor,
27:04two feet in diameter
27:06and two inches deep.
27:07Inside that circle,
27:09a second, smaller one
27:10was carved,
27:11only a foot in diameter
27:12and less than a foot deep.
27:14These were the marks
27:16of an ancient olive press.
27:19Another room
27:20has a single rectangular depression
27:22cut into the rock,
27:24measuring 16 by 18 inches
27:26and roughly 8 inches deep.
27:30It appears to have been occupied
27:32by a wine press.
27:33The surrounding floor
27:34was likely used
27:36to tread on the grates
27:37and the sunken rectangular
27:39used as a reservoir
27:40to collect
27:42the pre-fermented wine.
27:45The third room contained
27:47the most intriguing installation.
27:50Standing upright
27:51in the northwestern corner,
27:53there was a flat,
27:54thin slab of limestone
27:56measuring roughly
27:57three feet across,
27:58sitting atop
27:59a raised platform
28:00and supported on three sides
28:03by small field stones.
28:09Archaeological records
28:10and the Bible
28:11offer many examples
28:12of stones erected
28:13by the ancient Israelites.
28:15They're called matzava
28:17and are referred to
28:19in the Hebrew Bible
28:20as sacred stones or pillars,
28:23typically associated
28:24with religious
28:25or commemorative practices.
28:28Variants of the matzava
28:30appear in the Bible
28:3134 times,
28:33usually in a positive light,
28:35such as when Moses
28:36set up 12 matzava
28:38at Mount Sinai
28:39to ratify the covenant
28:41between God and Israel.
28:44So, given the presence
28:45of the masba at the site
28:47and the wine and olive presses,
28:49which were used
28:50by many ancient cultures
28:51in ceremonial rituals
28:53to give thanks
28:54for the earth's abundance,
28:56all signs point to it
28:57being a place
28:58of ceremony and worship,
29:00possibly even a shrine,
29:02not a burial site.
29:05Further excavation
29:06of the site
29:07reveals more rooms
29:08and more clues.
29:11The complex
29:11has eight rooms in total,
29:13each intended
29:14for some form
29:15of ritualized worship.
29:17One room contains
29:18a rock-cut rectangular basin,
29:20measuring 10 by 16 inches across
29:22and eight inches deep.
29:25It's connected
29:26to a raised platform
29:27and a shallow channel
29:28on the floor,
29:29likely used to drain liquids.
29:31It's believed
29:31the installation was an altar,
29:33possibly used
29:34for animal sacrifice.
29:36Another room
29:37was filled
29:38with a thick layer
29:39of earth
29:39containing various artifacts
29:41typically associated
29:42with spiritual offerings.
29:44These included
29:45shards of pottery
29:46and ceramic vessels,
29:47figurines,
29:48beads,
29:49and animal bones.
29:52It appears
29:53to have been
29:53a storage space
29:54known as a favissa
29:56and the various artifacts
29:57had been collected
29:58from different sections
29:59of the complex
30:00and put together
30:01in one location.
30:05Interestingly,
30:06the opening
30:06to the favissa
30:07was covered over
30:08by a large stone wall
30:10created after the items
30:12were placed in the room
30:13as if to seal it up.
30:15The question is,
30:17why would someone
30:17have blocked the entrance?
30:21The artifacts
30:22from the storage room
30:23were all dated
30:24to the second iron age,
30:26roughly 950
30:27to 586 BCE.
30:31The era corresponds
30:32with the first temple period,
30:34which includes
30:35the emergence,
30:36growth,
30:36and eventual fall
30:37of the kingdoms
30:38of Israel and Judah.
30:40Key events
30:41from the period
30:42may provide some answers.
30:46One of the most
30:47significant changes
30:48in the religious life
30:49of ancient Israel
30:50occurred during the reign
30:51of the Judahite king
30:52Hezekiah
30:53in the late 8th century BCE.
30:57According to the Hebrew Bible,
30:59Hezekiah sought
30:59to centralize all worship
31:01at the Temple of Solomon
31:02in Jerusalem.
31:03So he abolished
31:04many of the ritual sites
31:06scattered across the kingdom,
31:07hoping to put an end
31:09to the worship of idols.
31:11In this context,
31:13there's a potential explanation
31:14for the favissa
31:15of room 5
31:16having its entrance blocked
31:18by a large stone wall.
31:19It's possible
31:20that the complex
31:21was one of Israel's
31:22ancient ritual sites,
31:23abolished by King Hezekiah
31:25as part of his reforms,
31:27and that an effort
31:28was made to protect
31:29or hide the evidence
31:30of its use.
31:34Samples are taken
31:35from the site
31:35for radiocarbon testing.
31:38Sure enough,
31:39it was determined
31:40that the complex
31:40fell out of use
31:42in the 8th century BCE,
31:44coinciding with Hezekiah's reign.
31:46But beyond that,
31:48without proven documented records,
31:50it's difficult to verify
31:51if the king ordered the site
31:53to be destroyed
31:54or sealed up.
31:57It's also possible
31:58the site simply went out of use
32:00after the Babylonian conquest,
32:02which resulted in the fall
32:03of the kingdom of Judah
32:04in 587 BCE.
32:09The discovery of the mysterious shrine
32:11near Temple Mount
32:12offers compelling new insight
32:14into the changing beliefs
32:15and practices
32:16of the ancient Israelites.
32:19Who knows
32:21how many others
32:22like it are out there,
32:23lost to the sands of time?
32:43Tucked into the farthest reaches
32:45of northwestern Iraq
32:46lies southern Kurdistan.
32:49It is one of four regions
32:51that together form
32:52Greater Kurdistan,
32:53a region extending
32:55across West Asia.
32:58Kurdistan is enormous.
33:00Generally defined
33:01as the region
33:02traditionally inhabited
33:03by the Kurdish people,
33:05it stretches across
33:06large parts
33:07of modern-day Turkey,
33:08Iran, and Iraq.
33:10In Iraq,
33:11the movement
33:12for Kurdish independence
33:13has made major strides,
33:15including the establishment
33:16of the Kurdish autonomous region
33:17with its own
33:18parliamentary government.
33:21Most of Iraqi Kurdistan
33:23is dominated
33:23by enormous mountains
33:25like the Zagros.
33:26Because of its high altitude,
33:28the region is generally
33:29cooler than the rest of Iraq,
33:30and the network of rivers
33:32running through the area
33:33means it's incredibly fertile.
33:35But as you move south,
33:37the landscape changes dramatically.
33:41Just over six miles
33:42from the town of Kalar,
33:44at a site called
33:45Shaki Kora
33:46in southern Iraqi Kurdistan,
33:48archaeologists uncover
33:49a surprise.
33:53They found the remains
33:54of a series of large
33:56ancient buildings.
33:59One contained the remains
34:01of several rooms
34:02divided by thick mud brick walls,
34:05and inside the rooms
34:07they made an even
34:08stranger discovery.
34:10On the mud floor
34:11were stacks and stacks
34:13of upturned bowls
34:14neatly arranged in pairs.
34:18When you look at the bowls,
34:20it's clear that they weren't
34:21ornamental or decorative.
34:23They were purely functional,
34:25hastily and roughly made
34:26for everyday informal use.
34:29You can think of it
34:30like your family's
34:31everyday dishware
34:33not to find China.
34:34But it raises a question.
34:36Why were so many of them
34:38found here?
34:41Just over 200 miles
34:43south of Shaki Kora,
34:46archaeologists digging
34:47in the ruins
34:48of the ancient city
34:49of Lagash
34:49discovered a seemingly
34:51similar structure.
34:54Lagash was founded
34:55over 5,000 years ago
34:57and was once one
34:58of the most important
34:59cities in ancient Sumer.
35:01Over the years,
35:02thousands of artifacts,
35:04including early
35:04cuneiform tablets,
35:06have been recovered
35:06from the city,
35:07giving us unprecedented
35:08insight into life
35:09in ancient Mesopotamia.
35:12Given how well documented
35:13the site at Lagash is,
35:15it came as a total shock
35:16when a recent excavation
35:18found that there was
35:19this previously
35:19undiscovered building.
35:21And it wasn't even
35:21that deep underground.
35:22It was just 19 inches
35:24below the surface.
35:27Inside the structure,
35:29they found dozens
35:30of bowls,
35:31and after analyzing them,
35:32it was revealed
35:33that they had once
35:34been used to hold
35:35fish and other
35:36meat dishes.
35:40Other vessels
35:41showed evidence
35:42that at one point
35:43they contained beer,
35:45a popular drink
35:46among ancient Sumerians.
35:49This evidence tells us
35:50that this wasn't
35:51just any building.
35:52these are the remains
35:54of the world's
35:56oldest known tavern.
35:58Could the ruins
36:00at Shaki Kora
36:01have served
36:01a similar purpose?
36:03Is it also
36:04an ancient tavern?
36:08In the search
36:09for answers,
36:10the team begins
36:11testing 10
36:12of the ancient bowls
36:13using several methods,
36:16including gas chromatography
36:17and mass spectrometry.
36:21Gas chromatography
36:23and mass spectrometry
36:24are techniques
36:25that in combination
36:26can isolate
36:27and analyze
36:28individual chemicals
36:29in various products,
36:31including in food.
36:33In this case,
36:35the results show
36:35that the bowls
36:36found at Shaki Kora
36:37were once used
36:38to hold a whole range
36:39of dishes,
36:39including seed
36:41and dairy-based foods,
36:42as well as meat dishes
36:43like stew
36:43and broth.
36:45Given that piece
36:46of evidence,
36:47it's tempting
36:47to just jump
36:48to the conclusion
36:49that this was a tavern.
36:50But there are
36:51a few important differences
36:53between the Lagash
36:54and Shaki Kora sites,
36:55and the biggest one
36:56is also the most obvious,
36:58the seating.
36:59The Lagash tavern
37:00had tons of seats,
37:02indoors and out.
37:03The Shaki Kora ruins
37:05have none at all.
37:07That is a massive clue.
37:11On closer inspection,
37:13another key difference emerges.
37:15The complex
37:16at Shaki Kora
37:17seems to have been
37:18much larger
37:19than the Lagash tavern.
37:21So the question is,
37:23what need
37:23did this ancient settlement
37:25have for such
37:26a large-scale operation?
37:27What was the function
37:29of this enormous complex?
37:41The secret
37:42of Shaki Kora
37:43may lie
37:44in the engraved
37:45inscription
37:45of a single clay tablet
37:47dating back millennia.
37:49This tablet
37:50was found in an area
37:51that was one
37:52of the world's
37:53first cities
37:53called Uruk,
37:55which would have stood
37:55about 200 miles
37:57from the Shaki Kora
37:58settlement.
37:58It's one of the
37:59earliest known examples
38:01of human writing,
38:02dating back
38:02roughly 500 years
38:05and it tells
38:06an amazing story.
38:08On it,
38:09we can see
38:09a human head
38:10eating from a bowl,
38:11which is interpreted
38:12as meaning ration.
38:14It's followed
38:15by the symbol
38:15of a vessel,
38:16which signifies beer.
38:20There are also
38:21scratches across
38:22the cuneiform tablet
38:23that seem to indicate
38:24how many beers
38:25a person has had,
38:27most likely
38:28in return
38:29for some kind
38:30of payment,
38:30maybe as labor.
38:32So this is
38:32pretty incredible.
38:33What we're looking at
38:34is a bar tab.
38:39Mesopotamian officials
38:40working in Uruk
38:41thousands of years ago
38:42depended on these
38:43cuneiform writing systems
38:44to keep track
38:45of their administrative duties,
38:46making sure they knew
38:47what was traded
38:48and to whom.
38:50Knowing that these
38:51bartering systems
38:52existed in southern
38:53Mesopotamia
38:54during the early Bronze Age
38:56casts a whole new light
38:57on the complex
38:58at Shaki Kora.
39:01Could this site
39:02have been used
39:02for a similar purpose?
39:03And if so,
39:04who was responsible
39:06for running
39:07this enormous operation?
39:11The team builds
39:12a chronology
39:12of the food hall
39:13using the ceramic remnants
39:15to retrace
39:16the ancient building's
39:17development.
39:19The ceramic vessels here
39:21span several centuries
39:23and this is in keeping
39:24with the buildings
39:25themselves.
39:26They appear to have been
39:27rebuilt and remodeled
39:28over and over again,
39:30though their function
39:30never changed.
39:33With each rebuild,
39:35the complex became
39:35more elaborate
39:36and in its final phase
39:38even featured
39:39monumental pillars
39:40and a sophisticated
39:41subterranean
39:42drainage system.
39:45When we arrange
39:46the pottery
39:46from the ruins
39:47in chronological order,
39:48an intriguing
39:49pattern emerges.
39:51The earlier pieces
39:52are often shaped
39:53like large flower pots
39:54or bowls
39:55with beveled rims.
39:56Over time,
39:58we see the quantity
39:58of these beveled
39:59rim bowls increase,
40:01eventually overtaking
40:02the older flower pot styles.
40:04Other forms of pottery
40:05also appear
40:06as time goes on,
40:07like rounded jars
40:08and vessels with spouts,
40:10which are both
40:10commonly associated
40:11with Uruk
40:12and southern Mesopotamian
40:13culture.
40:15The shift in pottery styles
40:17points to a significant
40:18social transformation
40:20where the local culture
40:22was slowly being replaced
40:23by Uruk practices.
40:25If this site really was
40:27a food distribution center,
40:28it was almost certainly
40:29overseen by outsiders
40:31from the south
40:32where these kinds
40:33of bartering systems
40:34had already been established.
40:35And that means
40:36that what we're seeing
40:38might be one of the
40:39earliest experiments
40:40with centralized government
40:42ever found
40:43from ancient Mesopotamia.
40:47This experiment
40:48seems to have worked,
40:49at least for a time.
40:51But then things
40:52changed dramatically.
40:53Sometime in the late
40:54fourth to the early
40:55third millennia BCE,
40:57the monumental structures
40:58at Shaki Kora
40:59were abandoned.
41:03There were no signs
41:04of violence,
41:05no evidence of war.
41:07So what happened?
41:10We can't be sure
41:11why this experiment
41:12with centralized government
41:13failed,
41:15but it could be
41:16that the people living here
41:17just had enough.
41:19It may have been
41:20a question of food,
41:21housing,
41:21or politics.
41:23But the upshot was
41:24that the institution
41:25that fed local workers
41:27for centuries
41:27was abandoned.
41:29People returned
41:30to smaller,
41:31self-sufficient villages,
41:32essentially protesting
41:33the urbanization
41:34of their land
41:35and their way of life.
41:39Today,
41:40the remains
41:41of the vast
41:42institutional food hall
41:43at Shaki Kora
41:44stand as a monument
41:46to some of the earliest
41:47forms of centralized rule,
41:50a system that,
41:51despite centuries
41:52of success,
41:54ultimately proved
41:55too fragile to last.
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