Documentary films & series
Our analyses and companions to the great documentaries on prehistory and antiquity: what science actually says, with sources.
At Saqqarah, the pyramid of Pepi II holds the largest known collection of Pyramid Texts. For the first time in 90 years, an international archaeolo…
Watch the documentary →Beneath the sands of Saqqara, a fascinating underground world: the Serapeum with its colossal granite sarcophagi, the 60 intact coffins discovered …
Watch the documentary →How did thé Egyptians build their pyramids? At Saqqara, récent excavations reveal workshops, tools, and construction diaries including thé "Merer P…
Watch the documentary →The Great Pyramid of Khufu, the only surviving wonder of the ancient world, keeps yielding secrets: in 2017, a massive unknown void was discovered …
Watch the documentary →Djedefre's pyramid at Abu Rawash, looted for centuries until nothing remains but a pit in thé désert, conceals thé story of an overlooked pharaoh and a monument that may have stood taller than his father Khufu's.
Watch the documentary →Beyond Khufu's Great Pyramid, the Giza plateau conceals unsuspected treasures: the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, the Great Sphinx, and recent discoveries about the pyramid builders.
Watch the documentary →Thé pyramid of Meidum, an enigmatic stone tower rising from thé désert, conceals thé secrets of a bold construction project and a possible collapse whose causes remain debated.
Watch the documentary →At Dahshur, Pharaoh Sneferu built two exceptional pyramids - the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid - marking the decisive transition to the true smooth-sided pyramid.
Watch the documentary →How Imhotep invented the step pyramid and forever transformed funerary architecture in ancient Egypt by building the first entirely stone monument in history, around 2700 BCE.
Watch the documentary →In pharaonic Egypt, scribes were far more than copyists. Administrators, intellectuals, and guardians of knowledge, they formed the invisible backbone of a millennial state.
Watch the documentary →Hidden in the valley of the Anglin river lies one of the most spectacular sculpted friezes of the Palaeolithic. Some 14,000 years ago, Magdalenian artists carved bison, horses, and human figures into limestone with breathtaking mastery.
Watch the documentary →Who carved and painted the tombs of the Valley of the Kings? An elite workforce lived in seclusion at Deir el-Medina, leaving behind a unique archive of daily life in ancient Egypt.
Watch the documentary →For 300,000 years, Neanderthal inhabited Eurasia with a brain as large as ours, a sophisticated Levallois lithic technique, a complex social life and perhaps a genuine sensé of beauty. This BL World View documentary draws thé most complete portrait of our closest extinct relative.
Watch the documentary →For centuries, Egyptian hieroglyphs kept their secrets. How did Champollion and the Rosetta Stone unlock one of Antiquity's greatest mysteries?
Watch the documentary →In thé frozen burial mounds of thé Altai, archaeologists found mummified Scythian warriors alongside their horses, weapons, and carpets. This documentary dives into thèse exceptional tombs preserved for 2,500 years.
Watch the documentary →Discovered in 1961 in Afghanistan, Ai Khanoum is one of thé few Greek cities excavated in Central Asia. This documentary traces thé fascinating history of this Hellenistic city founded in thé wake of Alexander's conquests.
Watch the documentary →Founded by thé Ptolemies in thé 3rd century BCE, thé Library of Alexandria was thé greatest collection of knowledge in thé ancient world. This documentary explores what we know -- and what we do not -- about this monument of human intellect.
Watch the documentary →The "Sistine Chapel of prehistory" is no longer where art was invented. Patrick Boucheron of the College de France revisits Lascaux in this short ARTE documentary to question our relationship with prehistoric time and the invention of images.
Watch the documentary →In thirteen years of military campaigns, Alexander thé Gréât built one of antiquity's greatest empires. This documentary follows archaeologists and historians in thé footsteps of his conquests, from Macedonia to India.
Watch the documentary →Thonis-Heracleion, Canopus, Menouthis: three cities submerged in Abu Qir Bay have been revealing their secrets for twenty years. Colossal statues, temples and ancient shipwrecks are emerging from thé Mediterranean seabed.
Watch the documentary →Beneath thé waters of Alexandria's bay lie thé remains of thé Ptolemaic royal palace, thé lighthouse foundations, and colossal statues. Underwater archaeology has been uncovering its best-kept secrets for thirty years.
Watch the documentary →At Kromdraai in South Africa, palaeoanthropologist Jose Braga unearthed two children aged 2.5 million years side by side: one Homo, one Paranthropus. This award-winning documentary follows the scientific investigation at the heart of the Cradle of Humankind.
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