7 Lesser Talked about Ancient Marvels

hello everybody welcome back to another video in it today we're looking at seven lesser talked about ancient marvels couple of these we've covered on our sister channel megaproject so be sure to check that out there are links below [Music] even if we've never seen them images of the great pyramid of giza the hanging gardens of babylon and the lighthouse of alexandria are likely etched into our minds maybe there's about two of those the great pyramid and the lighters of alexandria but not the hanging gardens could do that as well at some point i suppose let me know in the comments if you want to see that and let's not forget angkor wat and the great wall of china these timeless marvels are immersed in history law and mystery and they're among the world's most impressive engineering achievements as well but today we'll politely pass them over instead we'll focus on a few lesser known but equally monumental ancient wonders that often get overlooked spread over a vast and remote tract of mountainous terrain on the philippine island of luzor the banaoi rice terraces are awe-inspiring marvels popular with adventurous travelers who prefer to distance themselves from the crowds they're located about 200 miles north of manila in the island central region and were constructed over multiple generations beginning more than two millennia ago the indigenous fugao people who built them apparently used little more than basic wood and stone tools a truly impressive feat considering their handiwork is now widely regarded as one of the world's ancient marbles the terraces were built to provide sustenance to the ever-growing population using wet rice farming methods for which there was inadequate land in the valley below the tallest terraces reach nearly five thousand feet above sea level and they're fed by an extensive irrigation network that carries water from the rainforests even higher up the mountains by some estimates the total surface area of the terrace's cultivated areas is nearly 4 000 square miles to put that into perspective that's larger than the american states of rhode island and delaware combined if lined up the berms that make up the terraces boundaries are said to be more than 12 000 miles long five times the distance between new york and los angeles in the mid-90s a number of terraces were designated as unesco world heritage sites though many of them have fallen into disrepair due to development neglects and the ravages of time and the elements some like the ones in batad are particularly difficult to reach making them inaccessible to all but the fittest travelers often referred to as the world's first temple gobekli tepe is a prehistoric religious site in southeastern turkey though the dates aren't disputed some archaeologists claim that the site's structures wilt as many as 12 000 years ago they're characterized by circular buildings and carved stone slabs set atop an imposing rubble strewn hill evidence suggests that the site is comprised of more than a dozen individual temples which were once centers of religious rituals and ceremony but excavations by members of the german archaeological institute weren't officially undertaken until the mid-1990s many of the temple's largest monolithic structures feature a t-shape which archaeologists claim is a rudimentary representation of the human form some are adorned with intricate carvings depicting animals like snakes lions waterfowl and wading birds and the most colossal examples stand nearly 20 feet tall and weigh 60 tons like many ancient engineering projects the methods used for moving such massive stones and positioning them so precisely has many scholars baffled it's generally agreed that when the temple was purportedly built societies had only invented the most basic hand tools and that they led dispersed hunter-gatherer lifestyles if those assertions are true it makes gobekli tepe all the grander newgrange or ireland stonehenge is a largely neolithic dome located in county meath along the island's northeast coast the structure's base measures nearly 280 feet from side to side and it was constructed around 3200 bc that's about 5 200 years ago making it older than stonehenge and the egyptian pyramids like its more well-known counterparts on the salisbury plain newgrange was thoughtfully situated to give it unique astronomical properties namely on the winter solstice the shortest day of the year the rising sun's rays shine through a box on the roof center which results in a flood of light illuminating a central chamber the chamber lies at the end of a 60-foot tunnel and is characterized by a number of stone tombs filled with cremated remains as with stonehenge it's generally believed that newgrange functioned in a number of roles including that of a solar-based calendar burial location for high-ranking figures and a site for religious ceremonies the science builders eventually packed up and moved on to bigger and better things because when it was discovered in the late 1600s it had already been abandoned for quite some time the structure is comprised of approximately 200 000 tons of rock much of which was originally carved with abstract megalithic art consisting of geometric shapes and jagged lines sadly much of it has vanished due to weathering and theft by treasure seekers when it comes to massive buddhas in amazing settings there's really no beating the one in leicester city in china it's a giant list of competition there massive buddhas in amazing settings the seated red buddha in sichuan province was carved from sedimentary rock cliffs and from his kingly perch the enlightened one peers casually onto the turbulent confluence of three powerful rivers below towering nearly 240 feet tall and measuring 90 between the shoulders it's the world's largest carved buddha according to historians the project began during the tang dynasty in the 8th century and continued on and off for nearly a century before completion the buddha's riverside location was selected largely because it was thought that its powerful and calming presence would result in fewer ships sinking along the notoriously dangerous stretch of water the project was overseen by a devout chinese monk who purportedly plucked his own eyes out in a show of pious disapproval when funding became scarce it's pretty intense apparently it was all for naught though because the money did temporarily dry up and construction halted when the buddha consisted only of a head and shoulders thankfully the monk's industrious followers finished the project years after his death thanks to financial help from a faithful local official in greek meteora means suspended in air and for the majestic cluster of high altitude monasteries found there it's a pretty apt name the monasteries of meteora are located about five hours north of athens and were built as high as 1200 feet above the valley floor on jagged rock monoliths that made them among the region's most isolated religious sites the precarious locations were chosen because they offered nearly absolute isolation a condition early christian clergy found helpful in their never-ending quest to attain closeness to god though the monasteries first residents were orthodox monk hermits who lived on site in the 9th and 10th centuries long before that pious believers dwelt in the area's sandstone caves to escape the temptations and distractions so prevalent in the towns below they led harsh lives subject to fierce weather lack of socialization and a heavy reliance on locals who provided them with much needed food water clothes and fuel for warmth and cooking the complex's vastness makes it greece's largest archaeological site by area many of the monasteries are still functioning and some of them have regular seasonal visiting hours [Music] located just a few hours north east of beirut the bolbeck temple complex is one of lebanon's most enchanting and historically significant sites the valley in which balbeck resides has been continuously inhabited for more than ten thousand years and like most of the aforementioned ancient marvels it's largely shrouded in law and mystery it's also home to the largest known construction stones in the world some of which are nearly 60 feet long and where a thousand tons though the largely toppled roman temples are now balbeck's most noteworthy attractions at other times in its history the site was occupied by the greeks ottomans mongols and the phoenicians during the height of its roman occupation the expansive complex featured temples dedicated to venus bacchus and jupiter and by some estimations the structures took more than two centuries to build it wasn't until emperor constantine's conversion to christianity in the 4th century a.d that its significance began to decline due to earthquakes erosion and plunder the temples have deteriorated drastically over the years but in many respects they still rival those found at more well-known ancient roman and greek sites of the remaining examples the temple of bacchus is the most well preserved other attractions include arab fortifications a mosque and ruins of private roman homes adorned with original mosaics when it was rediscovered by european explorers in the mid-1800s the sprawling mayan city of decal in northeast guatemala was largely obscured by jungle trees and vines by that time it had probably been abandoned for more than a thousand years and though excavations began shortly thereafter the site wouldn't become a noteworthy attraction until it became a national park in the 1960s featuring nearly 2 000 structures like terrace pyramids tombs and temples the city's central portion was generally reserved for worship ritual sacrifice and other special events most of the site structures were built around 400 bc the largest and tallest of which is the massive tiered pyramid that stands nearly 150 feet tall many feature detailed accounts of significant historical events and stylized carvings of popular deity figures like the sun and moon which were etched into temple stone by skilled artisans the site reached its height around the 9th century after which mayan fortunes began to wane all over mexico and central america though it's not as well known as other mayan ruins in the region archaeologists suspect that tikal was at least as powerful and as influential as other sites like chichen itza and it's likely that tekarl's decline was hastened by a number of factors including a burgeoning population lack of food internal power struggles and continual conflict with other prominent civilizations during its heyday though there could have been nearly a hundred thousand residents in the city and its surrounding area so i really hope you enjoyed that video if you did please do as always smash that like button if you didn't like it that's what the dislikes button for but here you are at the end so as i say unless you hate watch this whole thing give it a like subscribe for new videos several times a week also if you've got suggestions for future videos let me know below and thank you for [Music] watching

Channel: Sideprojects

Views: 1,150,721

Keywords: megaprojects, construction, engineering, projects

Id: CiLZDuWCNs0

Length: 10min 46sec (646 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 10 2020