carved in stone ancient buildings around the world have an alluring mystery about them yet there are places like the ellora caves the rose-red city of petra and the rock-cut monolith churches of ethiopia that are just beyond any comprehension and we ask ourselves how how could humanity so far back in history construct and carve such enormous buildings without the advanced machinery we use today advanced in concept technique and size furthermore when we look at abnormalities like Madonna and Salah in Saudi Arabia or similar ancient monuments we're left simply with awe and confusion what drove men back then to carve such a thing the inability to give concrete explanations is leading many researchers to give credence to a more advanced civilization in ancient times to explain this bewildering mystery many mysterious places have been intricately carved from rock many is we'll see from a single piece of rock let's indulge in some of the best examples of these baffling places number one the tomb of Zaire sees the first Iran situated three miles northwest of Paris a polis lies the imposing sight of nature Rustom in the mountain range of hussein car it's one of the most awe-inspiring ancient places of the a commended empire comprising of the large tombs of Persian kings dating from the 1st millennium BC it serves as a long-standing memory of a once mighty empire that ruled over a significant part of the ancient world the 4 impressive rock tombs cut at a considerable height from the bottom of the Meili are all elaborately carved into the side of a stone mountainside the perfection of the buildings right angles testifies to the skill of the builders the chill of Darius the first is the only one that's been identified with 100% certainty circa 5:22 to 486 BC while the other three tombs are believed to be those of Zaire sees the first circa 486 to 465 BC art d'azyr sees the first circa 465 to 424 BC and Darius the second circuit 423 to 404 BC the doorway to each tomb is at the center of each cross which opens onto a small chamber housing the King's sarcophagus this place is locally known as the Persian crosses the technique of using the horizontal Intel above each tombs entrance parallels is the same as the method used at Persepolis there are trilingual cuneiform inscriptions on three panels of the rock wall that detailed the 28 nations upholding the throne and praise the king and his rule do not underestimate this inscription we wouldn't know what Akkadian means if it weren't for this we wouldn't know what the Sumerian language means if it weren't for Akkadian we wouldn't know what the Assyrians were talking about their Anunnaki mythology or anything of Mesopotamia history if it were not for this Persian rosetta stone the remains of some pigment were found on the exterior of the royal tombs suggesting that most of the stone reliefs had been carefully painted the inscription panel that forms the top arm of the cross-shaped facade of the tomb of Darius the first the great is a carefully detailed image of Darius standing in prayer before a fire altar the panel also comprises two sets of cuneiform inscriptions in ancient Persian languages the inscription in the upper left corner is known as DNA the central part of the Cross includes another inscription known as DN b one of the biggest mysteries of the site is the purpose of the cube of Zarathustra it's a quadrangle stone tower mostly solid except for a small room at the top that faces the cliffside set roughly in front of tomb number 4 the westernmost ekam nted era tomb various meanings have been proposed for its purpose a fire temple or royal treasury a monument or even an astronomical observatory in calendar Persepolis was burnt down in 330 BC either accidentally or intentionally by Alexander the Great some columns survived whereas a layer of ashes covered the grand palaces which celebrated the power of the ekam ended Empire the tombs on the cliff were left untouched and they became the symbol of that glorious period the kings and dynasties in the region are gone but the well preserved monuments make the history live the Magnificent next bruce tom has been excavated and explored for many years now but still there are more elements to find out about the past at the site and in the region nash skyros tom is an abandoned ancient site visited only by a small group of hardened researchers number two the Kailasa temple India situated in the Iran Abad district of Maharashtra State in western India lies one of the most sublime ancient Hindu temples the Kailasa temples of the ellora caves its freaked-out researchers and sightseers for centuries because they just can't figure out how it was done it's a magnificent construction that shows how thousands of years ago the ancient cultures were far more advanced than what historians can accept admit or credit them for at the time of production plans are made to shut the place leaving pilgrims stunned Odysseus Singh the academic historian is quoted as saying until we the academic peers figure this place out it's best people cannot access it let alone know it exists accusations is it's laser-cut built by aliens attached to legends of demigods are abound what we do know is it's cut out of the rocks without the aid of modern day machinery many people are still trying to comprehend how the temple was built some experts on India's cave temples openly admit that almost nothing is known about their origins and builders but the story goes the astonishing temple was built by King Krishna the first in 760 ad to represent Mount Kailasa Kailash Shiva's Himalayan residence although according to HP Blavatsky many of these ancient temples date back much longer than what scholars today believe initially it was suggested that the temple was built in a mere 19 years however based on the multitude of distinct architectural and sculptural styles present in the temple combined with its enormous size some scholars believe that it was built over centuries to say that this was a significant undertaking would be an understatement builders started from the top of the mountain and worked downward to carve the structure before the temple could even begin to take shape and its striking sculptural decoration could be added 200,000 tons of rock were excavated by hammer and chisel in today's terms it would take around 700 days working at 24 hours per day to excavate the entire site using contemporary technology that doesn't consider the elaborate carvings all over the monolithic structure the temple is 109 feet wide 164 feet deep and 98 feet high making it one of the most colossal monolithic structures on the planet while on the top there are chiseled statues of elephants with a dazzling Chikara right beside them the inside is filled with in numerable sculptures and reliefs as well as elaborate carvings inscribed in almost every corner need 100 foot tall pillar and the elephants in the arcades are carved at the very bottom of the temple which gives the impression that they're carrying Mount Kailash on their backs makes this place truly breathtaking furthermore various complex carved panels may be found in the Kailasa temple for example some of these depict scenes from the two major Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata additionally 10 panels are depicting the different avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu in the south-eastern gallery of the temple interestingly the colossa is number 16 of the 34 buildings temples and monasteries which extend over an area of 2 kilometers they were dug side by side in the basalt cliff at ellora as a wise man once said the Kailasa temple is an illustration of one of those rare occasions when men's minds hearts and hands work in unison towards the consummation of a supreme ideal after everything is considered nothing has ever been mentioned on the special coordinates or location of the ellora caves number 3 Petra Jordan the Rose City known to Westerners as Petra and famed for the Indiana Jones movie is a honeycomb of hand-cut tombs temples and caves carved from pink sandstone 2,000 years ago in the high desert of Jordan hidden by the sands of time petra tells of a vast lost civilization it situated near the town of wadi musa in southern Jordan Petra fell into the realm of legend for seven centuries only to the local Bedouin xand trades people knew of its existence and keeping it a closely guarded secret finally a young Swiss Explorer named Johan Ludvig Burkhardt visited the region in 1812 and overheard locals speaking of a lost city concealed in the mountains he disguised himself followed the locals and discovered this magnificent City the remarkable thing about Petra's buildings is that they were not constructed but were carved out of large sandstone crevices surrounding the lost city there are very few freestanding buildings in the city nearly all of its hundreds of structures have been hewn out of solid rock recently National Geographic using high-powered laser scanners claimed to have found out how they built this place according to them the Nabateans put huge steps into the mountain so that they could see the caliber of the rock and by creating these steps they did not need ropes so they were able to stand on secure ledges while they did their work they wanted to make sure these stonemasons were safe because these people were highly skilled and there weren't many of them quietly hidden between the canyons carved out of the sandstone rock face is this elegant building known as the Treasury it was initially cut during the 1st century AD during the reign of a redis the 4th Philo Patris a Nabatean King the origin of the Treasury is a mystery it became the focus for many tales one of which is that during Moses's time it was used as a treasury of egyptian pharaohs at 127 feet tall and 80 feet its sheer size makes the treasury a giant sandstone sculpture the monastery is another carved out sculpture building from the sandstone mountains it stands at 50 meters high and 45 meters wide its amphitheater can seat a maximum of 8,500 people and was also carved out from the mountain rock from its beginnings as a fortress city Petra became a wealthy commercial crossroads between the Assyrian Arabian Greek Roman and Egyptian cultures domination of this crucial trade route was the lifeblood of the Nabatean empire and brought Petra its prosperity the riches the Nabateans mast allowed them to carve these monumental temples tombs and administrative centers out of their valley stronghold as for what happened to the Nabateans this is another mystery no one really knows where they disappeared to or why but their departure was almost hurried and organized they left very little behind number four the Longmen grottoes china the Longmen grottoes is an astonishingly beautiful complex of several hundreds of caves located 13 kilometers south of Luo yang in China's Henan Province carries over 1,500 years of history this is a carving masterpiece the caves which overwhelmingly depict Buddhist subjects are densely dotted along the two mountains yang shan mountain to the east and long mention mountain to the west cave temples like this which are replicas of temples on the ground originating in India it's most obvious examples are the odd jente and Ellora caves the concept was exported and arrived in China together with the spread of Buddhism via the Silk Route the construction continued through six successive dynasties beginning in 493 during the reign of emperor Zhao when followed by Tang and Song for over 400 years altogether there are 1,352 caves 785 niches 3,680 inscribed stone tablets along the one kilometer long cliff of mount long men on the west and mount Chang Shan incredibly there are as many as 100,000 of the Buddha Bodhisattvas and our hearts carved straight out of the hard lines Cliff's this would be an outstanding feat even for today's people with modern machinery and yet it was accomplished by the hands of people who lived 1,500 years ago there are few caves that are usually singled out for special praise but all the caves have their unique charm the three exceptional areas of the complex are known as guiyang cave the three Binion caves when faux cave Gao Feng cave and Feng gen temple the central cave a representative of the North weed dynasty is Ben yang which took a total of 24 years to complete 11 large Buddhist statue stand in this cave with this followers standing on either side the most magnificent is the sculpture of the Buddha it's claimed that a unique embossment at the entrance of the cave was taken man is now part of the city of New York Museum the predominant Buddha in the South cave is known as the buddha of immeasurable life it's noticeable to experts that some sculptures of the Buddha were carved in the early Tang Dynasty but the South bin yang cave was cut during the north we dynasty GU yang is in the south of longmen mountain which was carved in 493 C II there are hundreds of niches in GU yang cave the cave in shrines the sculpture of Sakyamuni the Magnificent carvings on one niche lintel depict the story of how Siddhartha established Buddhism LUN Hal cave Lotus cave in its English pronunciation is renowned for its stunning inlaid Lotus on the roof of the cave as the symbol of Buddhism the Lotus Springs out of muddy water in the pond without carrying a trace of dirt the Lotus symbolizes a person of noble sentiment and great personal charm the figure of Sakyamuni is also the principal statue in this cave the smallest figure of Buddha in Longmen grottoes was carved here which is only one quarter an inch or two centimeters high without a doubt the sculpture of the Longmen grottoes are an outstanding manifestation of human artistry number five Abu Simbel Egypt while the Giza pyramids are the most noticeable artifacts in the ancient Egyptian world without doubt they're closely followed by the Abu Simbel rock-cut temples in southern Egypt commissioned over 3,000 years ago by pharaoh ramses ii located on the west bank of lake nasser about 230 kilometers southwest of asjuan the abu simbel temple consists of two huge temples the great temple of ramses ii and the temple of hathor together they make up the temples of Abu Simbel they're both a marvel of ancient engineering and as you'll see modern as well the temple complex was commissioned by ramses ii one of ancient egypt's most renowned pharaohs these magnificent temples were like many other mountains buried by the sands of time the first European to explore Abu Simbel was the legendary belzoni who found the temples almost completely hidden the enormous stone statues that grace the facade our pharaoh ramses ii attempt to impress his power and majesty on the Nubians and to achieve immortality just as the pharaoh's subjects would have done visitors here still stare in amazement at the behemoth temples the great statutes of Ramses and his wife Nefertari that adorn their facades are still on inspiring today the four figures guarding the doorway to the larger of these temples are the most significant sculptures that survived from the firaon ik era weighing in at 1200 tons each and with a lofty height of 65 feet at the front of the temple are 14 statues of baboons they sit looking eastward expecting each the birth of the Sun to worship Him initially there were 22 statues of baboons like the province of Egypt you'll find eight square pillars covered with reliefs depicting Pharaoh with some gods in the main hall of the temple around 12 64 BC construction of the Abu Simbel temples began during the reign of pharaoh ramses ii skilled workmen toiled for twenty years until it was finally complete in 1265 BC during the 24th year of his successful reign Abu Simbel today is no longer in the same location as it was in ancient times in the 1960s Abu Simbel temples were destroyed by the construction of Aswan High Dam they were cut up like a jigsaw and relocated to their present location also annexing any alignments that might have been incorporated number six Mahabali Purim Tamil Nadu India ma bali pure arms earlier history is completely shrouded in mystery but in december 2004 a tsunami hit the coastline of coromandel and uncovered the ruins of an ancient temple entirely collapsed built entirely of granite blocks many have speculated that Mahabali purim was one of the parts of these seven pagodas which have been mentioned in many european Seafarer Diaries if the speculation is correct the only remaining visible temple is the magnificent shore temple the other six temples are thought to have been submerged under the sea it's worth noting that many leading researchers believe this place suffered from a great flood between 10,000 and 13,000 BCE in the southern state of Tamil Nadu located along the shores of the Bay of Bengal the remaining temple is dedicated to Shiva in the form of tsoumas khandha the Dravidian stone cut building technique dates to the 7th to 8th century this complex of three separate shrines was built under the rule of king narsimha varma chu shiva temples one facing the west and the other facing the east flank a temple dedicated to lord vishnu the sheer sculptural brilliance of the rock-cut temples is reflective of the artistic tastes of previous pallava rulers the temple stands on a naturally occurring granite boulder so unlike most of its neighbours at the site it's built of cut granite stones rather than carved out of caves the complex consists of three separate shrines one to Vishnu and two dedicated to the god Shiva the Vishnu shrine is both the smallest and oldest of the three shrines the other elements of the temple including the gateways walls and super structures were constructed out of quarried stone and mortar the five chariots of the punch of Pandava rafa's are the principal attraction of the shore temple four are named after the padam is and the fifth one is named as the draupadi ratha each of these rathas is huge and different from the others speaking of the artistic excellence of the craftsmanship of that time the temples both exteriors and interiors are sophisticatedly carved in sculptured the images on the sculptured panels depicts scenes from ordinary everyday life in an incredibly realistic style at the main shrine the sanctum you can see these sculptured figures of Nandi Shiva's bulk companion repeated on the walls surrounding the temple venture inside for the Shiva Linga a sculpture that symbolizes the presence of Shiva the partly sculpted monolith of a lion can be seen elsewhere in the grounds number seven Darren Kuya Cappadocia Turkey Cappadocia located on the Anatolian side of Turkey was shaped by millions of years of natural processes but human hands performed equally incredible works here while people carved houses and churches inside geographical events created a surreal landscape fairy chimney Cappadocia covers the region between the cities of Neve Sahir or GUP and neva knows the sites of karein car leak yahzee lots so GaN Lee and the underground cities of kaymakli and Darren Kuya Darren qu is the deepest excavated underground city it's also peppered with extensive subterranean dwellings and secret tunnel passages that various people utilized for shelter across the centuries it was rediscovered in 1963 a Turkish man took out a wall in his basement while renovating and was surprised to find another remind it further digging revealed this labyrinth network of places 18 stories deep at a depth of more than 225 feet with a capacity of as many as 20 thousand people this tiered city contained everything an entire community would need to survive a past riddled with invasions lengthy shafts measuring up to 180 feet provided ventilation well the city's security system provided large round stone doors weighing up to 1,000 pounds that ensured would-be attackers could not enter the underground city our mining expertise today would have a hard time creating something as unusual as this place there have been many mining accidents in recent times but there's no evidence of these structures ever suffering collapse a fascinating theory has been suggested by some researchers they claim the only reason for such an environment would be to hide from aerial bombardment and attack by flying craft which would not notice ventilation shafts this is intriguing since no known human civilizations were using aerial weapons however more puzzles remain because the city was cut from existing underground structures and caves that had formed naturally there's no way to distinguish with traditional archaeological methods of dating when daring kouya was built even after years of excavations details regarding precise dating and how these people carved such a massive complex have yet to be clarified by experts Hittite style seals have been discovered during the excavations and other Hittite remains such as a lion statue have turned up in the area this may push the construction date as far back as 1400 BC but with historical ties to the Hittites Friesians and persians darin kuya presents a captivating riddle for ancient mystery enthusiasts darin kuya was more than just residences storage and tunnels when residents fled underground business continued as usual commercial spaces included communal meeting areas dining rooms grocers religious places of worship even shopping arsenal stored weapons caches well-hidden escape routes offered residents a last chance for a getaway lastly in an amazing feat of human capability there is a tunnel not far off five miles long that connects this underground city chemically which is perhaps the largest of all underground cities in Cappadocia let's suggest possible cooperation between the two different communities number eight Bayon temple Cambodia located just to the north of Angkor Wat in the angor wat archeological park is the stunning Bayon temple it's one of the more famous popular and beautiful of the structures in Cambodia if not the world in a bygone era it was the center of the ancient city of Angkor thumb the park itself stretches approximately four hundred square kilometres and is one of the most important archaeological sites of Southeast Asia at some point the temple was deserted and disappeared into the thick jungle clearing of the monument was completed in the 1910s the e FeO restored the face towers and the central sanctuary in the 1940s using anastomosis method by the time of Antonio de Maddalena visit in 1589 the once mighty Khmer Empire that had built Angoor and its temple dedicated to Vishnu had fallen three centuries later Europeans were baffled by what they found it Angoor Henry mahout a young French nationalist and Explorer who died here in 1861 and whose writings published posthumously encourage successive ways of archaeologists to Cambodia in pursuit of a lost ancient civilization could make sense of what he saw its symbolism original form and subsequent changes and constructions have still not been fully untangled displaying the faces of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara the huge bay and stone faces have become one of the most recognizable images ever connected to classic Khmer architecture and art with one facing outward and keeping watch at each Compass Point there are over 200 of these beautiful sculptures the curious smiling image thought by many to be a portrait of Jaya Varman himself has been dubbed by some the Mona Lisa of Southeast Asia 51 smaller towers are surrounding Bayon each with four faces of its own King Jaya varman the seventh the great Buddhist ruler began its construction sometime in the late 12th or early 13th century near the end of his life originally intended to be a Mahayana Buddhist temple it was altered during the reign of King Jaya varm in the 8th when the Empire briefly reverted to an do ISM in the mid 13th century the temple underwent further modifications under the Theravada Buddhist kings in later years Bayon was the last state temple built in the Angora complex curiously just as with Angkor Wat the Bayon temple complex is filled with bass reliefs the best reliefs on the southern wall contain real-life scenes from the historical sea battle between the Khmer and the Cham it's still not clear whether this represents the cham invasion of 1177 ad or a later fight in which the Khmer were victorious the bayon temple offers a unique insight into a once mighty civilization and its religious political and cultural history number nine Domus de Yanis sardinia italy sardinia has many histories it's home to nuraghe a towers giants tombs dolmens giant statues cart ruts archaeological museums europe's oldest pyramid and of course the Domus de ganas hypogeum their evidence of an ancient civilization that lived in post quarters with nature the Domus de honest are astonishing examples of underground burial structure of the pre nuragic civilization they date back to the OC Aryan beaker cultures and they were more likely built between 3400 and 2700 BC as mentioned the OC airy religion was deeply connected with nature and worshipped symbols of female fertility the goddess mother and the moon and the Sun and the Bull has symbols of male strength the people of this period were peaceful farmers and most probably originated from the Cyclades islands in Greece there are around 2,000 of the tombs strewn throughout the island some single chambers while others are more extravagant necropolis with multiple rooms the custom of digging tombs out of rocks is widespread throughout the island and is proof of the ability of the craftsmen who were capable with a few crude instruments of carving track height rock or sandstone preferably in the folds of the hills or in slightly elevated plains LaRocca is also laid over stay honest but was built into a boulder as big as a three-story building shaped firstly by nature and more significantly by man it is thus considered as the Domus day honest Cathedral perhaps being the largest on the island carved into the granite rocks although sometimes in limestone or basalt the tombs consist of one or multiple adjacent circular rooms which are all connected by a central chamber in their structure they imitate ordinary homes decorated with columns wood door frames roof beams nooks seats and a religious symbol in the form of false doors that signaled a passageway to the beyond in Goni there is the mass of the Krampus of prana loot adju dated back to the 3,000 BC there are about 60 men years here it's the largest concentration in Sardinia they're mostly aligned following an astral and temporal logic linked to the cult of their ancestors interestingly in the legends of the Sardinian folk tradition the Yanis are strange beings usually small magical women who live in these small caves some think archaeological excavations confirm this because these small buildings in the rock were so difficult to access that they seemed destined to be home to little people beings some believe they also inhabited the Nawrocki and castle ruins where they spent their days weaving gold thread on their looms and that they were the guardians of great treasures number 10 Hittite sanctuary of gauzy lakiya Turkey near the village of Yas ela kaya in the Eskisehir region in central Anatolia lies the archaeological site of the so-called mitos these site has become famous for its frisian rock-cut monuments which mostly date back to the 6th century BC although there are a few exceptions in the 1960s they were investigated and documented by a French archaeological team directed by Albert Gabriel the archaeological site dominates the skyline at an altitude of just over 1,300 metres above sea level it rises about 70 metres above the surrounding territory it covers an area of 320 meters wide and 650 metres long this is an area of paramount importance from a historical point of view nozzoli kaya means inscribed rock which fits perfectly with the area since all the monuments were created by engraving the rock walls there are two other names for the monument - Annie D - monument and midis kenty - city that distinguish it from the hittite sanctuary of Yas ela kaya located in the vicinity of Atossa in central Anatolia the earliest traces of human settlement discovered here originated from the although they did not stay for long as there does not seem to be any evidence of continuity on the settlement researchers are not even sure the Friesians left the area in the sixth century BC besides their capital city Gordian Yazzie lakiya was the next most important place in the Frisian civilization it was heavily guarded by four fortresses standing on the nearby hills casabas OCH para peace mies and go-go's their ruins are still visible today there are main structures and inscriptions found close by that indicate the occupation of these areas in the latter periods of history in Hellenistic Roman and Byzantine times the first was when Colonel William Martin leak stumbled upon this place in 1800 during a military mission the colonel examined the rocks sketched monument as best he could after he published his book in 1824 attached drawings and described his journey the Frisian Valley region attracted the attention of European researchers a Scottish archaeologist William M Ramsey first visited the area at the end of the 19th century and dubbed the monument Midas City Ramsey after examining the inscription engraved in rock associated Yazzie lakiya with the frisian king midas due to the inscription bearing the name of that monarch since the discovery of the Midas monument in the 19th century Frisian civilisation has emerged as an area of great archaeological interest the research carried out here has provided significant evidence for frisian religion by studying the rock monuments which reflect the artistic discernment of that period by their artistry and architectural details though the connection of these rock monuments with the Great Mother has been made plain the function of some features has not yet been adequately explained we've given you a hint at how these places could have been constructed without the aid of a time machine the mystery will always remain about how the ancients built some of these ancient monuments we see today it's one of the most significant unsolved archaeological mysteries of the 21st century we hope you like this documentary don't forget to leave a like and tap the bell button twice to stay informed about our latest releases in 2019 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music]
