Ancient Impossible Engineering So Advanced it's Beyond Our Imagination

[Music] uh [Music] [Music] [Music] beyond our imagination the tools materials and engineering employed for the creation of some ancient buildings are hard to believe how could monumental wonders like the treasury of petra the temple of borobudur the mayan pyramids at coba and the underground dwelling at cappadocia have been constructed at a time when no technology was known to exist as we look with envy the many centuries old constructions around the world symbolize the architectural genius way ahead of their time located in the region of galilee northern israel where the jordan valley and harad valley meet is one of the country's oldest and most significant archaeological sites biatchin in modern times biatchin is a quiet provincial municipality of seventeen thousand but back in its roman heyday it attracted up to 40 000 residents due to its strategic fertile and picturesque location in 1921-23 american archaeologists from the university of pennsylvania carried out an extensive excavation of a large mound and revealed over 20 layers of remains from ancient civilizations these excavations revealed betsyan has the remains of a canaanite city a hellenistic city and a roman byzantine city apart from the philistines it had many rulers including egyptians israelites greeks and romans there is so much to discuss with this city but due to limited time we'll focus on the most prominent ruins the roman buildings in roman times the city expanded to around 150 hectares after the inhabitants moved to the foot of the hill due to its flatter terrain with full colon and added streets leading to elegant shops with marble fascades and mosaic floors this must have been a sight to behold excavations have revealed a three-tiered theater for dramatic reenactments eating seven thousand people the original theater was built in the first century a.d the 110 meter diameter structure we see today was cut into the hillside at the end of the second century and was in use until the 8th century it is located 200 meters south of the cedar and at the theater held 6 000 people where gladiator contests entertained roman soldiers who were based there a huge bath and gym complex with swimming pools the bath house included hot and tepid bathing halls the heating was based on the hippocaust method underfloor heating system based on hot air pumped under the floor and heated the waters the floor was suspended over brick cones where the hot air was pumped a roman basilica that served as an administrative center and courthouse a nympheme an extravagant monumental building with an ornamental fountain a mosaic of the roman goddess of good fortune taichi holding the horn of plenty in her hand and wearing the walled city of scale fullest as a crown outside the park are yet more ruins including a private home from the byzantine period a crusader fortress a former government building from the turkish period and much more the reconstructed carto a street paved from basalt stone slabs approximately 150 meters in length along the stretch of road are the remains of columns and impressive buildings after the arab conquest in the first half of the 7th century the city gradually declined today the ruins which are the city's pride have undergone significant reconstruction and restoration allowing for special performances and events to take place in the city's ancient theater and streets located on the island of java indonesia borders magnificent ancient temple is widely considered to be one of the world's seven wonders it's hard to envisage that for centuries this elegant and majestic buddhist monument lay buried beneath layers and layers of volcanic ash until explorer sir thomas stanford raffles rediscovered it in 1814 still it wasn't until 1835 that the entire temple area was cleared a major restoration began in 1907 and lasted till the end of the 20th century the hard work certainly paid off and shortly after borobudur gained its world heritage status according to the caring tanga epigraph borobudur temple construction was started by king samarachtanga of the selendra dynasty but was only completed around the 9th century during the reign of his daughter queen brahma to warhani the temple was estimated to have taken 75 years constructed of two million and the site slabs borobudur was built without any cement or mortar the structure has been likened to an enormous jigsaw puzzle with interlocking pieces painstakingly fitted together the engineering methods obviously worked well considering the temple has remained stable for well over 1 000 years when viewed from above borobudur takes the form of a giant mandala symbolically portraying the pathway of the bodhivista from samsara to nirvana all the way through the tale of sudana depicted in the granavadi sutra part of the amamasakra sutra borobudur temple also consists of an incredible 2672 relief panels that would reach an astonishing six kilometers in length if arranged in a single line the reliefs are separated into four main stories and jakarta aravana besides telling the story of the buddhist teaching and his journey the release on buddha buddha temple also recorded javanese society's advancement during the era some scholars think the massive monument is a gigantic textbook of buddhism to help people achieve enlightenment to follow the narrative told by the textbook you have to follow the release in the correct order walk around the temple clockwise from the east gate upon reaching the starting point again you would have to go up to the next level this has to be done scores of times until he eventually arrived at the temple's uppermost level this ritual is known as pradaskina and is estimated to be a two mile walk in total on the last three uppermost terraces 72 stupa circle the huge main stupa that crown the temple's top the circular form represents eternity tranquility without beginning and without end and the pure state of a formless world all but the biggest central stupas on the upper levels contain a life-size statue of the buddha kneeling although many of these statues are damaged or missing this does not affect the beauty of the temple there are also multiple alcoves along the lower levels which also contain similar statues the hidden base of borobudur experienced a landfall sometime in the past to prevent the whole monument from collapsing this level was closed and made into a new base the space holds burro birder steady today the moonscape terrain of cappadocia southeast of ankera in turkey is famous for its very unique geological features called fairy chimneys thousands of years ago erosion may have shaped the incredible landscape of the gorham valley but starting in the 4th century a.d humans took a cube from mother nature and started carving a seemingly impossible chamber in tunnel complex into the soft rock so an urbanized but underground cultural landscape was created here darren kuyu is the deepest and largest excavated underground city and cappadocia there are at least 600 outside doors into the city hidden in the courtyards of service dwellings the complex consists of 11 floors though many of them remain unexcavated it has an area of 2 000 square feet with a possible total area of 7 000 square feet at a depth of over 250 feet with a capacity of up to 20 000 people this multi-level city with secured 1 000 stone doors that could only be open from the inside contained everything an entire population would need to survive a history riddled with invasions it included all the usual rooms found in an underground city and even included a large room with a barrel vaulted ceiling on the second floor used as a study room each floor could be closed off quickly but was connected with other underground cities through miles of long tunnels making communication easy the earliest beginnings of these chambers and tunnels are unknown although some archaeologists think they were started by the hittites 1200 bc but it is believed that the tunnels were hewn using stone so others think they could date back even further to a time that predates metal what is known is that most of the levels were dug out by early christians providing them with safety from persecution first during roman times and later from invading arabs the fairy chimneys are so soft that they can easily be carved this is thought to be the reason why the region was so attractive as a settlement according to archaeological sources a total of 360 monasteries and churches have been built in the gorim valley with many biblical scenes engraved on the walls and ceilings carved from the bedrock an elaborate cross and square church created by removing rather than adding material is another excellent example of negative architecture its central dome shows the eye-catching figure of christ's pentacrater the all-powerful carried initially by four columns only one remains today leaving the dome seemingly afloat today what is left in this fantastic area are troglodyte villages underground cities and stunning valleys that go as far as your eyes will allow you to see the soaring pinnacles are still inhabited with many of the rock-cut storerooms even stuffed with food waiting for the winter mexico is a wonderland when it comes to mayan ruins no other country in the new world has so many of them located between tulum and valedoid in yucatan archaeologists first learned about coba in the mid-1800s but dense jungles the cast of war and lack of funds made the site a problematic area to penetrate surrounded by two large lagoons koba means water stirred by the wind an appropriate name considering its surroundings but for many years this place was an ignored piece of mayan history due to its location only in recent years has the significance of koba come to light now archaeologists are convinced that it will prove to be one of the most extensive mayan excavations on the yucatan peninsula during the classical and post-classical era of maya history the city reached its height in terms of population and importance it was during this time the site is estimated by historians to have housed around 50 000 inhabitants and contained about 6 500 temples the koba site is gigantic and much bigger than chichen itza koba's architecture is a mystery its towering pyramids and stale resemble tequel's architecture which is over 400 kilometers away rather than the much nearer sites of chichen itza which is only 100 kilometers away the main tower stands at 139 feet this is the largest temple found not only akoba but across the yucatan peninsula named nohak mall this is a highlight of the mayan construction work and one of the very few high pyramids left that you can still climb after climbing 120 steps the view from here is breathtaking [Music] it is here you can see a small temple sheltering a lightly eroded relief of a diving god thought to be connected with venus koba's second largest building is la iglesia at 74 feet archaeologists believe this nine level pyramid was constructed during the late classic period this would date it from 550 to 900 a.d it belongs to the las penturas group named after the stucco paintings which have been found there there are two ball courts in coba they are fascinating but in terms of size they do not compare to the vast chichen itza court however both ball carts and coba are different in terms of architecture and design experts believe that this smaller ball court in kobo was mainly used for ceremonial games the ball courts and other structures can only hint at what the city must have looked like at the height of its use the elevated stone pathways connect clusters of residential areas to small lakes used as a water supply into the main pyramid area of noche mall mysteriously no one knows for sure how the maya moved goods along the roads while historians believed the maya knew about the existence of the wheel they have found no evidence they actually used them interestingly during excavations at koba in 2004 archaeologists found one of the most unique scales ever discovered in the mayan world it has no pictographs and is covered in hieroglyphics archaeologists still do not fully understand the significance of this find galley is an endlessly extravagant old training port blessed with dutch colonial buildings churches grand mansions and museums but it is its majestic fort that stands out amongst all the other buildings the galley fort or dutch fort is a fortification first built by the portuguese on the southwest corner of gali island in sri lanka initially it was a rudimentary fort made of mud and surrounded by the palisade walls however during the 17th century the fort underwent extensive modifications by dutch architects making it one of the most significant examples of european architectural influence in southeast asia between the 16th and 19th centuries although it may technically be european architecture but let us not forget there are strong south asian traditions incorporated into it the origins of gali though lost in antiquity still survived through artifacts that confirm its existence in pre-christian and roman eras through medieval ages the galley fort emerged as ceylon's major southern international port attracting chinese indian indonesian persian roman and arab traders mostly coral granite and sand were used in the structure of the ramparts the rampart wall has a total of 14 bastions varied in size and design and built over 130 acres avastone is a structure projecting operates from the current wall of a fortification constructed for better defenses most of the walls were built in 1663 the town that was created within the walls was built in a well-planned grid layout the roads on the outer edge of the city were built parallel to the ramparts allowing easier access for defense in case of attack or breach the streets inside the galley fort have hardly changed like the squares on a chessboard crisscrossing in regular patches during this era some of the more notable buildings included trade and defense buildings the commandment's resonance and an elaborate system of sewers the whole process continued right up until the early 18th century sri lanka ceased to be a dutch colony in 1796 when the british captured the island and made some of the most recognizable changes to the city one being the tower you can see from various positions in the town galley is also home to sri lanka's oldest lighthouse which towers to a height of 26.5 meters above the fort unfortunately the rampart has been subjected to various factors of erosion over time such as aging and weathering the beating of heavy waves growing of weeds and plants the absence of coral reef the lack of maintenance and settlements but due to extensive reconstruction work done by the archeological department of sri lanka and dutch engineers as a historical archaeological and architectural heritage monument it maintains a polished appearance even after more than 423 years the capital of the nabataeans petra is located 240 kilometers south of amman and 120 kilometers north of of acaba dubbed the rose red city it is undoubtedly jordan's most valuable ancient treasure and is one of the most well-known archaeological sites in the world possibly established as early as 1312 bc the site is considered significant by historians and archaeologists alike because of its beautiful rock-cut architecture an innovative water management system the latter of which made the region inhabitable given that it's surrounded by desert and rugged mountain terrain only known to the bedouin the city sat untouched and empty and near ruin for centuries it was only in the 1800s that the place was seen by a european explorer jean ludwig burketheart disguised himself in bedouin costume and infiltrated the mysterious local there are some of the many highlights at petra the main entrance to the ancient city of petra is called the sick it is a narrow widened passageway flanked by canyon-like walls it is about one kilometer long and narrows to only six feet wide in some places the stick opens up onto petra's impeccably preserved treasury or alcazan it is elaborately decorated with corinthian capitals friezas and figures and stands almost 40 meters high according to local legend the treasury is crowned by a funery urn that conceals a pharaoh's treasure although to archaeologists the original function is still a mystery carved into the side of the mountain during the reign of king artist iv 4 bc to ad27 the theater includes three rows of seats separated by corridors seven stairways ascending the auditorium that can accommodate over four thousand spectators the stage back wall was carefully rebuilt by the romans petra's only free-standing temple has the biggest facade in petra four meters wider than the kazna and the great temple it belongs to the parthian flight type of temples with two staircases giving access to a flat roof a collection of magnificent monuments known as the royal tombs is carved into the west-facing cliffs of jabal al-qabatha they are thought to be the final resting place of namateen royalty street of festades this row of more than 40 tombs and other structures lining the cliff walls of the outer sig is noteworthy because a few of the monuments are easily accessible though the monastery is much less decorated than the treasury it is beautifully carved and so vast that even the doorway is several stories tall ceremonial platform temple and sacred obliques a top amount to get there climbed several hundred stair steps near the back of the amphitheater inhabited by the nabateens and romans patriarch undoubtedly brought together the knowledge and skill of these civilizations to create the world wonder in june 1985 the site was designated a unesco world heritage site when it was described as one of the world's most precious properties the ruins of sardis is located in the small town of sart in turkey this ancient city contains many historical values from indians and romans during the iron age the lindens were the wealthiest people in the world and had aspirations to build a city to rival that of the great near eastern capital such as babylon or nineveh the name sardis seems to have been derived from the chardani a people mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions as inhabiting the region founded around 1200 bc sardis had an illustrious past including being the former capital of the persian empire it was during the 1962 archaeological excavations conducted by the harvard cornell expedition that the ruins of the synagogue of sardis was unearthed for the next nine years excavations continued and it is these excavations that helped us better understand the history of the area the building's architecture with many mosaics on the floors marbling of the walls and various piece of furnishings have elevated the reputation of the site more than 80 inscriptions have been found inside the building including six in hebrew and the rest in greek since its discovery the synagogue of sardis has been acclaimed as the most outstanding jewish monument ever on earth in the region of asia minor and the agilent sea this temple of artemis structure was so big it was twice as large as the pantheon in athens and was considered the fourth largest temple in the world when it was first built in 334 bc this was almost immediately after sardis was liberated by alexander the great it rose 300 meters above the surrounding plain and was the strongest place in the world according to polibus the temple notable for its visually seamless joints and crispy defined forms is built with marble blocks weighing 2 to 28 tons raised to heights of up to 20 meters the 28 ton block is an architecture lentil beam seven meters long most of the marble comes from a quarry in a mountain gorge three kilometers south unfortunately the temple was never fully completed in the 5th century ce a small church was built on part of the site and from the 7th century onwards the structure declined many of its stones were reused by locusts for other projects the most imposing and most restored building of roman sardis is the courtyard of the bath gymnasium complex covering 23 000 square meters its design reflects the sophisticated architecture of the civilian dynasty built in the late second early third century ce ionic columns of the bath gymnasium complex of sardis a typical example of the collated palastra front of a hellenistic first sardis was reconstructed after the 17th ce earthquake and under roman and byzantine rule enjoyed a long period of prosperity until it was finally destroyed by the mongols on 1402 we shape our building thereafter they shape us south and north america had their own civilization which thrived in pre-columbian times unfortunately most of these cultures have been lost or irredeemably changed by interaction with western culture however there is at least one location that remains unchanged taoist pueblo the oldest inhabited pablo and settlement in fact the multi-story adobe building has been continuously inhabited for over 1 000 years located in the valley of a small tributary of the rio grande thomas pueblo epitomizes its native american inhabitants enduring culture nearly 150 pueblos still live in teos pueblo without electricity and running water from the pre-hispanic period of the americas teos pueblo is an extraordinary example of a traditional architectural type it is unique to this area and thanks to the native american community's determination the people who have called this place home for over 1 000 years has successfully preserved its culture the most striking structure at the teos pueblo is a multi-level complex of homes the pueblo is made of earth mixed with water and straw then either poured into forms or made into sun-dried bricks this construction method is known as adobe the walls are frequently very thick ranging from 70 centimeters thick at the bottom to approximately 35 centimeters at the top the roofing of each of the five stories are held up by large timbers hauled down from the mountain of forest they are known as vegas smaller pieces of wood usually pine or aspen are aligned side by side on top of the vigous and then the entire roof is covered with compact dirt the outer surface of the pueblo are continuously restored by replastering with thin layers of mud the pueblo is actually many single homes built side by side and in layers with common walls but no connection doorways interior walls are meticulously coated with thin washes of white earth to keep them clean and bright there were no doors or windows in earlier days and entry was gained only from the top a 10-foot high wall with four massive watch towers once enclosed the entire village and the only entrance to the town was through a large gate the walls were built for protection against marauding tribes at the same time teos has long been a training center so many of these marauding tribes came peacefully during gatherings of traitors today a much lower adobe wall surrounds the village one strange mystery surrounding this place is known as the tau's hum a noise that causes a buzzing sound to be heard constantly the noise once slowly creeps in the dark at the night and never goes away the natives of taos banded together to ask the congress to determine the reason for the noise despite many experiments and investigations tao's hum mystery remains unsolved the taos has no written language and it's custom within the community not to impart oral history to people outside their group so there are significant gaps in the scholarly knowledge about them and their history so for now this pueblo tribe remains one of the most secretive and enigmatic native american communities this incredible monastery stands at the foot of mount hengsheng kilometers from dayton city and since its dangles on the west cliff of zhengxi gorge more than 70 meters above the ground it was named hanging monastery the temple was built on mount hangshan's cliffs one of the five most sacred mountains in china the very unique temple is a mixture of three religions taoism confucism and buddhism about one-third of the building's body hangs on the cliff with its halls connected by winding corridors and bridges the temple was audaciously constructed and skillfully designed initially constructed in northern way dynasty 386-557 by only one man a monk named liao ran temple has survived for more than 1400 years the monastery was primarily rebuilt and maintained in the ming dynasty 1368-1644 and qing dynasty 1644-1911 almost everyone who sees the temple will wonder how can it cling firmly to the cliff for 1500 years it is because of a dozen or so standing pillars no they're actually added long after the hanging temple was built what actually supports the temple are the 27 cantilevers inserted deeply into the cliff side the top of the cantilevered beams is jacked with wedges when they are put into drilled holes the wedges will firmly stick on the stone walls similar to today's expansion bolts the deeper they are drilled the more tightly they are fixed the design and site selection of hanging temple is another important reason for its preservation it's located at the inward concave of the cliff and the protruding part is like an umbrella which makes the temple free from the impact of rain and falling rocks the high position of the temple also avoids the risk of being flooded inside the monastery there are about 40 halls with 80 sculptures vividly carved from iron copper terra cotta stone and unusually the statues of sakiyamunu and confucius and laotsu appear together the caves and halls are fixed together by winding corridors and bridges this building is a perfect combination of the religion and culture of chinese feudal society construction experts from countries all around the world come to view this monastery in their words hanging monastery which mixes aesthetics mechanics and buddhism is a remarkable example of ancient engineering the building is an exquisite combination of religion and culture in chinese feudal society and embodies a great cultural achievement of chinese people angkor thom was the final capital city to exist during the reign of the khmer empire in cambodia the name angkor thorm comes from the khmer language and translates to big city or great city french explorers rediscovered the site in the 19th and soon after the restoration of monuments that had been overgrown by thick jungle began king jayavarman vii gave the order to build anger thom near the 12th century in northern cambodia it was constructed about two miles away from the former capital city known as angkor wat and covers a huge area of nine square kilometers despite the similarity angkor wat is a large temple with many smaller shrines and structures while angkor thom is a city composed of many temples and pyramids the city itself is almost square city closed by eight meter high walls a little over 12 kilometers long with five dramatic-looking gopura gates providing access to the city the wall itself is imposing built of blocks of black laterite the size of refrigerators thousands of them laterate is mostly found in hot and wet tropical environments such as southeast asia at angkor thumb builders dug up the lateran and formed it into blocks or bricks which dried when exposed to air the wall itself is encircled by a 100 meter wide moat interestingly enough the gates are more intact than the buildings inside of them that probably since sandstone and other durable materials were used to build the gates the entrance to some of the gates is flanked with carvings of gods and demons clutching negas the towers you see known as face towers consist of four enormous heads and sit on top of the gates each facing the four cardinal directions they are believed to symbolize locus chavera the boda vista of compassion although this is hotly debated by historians angrathon consists of many different temples including the king's palace some of the names of these temples include the terrorists of the elephants bafuan femininakis baon and the terrace of the leper king the bayan temple is the showpiece of angkor thumb the temple has 49 sandstone towers representing the 49 provinces that made up the old khmer empire in 1181 massive four meter high smiling faces are carved into each side of the towers the walls of the terrace contain carvings of mythological creatures elephants and other animals this architectural masterpiece is believed to sustain a population of eighty thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand people but after the khmer kingdom went into decline anger thumbs structures that were primarily made from wood eventually rotted away and the city was ultimately abandoned in the 16th century [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

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Length: 32min 34sec (1954 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 02 2020