How Did Ancient Civilisations Start Worshiping Gods? | The Lost Gods | Parable

this channel is part of the history hit network stick around to find out more [Music] from the time before time was first measured humankind has pondered the question of god as the image of that god formed in their minds so they fashioned it in wood paint and stone and housed it in holy places the ancient world was populated with gods beyond counting today just one god dominates the world of believers where have the old gods gone our quest is to peel away the layers of time to examine the civilizations that brought the gods to power and honored them in art and architecture and to discover the ultimate fate of the lost gods my [Music] [Music] once this was a sea of waving grass on that savannah gazelle grazed elephants wandered men hunted but seven thousand years ago the climate changed [Music] egypt today is largely desert a moonscape blasted barren by the sun [Music] but this wasteland contains a treasure other civilizations would come to covet the nile is a thin blue ribbon bordered in fertile green egypt is the gift of the nile [Music] when hunters and herders became farmers they turned their thoughts to higher things and the gods were born [Music] they had guards for everything because they believed the gods guaranteed mayat stability when the country united under its king he became the chief priest they would call him the great house the pharaoh he would guarantee the worship of the gods and the life-giving flood of the nile but what of the afterlife the egyptians believed each person had a soul that survived death but the soul needed the body preserved so he could live in it and be nourished through it this belief gave life to the art and architecture of egypt that is still a wonder of the world today [Music] [Music] where will we find the first hint of the glory of ancient egypt traditionally the dead left the black fertile earth of the nile for the red sand of the desert and we must follow them sakara is a monumental textbook of the art and architecture of the old kingdom and a picture gallery of its religious beliefs but they were snobbery even in death these tombs were for the nobles history hit is a streaming platform that is just for history fans with fantastic documentaries covering fascinating figures and moments in history from all over the world there is a great collection of religious history content available to history-hit subscribers from the crusades to the birth of islam there are plenty of topics to choose from for your next documentary fix we're committed to bringing history fans award-winning documentaries and podcasts that you cannot find anywhere else sign up now for a 14-day free trial and parable fans get 50 off their first three months just be sure to use the code parable at checkout this is the remains of a mastaba a mud brick construction it marks a transition in egyptian architecture from reeds wood and nile lime to stone but the mastabas did not preserve the body nobles like irokapta organized statues of their relatives to accompany them on their journey to the afterlife but money couldn't buy immortality and then they found neutron every day they washed their clothes with washing soda and cleaned their teeth with bread soda when they put the two together they had something that would dry and preserve the body egypt had cracked the cold of eternal life mummification [Music] a combination of the salts in washing soda and bread soda which made up natron were applied to the body to remove all moisture and so preserve the mummy of the pharaoh but the mastaba was much too humble for an eternal pharaoh it was here at saqqara that egypt saw its first pyramid the stepped pyramid of jose six mastabas of decreasing size piled one atop the other but the journey to the beyond was perilous these are the passwords to the afterlife carved almost four and a half thousand years ago prayers advice and magical incantations jose's stepped pyramid was an act of faith a stairway to the stars for the pharaoh it was also a prototype for a tomb that would be the artistic and architectural high point of ancient egypt and markets fall [Music] [Music] cairo is a modern capital city busily engaging with the 21st century the giza pyramid complex is almost swamped by a cairo suburb [Music] the pyramid of the pharaoh khufu is the largest single building in the history of the world it stands on a foundation of rock and rises through 203 steps to a height of 147 meters it weighs 6 million tons the weight of all europe's cathedrals combined [Music] built over a 20-year period the entire structure was covered in gleaming limestone slabs and topped with a gold-covered pyramid capstone giza also boasts the best known piece of architecture in the world the sphinx 57 meters long and facing east to the rising sun it symbolizes the sun god of ra and his son the deified pharaoh the greeks call it sphinx in arabic it is a father of fear it did not defend the ancient kingdom from destruction pharaoh pepe ii simply lived too long reigning for 90 years he buried his heirs and when he himself died in 2181 bc the kingdom shattered it was the end of the ancient kingdom and the beginning of something new and startling in the religion of egypt [Music] what mecca is to muslims so abidos became to the egyptians not because of a prophet's tomb but because osiris the god of the underworld was buried here abidos marks a turning point in egyptian religious thinking what developed here was the revolutionary belief that each individual was responsible for the life granted them and that the afterlife was open to anyone pharaoh or farmer why because osiris like jesus was the god of resurrection the resurrection of osiris was also a guarantee that the pharaohs would last forever through reincarnation [Music] osiris had come back from the dead and guaranteed the continuity of the pharaohs according to legend the murdered king osiris was resurrected by his wife isis and guaranteed the continuity of the pharaoh kings [Music] but in this life it is people not gods who wield power political priests would proclaim a god born in secret amon became king of the gods in the new capital of egypt do amon was now the god and karnak was his temple [Music] from the 20th century bc successive pharaohs made their mark here in art and architecture [Music] karnak became the most powerful religious and economic center in egypt like the vatican estate within a state history is written in stone here [Music] the walls tell the story of daily worship two elegant pink granite pillars recalled the unification of upper and lower egypt in the lotus and papyrus united in the worship of the gods amon and raah [Music] once a year during the feast of opet amunorah was carried on the nile to visit his wife and so ensure the regeneration of the crops [Music] to if karnak was the powerhouse of egypt then luxor was its glory [Music] [Music] beyond the sphinx guards pharaoh ramses waits to greet the god [Music] inside a forest of 74 papyrus topped columns how were these great walls built by putting down a layer of stone and shoring it with a ramp of rubble as the stone layers reached upward saw the rubble rampart provided scaffolding for the workers it was decorated from the top down as the rubble ramps were removed and what glorious decoration [Music] the draftsman stenciled the figure as a guide to the sculptors who etched with copper and bronze chisels finally these were painted with vivid colors [Music] the paint has long gone sand blasted by the centuries but an echo of their glory remains [Music] beyond is a pillared hall of gigantic reed columns with floors once silvered to resemble water and ceilings painted with stars [Music] death held little mystery for the egyptians of this era what really troubled them was the security of the dead the dead pharaohs would go to the value of the kings in the west to become invisible underground and safe for eternity the value of the kings was dry and would preserve the body and it would be protected and served by a small army of guards and priests who lived there [Music] the tombs of the great are all but concealed in this valley in fact some are still to be found the decorations echo those of giza and sakara in their mystery and splendor it was a cycle of life death and rebirth carefully stage managed by the priests underpinned with symbols incantations and magic a cycle they thought would last forever in the year 1353 bc the young pharaoh amenhotep recited this poem to the son or god who gives life the soul god without another beside him you create the earth according to your wish you are in my heart [Music] for a 21st century christian jew or muslim it's an orthodox prayer for a 14th century bc egyptian pharaoh it was heresy amenotep changed his vision from many gods to one he changed his name to akhenaten in honor of the one god outer and he revolutionized the art and architecture of egypt if the sun was god then the temple didn't need a roof so the supporting walls could be less massive and what about outwent the stylized perfectly proportioned godlike figure of the pharaoh and then came the pharaoh watts and all a man like any other egyptian art had discovered realism [Music] you like henry viii the reforming tudor akhenaten confiscated the temple treasure and when the powerful priests tried to combat him he closed karnak and luxer and built a new capital for the new god akhenaten reigned just 17 years within days of his death all traces of his god and name were obliterated [Music] the priests of amon had the revenge [Music] a moon would be restored but not for long the persian empire swept across the desert and engulfed egypt the priests beseeched amon for a savior [Music] oscar wilde said when the gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers the savior the gods granted egypt was a 33 year old greek alexander he did push back the persians declared himself the son of amun and then left egypt because he had other worlds to conquer but he also left a greek general on the throne the first of the ptolemy pharaohs it was the end of the egyptian dynasty [Music] so what happened egypt's religion and its mighty gods a small island here on the nile holds the answer [Music] filet high up in the nile was a place of pilgrimage from earliest times but the art and architecture of philae revealed the new reality the mighty figure on the pylon is greek the greek notion of space separates the buildings greek perspective skews the pillars [Music] the last egyptian hieroglyphic was written here on the 24th of august 394 a.d an epitaph for the glory that had been [Music] [Music] and there is this the kiosk of trajan a new power was already stretching across the mediterranean the romans were coming egyptian religion was founded on stability but stability easily becomes rigidity the nile floods the crops grow the pharaohs die and live again but then the world turned beneath their feet the whole structure of egypt an inverted pyramid balanced on one man the all-powerful pharaoh toppled preservation and adaptation in religious belief as in archaeology go hand in hand if the egyptians had accepted [Music] might not be listed among the lost gods [Applause] [Music] [Applause] when the western world lay under a poll of ignorance and savagery a people were coming to power in this land a people who would raise up cities of marble and worship their many gods from the high places within them lovers of wisdom their philosophers questioned the heavens and the earth while their astronomers mapped the sky and their mathematicians measured the planet they would produce art sculpture drama and architecture so wondrous that the romans would copy it and a general alexander who would win the greatest empire the world had ever known champions of democracy and founders of the first european civilization they were the greeks [Music] it is two thousand years before the christian era here the greek mainland is ravaged by barbarian invaders civilizations do not grow in shadow to tell the story of the greeks and their gods i must go to where it all began egypt sumeria and mesopotamia were already ancient when the first advanced civilization in europe flowered on the island of crete they were known as the minoans perfectly positioned on the mediterranean they grew rich and powerful [Music] the secret of their success lay hidden in the fold of mountains grain timber and olive oil traded for gold ivory and precious stones but what of their gods from earliest times they worshipped the earth goddess who blessed their fields with plenty when a wave of immigrants brought a sky guard from southeast asia the minoans married earth and sky the union of heaven and earth would produce two families the family of gods above the family of mortals below the gods gave form and meaning to the mysteries of the universe mortals offered worship in return [Music] from this fusion of heaven and earth came religious art and architecture and the jewel in the crown was knottos [Music] the palace of knossos was a bustling hive of 1500 rooms covering two hectares it had workshops kitchens warehouses full of storage jars it had terracotta plumbing and two stories of rooms and passages underground [Music] long gone religious processions are recorded in the frescoes painted on wet plaster [Music] monumental stone stairways connect the quarters of commoner and king the center of power the alabaster throne remains flanked by the benches of advisors guarded by sedate griffins [Music] in the queen's chamber dolphins frisk across the wall but the most famous work of art in konosus the bull was the sacred animal of the minoans the source and symbol of royal and divine power [Applause] and then it all came crashing down in 1650 bc the neighboring island of terra now santorini exploded showering crete with volcanic ash 200 years later crete itself was rocked by an earthquake already the religious beliefs art and architecture of the minoan civilization were ebbing to greece and to glory [Music] in the popular mind the greek family of gods expanded and fortunate themselves the infighting on high was reflected below [Music] mighty cities competing for power what fused them together was a common enemy the persians cometh the hour cometh the man persian crisis brought pericles to power and welded the cities to a common cause the persians defeated athens reigned over greece and the acropolis was its crown it was the beginning of the golden age [Music] acropolis means high high because high meant holy humanly it was a refuge from attack close to farms but far from the sea and pirates if as legend held the gods lived on mount olympus then their images would be housed and worshiped here but which god would be patron of athens typically there was an argument poseidon the sea guard created a saltwater spring for the citizens on the acropolis but athena planted an olive tree and won their worship this is its descendant worshiped by athenians for generations [Music] [Applause] a consolation prize for poseidon the erectile a masterpiece of greek architecture and sculpture built in 420 bc [Music] on the northern face six columns in the ionic style still stand with scroll tops and pearl motifs on the abacus [Music] on the southern face something rare and imaginative six carriates handmaidens of the goddess artemis support the porch unlike christian muslim and jewish temples greek temples were homes for the gods rather than houses of worship [Music] and this is the spectacular home of athena patron of athens the parthenon dominates the acropolis and seems to continue and complete the upward thrust of the hill it was built in pentelic marble in the dalek style that housed a vast statue of athena [Music] in fact the golden ivory statue cost more than the building [Music] the athenians did not forget the persians [Music] plaques around the temple were carved with scenes symbolizing the triumph of good over evil civilization over barbarism some have managed to survive over two and a half thousand years [Music] the acropolis the high city would house the gods in splendor for all eternity but what of the mortal men who built it [Music] the karemikos cemetery has been the last resting place for the great and good of athens for over two thousand years some tombs reflect the heroism of martyrs [Music] others the grief of morals still others hearken back to the powerful symbols of ancient times but the question remained where did the dead go did they cross the river sticks in the underworld with cairo on the ferryman to paradise punishment of what one writer called an eternity of boredom [Music] according to legend zeus the sky god released two eagles in opposite directions wherever they met would be the center of the world this is the spot in delphi marked by the umphalos the naval stone [Music] delphi like the medieval vatican had immense power apollo's temple the most famous of all greek shrines was terraced into the hillside it had colonnades meeting rooms and a stadium [Applause] because the god apollo had killed the python the monster serpent who had attacked his mother the pythian games were held here in his honor every four years it was a religious festival of athletic contests music and drama that rivaled the olympics but what of the afterlife [Music] the greeks found the afterlife so obscure it sharpened their focus on this life they hungered to know the future this craving brought kings and commoners on pilgrimage to the navel of the world [Music] delphi and its priesthood flourished grateful pilgrims heaped it with offerings over 3 000 statues and treasuries lined the sacred way to express their gratitude only one treasury remains the treasury of the athenians in thanksgiving for the victory at marathon [Music] apollo was worshiped as the god of light harmony and order and was possessed with the power of prophecy apollo himself answered all questions through his priestess the oracle she sat on a tripod stool over a volcanic vent in the floor and gave her answers in a gibberish that was interpreted by the priests [Music] the oracle's answer would always be translated to the benefit of delphi only delphi could approve of new colonies and did so at a price it had a network of spies throughout the region informing the priests who brokered power among the heads of [Music] state and when the unified state was threatened by the persians the greeks under pericles their great leader came to ask a question [Applause] [Music] and then the oracle got it wrong got it wrong the oracle got it wrong should we resist the persians the greeks asked no answer the articles probably hoping delphi would become the capital of persian greece pericles ignored the oracle the greek victory spelled defeat for delphi [Applause] from the third century bc delphi declined as greece expanded [Music] ships sailing to the colonies carried greek gods art and architecture and the ultimate question what of the afterlife [Music] [Music] colonists are always tempted to reproduce the place they've left behind pasteum in southern italy could certainly qualify as little greece the temple of poseidon the god of the sea was built in 450 bc [Music] doric the most popular architectural design in mainland greece is reproduced here in the thick powerful columns with plain tops [Music] a local contribution is the substitution of limestone for marble [Music] built nearby and within a hundred years of it the basilica is also of ancient design but unusual for having nine columns on the short side and 14 on the long side [Music] the main divinity of pasteum is hera the jealous wife of zeus and the goddess of maternity and fertility other gods were faithfully reproduced in pottery and sculpture [Music] the statue of demetra goddess of harvest and fertility holds a bowl of fruit in her hands an amphora shows aphrodite goddess of beauty rising from the sea form in a fine style and vivid colors for the greeks pesto was a home from home [Music] and then on june 3rd 1968 the archaeologist marco napoli found something new and exciting at first glance it was a tomb like any other except that it held the oldest and best preserved example of greek mural painting five travertine stone slabs covered with white stucco and painted with vivid scenes the paintings are of a symposium an after-dinner drinks party for men only typically there was music and poetry and a game of cutter boss where the dregs of wine were tossed at a target the scene seems to say more about the here and now than the hereafter except for the painting of the dead young man on the lid of the tomb he is known as the diver a figure muscular taught and bronzed with reddish pigment as idealized as any greek sculpture but some experts believe this is more than a work of art they believe the platform symbolizes the pillars of heracles which marked the end of the known world and the diver is diving into death confident of reincarnation pythagoras the philosopher had already championed the idea of reincarnation in greece while the other pictures are almost a lament for the end of life and its joys the diver seems to leap joyfully in the hope of an afterlife the ripple of the diver in pestum was a mighty wave in athens because athens had become the kingdom of the mind plato promoted the idea of the highest virtue shifting the focus from the god to the good ares darkos proclaimed the earth circled the sun the place of sophocles questioned the justice of the gods aristotle and others placed reason over mystery [Music] camus once said once a man begins to think he begins to be undermined but it was mount olympus of the gods that was dismantled one myth at a time by questions where do the greek gods go the high city the home of the gods knows their fate the acropolis and greece fell to the romans in 147 bc and the gods they changed their names to jupiter juno and manerva and departed the stage to rome as spoils of war [Music] the acropolis the high and holy place would be overlooked and new temples would rise to replace the old [Music] [Music] [Music] the church of saint george was dedicated to the new roman god jesus of nazareth and for the greeks christianity would replace the greek gods and answer the question of the afterlife [Music] but the gods of mount olympus would be remembered forever in greek art architecture sculpture and drama the living legacy of the lost gods in the 8th century bc when the greek city-states were coming to power a group of tribes occupied the hills above the tiber in italy [Music] they were farmers and their gods were the newman faceless and formless spirits manifested in the powers of nature and the cycles of the seasons but as they grew into an empire that stretched from the atlantic to the dead sea their gods would take on different forms [Music] by the second century a.d 85 000 kilometers of paved roads carried their laws courtesy legions and beliefs to over 400 nations [Music] the art architecture and engineering genius still generate wonder today it was horus one of their most famous poets who urged them seized the day and in their day they would seize the territories treasuries and gods of other civilizations [Music] they were the romans [Music] [Music] this is one of the best known symbols of rome romulus founder of the city and remus his brother being suckled by a she-wolf but the she-wolf is etruscan from about 500 bc the twins were added 200 years later the story of rome and its gods begins elsewhere [Applause] [Music] the romans adopted and adapted the customs and beliefs of the peoples they conquered one of the most influential of these were the etruscans [Music] by 650 bc kaiser now cerveteri was one of the richest towns in europe trading with egypt and venice like the greeks the etruscans had a group of city-states divided by politics but bonded by religion the etruscans believed in an afterlife that resembled this life and housed their ancestors in a city of the dead [Music] thousands of tombs carved from the soft volcanic rock were arranged in a city-like plan [Music] and it is among the dead we discover how the etruscans lived [Music] [Music] in 1827 frescoes were discovered in the tomba de urille as remarkable as any found in greece painted on damp plaster they revealed the etruscan cult of the dead similar to that of egypt in the same era vows pottery and art objects were part of the furnishings the dead would need in the afterlife but what are their gods the etruscans believed in the homely gods the gods of the threshold and hearth they also believed in the mighty gods based on the greek zeus and hera what the etruscans took from the greeks the romans took from the etruscans from the father god and mother goddess to the humble household gods the romans took it all when they defeated the etruscans in 280 bc [Music] the forum a center for trade and religious rituals was the heart of republican rome roman religion encompassed and celebrated the mighty gods of nature and the everyday gods of domestic life in the shadow of the temple of jupiter the father god bearer of thunderbolts vestal virgins kept the sacred flame alight a symbol sacred to the goddess vesta who protected every roman hearth and home as the empire expanded more and more kingdoms fell to rome the romans brought their booty on the veer flaminia over the milvian bridge the romans had mastered the arch they would use it to span an empire and bring its riches home to rome [Applause] the victorious generals rose to power and competed for the ultimate prize to rule rome itself the republic was under threat come at the hour comet the man the man who claimed descent from the goddess venus and from the ancient greek hero enes crossed the rubicon and captured his own capital this man was julius caesar he gave the city a new form edged with monumental buildings long since gone he took for himself the title pontifex maximus the high priest of rome in 44 bc when the senators murdered caesar they thought they were reclaiming solid roman republican values in fact they had swapped a dictator for an emperor the reign of augustus was the golden age of rome art and architecture thrived marble temples and monuments were raised to honor gods borrowed from the greeks zeus became jupiter hiro the wife of zeus became juno aphrodite became venus poseidon the sea guard became neptune [Music] the roman public could bathe in the heated baths of karakalia and flock to the colosseum for entertainment [Music] [Applause] the pantheon the home of all the gods became the religious heart of imperial rome designed by hadrian it was the sanctuary of the roman gods dedicated to the emperor augustus who encouraged the idea of his own divinity the pax romana the roman peace spread to the very edges of the empire [Music] kerleon in wales was a walled outpost of the empire built in 75 a.d and covering over 20 hectares [Music] but the walls that kept the welsh out kept the romans in and within these walls they recreated rome [Music] five and a half thousand legionaries lived in 60 ballocks at kerleon today only the ruins of four remain the only surviving legionary barracks in europe the roman legions brought their gods with them to the far-flung regions of the empire a roman emperor might make a sacrifice to minerva the goddess of wisdom to enlighten his rule far from the security of rome the legionaries of kerleon would beg the favor of mars the god of war [Music] but it wouldn't be rome and home without an amphitheater why was it built outside the walls of the fortress is it possible that the only fighting the legion we saw was between gladiators in this six thousand seat arena [Applause] was replicated all along the edges of the empire in forts and towns that held to roman gods and roman ways and protected rome from the barbarians [Applause] all powerful rome was an empire in which the border between state and religion was becoming increasingly blurred why would it fear the foreign gods [Music] [Music] emperor hadrian's villa in tivoli covered an area greater than that of the imperial center of rome here hadrian created one of the greatest exhibitions of art and architecture and most of it copies from the greeks the romans regarded foreign gods as having power over the people who worshipped them by bringing them to rome and housing them in splendor hadrian hoped to transfer their power in their favor to the empire his most ambitious project was the canopus a replica of the sanctuary of the egyptian god therapist in alexandria for this he had a canal dog 119 meters long and lined with imported egyptian statues cariatids similar to those on the acropolis the statues of the greek gods in tivoli show how far the roman gods had evolved from vague elemental numina to take on human features and form the greeks gave faces to the roman gods [Music] on an island in a round pool surrounded by columns the man who ruled the lives of some 50 million subjects found solitude in a state where the borders between religion and state had become inseparable it was a short step from emperor to god [Music] here in the maritime theater hadrian could indulge his passions for painting architecture and for his lover and tightness who drowned in the night by hadrian's decree he became the last roman god in tivoli hadrian built a walled sanctuary for foreign gods and to house the art and architecture of conquered nations but the threat to the roman gods would come from the east from a city gifted to rome by the greeks [Music] according to the historian aristaedes ephesus was asia's greatest center of trade and banking [Music] it was an exotic city of marbled streets and magnificent temples the envy of the ancient world founded in the 13th century bc by the greek anthropos it was bequeathed to the romans in 133 bc [Music] the romans were content to allow the ephesians pay homage to the greek god artemis the egyptian god isis or any of the other gods who had found followers in this cosmopolitan city so long as they paid their taxes to loan [Music] ephesus was dedicated to artemis the man-hating goddess of the moon the woodlands and women in childbirth her temple was one of the seven wonders of the world [Music] a simple column remains [Music] it's a fitting monument to the greek architect theodorus challenged to build on a marsh he filled the foundations with coal topped with leather on this novel base he raised the temple 115 meters long and 55 meters wide the biggest marble temple in the world [Music] the vision of theodorus was awe-inspiring 127 columns supported a massive wooden roof built with cedar beams it was the pride of ephesus but ephesus holds other architectural wonders the library of celsus in ephesus was built in the second century ad by achilles as a monumental tomb for his father governor paulie menus the architectural challenge was to squeeze it between two existing buildings [Music] [Music] achilles created an optical illusion of height by arching the steps between the middle and the edge in the same way the columns in the center were larger than those at the sides making the building look loftier than it was [Music] the most beautiful roman contribution to ephesus was dedicated to the emperor hadrian in the second century a.d [Music] was famous for the craftsmanship of its facade two columns with corinthian capitals support a capstone decorated with a carving of taike the goddess of fortune the upper lintel holds a relief of medusa one of the three gorgons of greek mythology whose appearance could turn men to stone but it is the freeze around the upper lintel of the door that illustrates vividly the roman influence on greek ephesus greek gods and roman emperors share the freeze with mythological gods and heroes as equals what threat could there be to the divine roman emperor the equal to zeus and apollo in the conquered city of ephesus [Music] [Music] but in this city of many gods a new god was already being proclaimed in a theater that could hold 24 000 ephesians the speaker was paul of tarsus champion of the new god jesus the nazarene [Applause] the romans would accommodate one god too many [Music] this new religion with its one god was destined to take root in rome and bring the pantheon of roman guards to ruin [Music] the 12th century church of san clemente was built over the underground meeting places of the mystery cuts in rome [Music] so [Music] meeting in secret beneath the crowded streets there were those who longed for more than the state religion could offer [Music] it was the defenders of the empire the roman legionaries who brought the cult of mythras from persia to rome in the first century bc part sun god part hero mithra slew the bull whose blood renewed the earth and cleansed his followers who met here on the deepest level beneath san clemente in the 4th century a.d on the level above the mithra sanctuary another cult worshipped a man called jesus whose blood they claimed would renew the world and save his believers but a state that required worship of the emperor and would house honor and accommodate a multitude of gods could never accept a religion that worshipped one god and no other but even the legions of rome and the walls of hadrian could not hold forever against the tide of history and the spiritual quest of human hearts the roman emperor constantine convinced that the new god jesus had aided him in battle converted to christianity under constantine christianity became the state religion [Music] at street level the magnificent church of san clemente is a medieval monument to the religion that would spread to the furthest reaches of the empire and make rome its religious capital [Music] and what of the roman gods in some ways they had become servants of the state and risen to prominence on the back of its military might [Music] rome would become a city of temples dedicated to the new god [Music] and a graveyard for the lost gods [Music] the canopy of the tropical rainforest in guatemala conceals an ancient civilization [Music] two thousand years before the christian era wandering tribes of hunter-gatherers felled the trees for fields cut the limestone beneath for breathtaking buildings they would be compared to the greeks for their science to the romans for their paved roads to the egyptians for their pyramids masters of the written word art and architecture they were the maya [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] guatemala is a country of contrasts smoking volcanoes rise from a carpet of tropical jungle spotted asia lakes the maya believed in one god who had as many manifestations as the hindu god brahma the universe was supported by a tree its crown high in the heavens its roots deep in the underworld and on the earth between they created man-made mountains to honor the gods of both realms [Music] the maya world rested on a turtle's back surrounded by water and we are going to the center of that world in 1848 ambrosio tut and maya hacked through the forest and discovered the center of the mayan world the city of tikka [Music] founded in 29280 by king jaguar paul tikal covers 16 square kilometers and contains more than 4 000 monuments soaring above the forest their purpose was to bring the maya nearer to their gods one reaches up 47 meters nine tapering tiers of limestone representing the nine levels of jibalba the underworld and the nine lords of darkness who ruled over pregnancy in my belief humans were birthed from the underworld most would return there at death [Music] only those who died violent deaths might aspire to the heavens [Music] how do they build such massive monuments with stone tools this entire region sits on a bed of limestone soft to quarry [Music] burnt limestone gave lime for plaster to smooth over the faces of the pyramids finally they were painted in colors as vivid as the plumage of the forest birds [Music] built to appease the gods and impress rival cities they were also built to last but the gods of the maya demanded more than limestone buildings [Music] the blood debt would have to be repaid blood sacrifice was a debt to the past and a bribe to the future in earlier times royalty and priests spilt their own blood to satisfy the gods later they would ambush other tribes and bring the captives to tikal for sacrifice [Music] so [Music] as the wealth power and prestige of the kings grew they scanned the sky from this observatory and created a new calendar to trace their lineage back over three thousand years before the christian era [Music] perhaps they spent so much time considering the stars and their own elevated status that they lost contact with the earth the humble earth which had sustained them punished them it all came to an end in 8 30 a.d [Applause] and in the end it all came down to food slash and burn farming was not a cycle that would feed forty thousand maya [Music] the maya deserted the pyramids of tikal the forest returned [Music] where did the maya of tikal go perhaps to the fabled cities of the north in the hope of full and planting [Music] [Music] in 1746 a puzzled spanish priest padres solis wrote to his bishop from this place in mexico i have found strange stone houses he reported in fact he had stumbled on the masterpiece of mayan architecture palenque only the central section of palenque has been recovered from the forest and that spreads over 15 square kilometers [Music] the palace dominates the ceremonial center [Music] topped by a complex of porticoed galleries with false vault ceilings [Music] but it is the pillar and roof surfaces that hint at palenque's artistic legacy maya sculptors created bass reliefs on limestone tablets rivaling anything produced in egypt [Music] [Applause] [Music] the temple of the inscriptions climbed to 35 meters a monumental staircase of nine overlapping sections like the first egyptian pyramid at saqqara its treasure three stone tablets covered in hieroglyphs one of the longest maya inscriptions in existence [Music] up to recently maya writing was a mystery a secret history of ancient gods monarchs and monuments but palenque concealed another secret [Music] in 1952 the mexican architect alberto russ removed a false vaulted ceiling and found a passage to the underworld [Music] starting at the sanctuary the staircase descended to an underground crypt under a five-ton slab he found the mortal remains of pakka king of palenque from 615 to 683 a.d at the moment of death falling into the jabalba the mouth of an earth monster [Music] palenque had even more surprises above ground [Music] imagine the astonishment of the first european in palenque when he discovered these three temples the spaniards christened them the temples of the leafy cross perhaps because they climbed to the sanctuary and were confronted by a carving that seemed out of place and time [Music] but it was carved 800 years before columbus sailed from spain in the maya religion the vertical beam represents the tree of life that holds up the universe where the horizontal beam intersects they called the eye of god [Music] and this is where the maya of palenque kept an eye on god and the god they watched was venus revered from ancient times as the herald of the rising sun in this tower they plotted the course of venus without instruments and got it wrong by a margin of just 14 seconds in a year as they watched the rise of venus did they foresee the fall of palenque was it invasion famine disease or drought that doomed we don't know do know that pakal sun can was captured and sacrificed by a rival city palenque was effectively beheaded and by 810 a.d it sank beneath the forest [Music] palenque tikal bottom memory was this the prelude to something all south american civilizations feared the end of the world and could a new city drenched in blood avert the disaster [Music] chichen itza was built over 1200 years ago as a last throw of the dice against doom every stone and step is heavy with potent the four staircases of the castillo represent the maya hieroglyph for the end of an era [Music] the end was nine the gods cried out for sacrifice chichen itza became a site of ritual slaughter [Music] [Music] the ceremonial road leads to the cenote the well [Music] in the limestone riverless yucatan welds were a source of life to a city to the maya there were also gates to the underworld ruled by the rain god shaq according to the spanish missionary diego delanda young women were thrown 22 meters to the waters below messengers to the gods bearing the prayers of the maya for deliverance [Music] when it was dredged in 1860 by the north american edward thompson he recovered the skeletons of young females [Music] over a thousand years ago from the caracal the observatory of chichen itza the maya scanned the sky for almonds [Music] [Music] [Music] when the guard venus was threatened by eclipse chichen itza became a battleground between good and evil light and darkness thousands of maya died in ritual sacrifices to reclaim venus and their city from the dark [Music] this is the ball court of chichen itza shaped like the capital letter i with sloped side walls and stands for spectators the object of the game was to put the ball through rings embedded in the end walls players could use shoulders and thighs to strike the ball which was made of stone or latex sometimes they played with a human head [Applause] [Music] the ball game was more than a sport as the decorations on the walls attest for the winning team it was lethal because according to the maya it was an honor for the winners to be sacrificed [Music] as doomsday neared the bloodletting increased the temple of the warriors broods over the city many of those who climbed the stairs never descended [Music] the doors of the temple are flanked by feathered serpent pillars the gaping jaws in the sand the tails uplifted to support the roof but the real horror of chichen itza reclines before the doors called on its stomach it carries a dish waiting for an offering of human hearts [Music] implacably to the west the direction of death darkness and the color black [Music] darkness and death are everywhere in chichen itza it was dedicated to the shedding of sacrificial blood and seems to harbor the ghosts of its victims to this day [Music] all of the lives lost could not save chichen itza [Music] perhaps the sacrificial price was more than the maya city-states could pay weakened by wars among themselves they were already in decline when the spaniards invaded in the 16th century the maya were no match for muskets and measles and the people who believed that their world rested on a turtle's back surrounded by water made their last stand on an island amaya waited on taya sal for a prophecy to be fulfilled it was written in their book receive your bearded guests from the east bearers of the standard of god [Music] while their armies fell before de montejo the conquistador and bowed to the christian cross the taiasal maya waited through to the old gods under their chief canelk christian missionaries came to offer baptism and were politely refused not yet they said what were they waiting for for the prophecies to be fulfilled for the end of the world the spaniards grew tired of waiting in 1697 they sailed across the lake in an iron-clad galley stone arrows were no match for metal those who survived the slaughter swam to the refuge of the forest [Music] but what are their gods the writer d h lawrence saw the maya world as giant trees felled by the invaders but the roots still lived sending up new shoots through foreign soil [Music] the mayagad hunapu disappeared into the great trees but elements of the maya religion remain to color the christian rituals performed on tayasad today [Music] these are the last traces the famed echoes of the lost gods [Music] when the great powers of europe charted the known world in the 15th century this land did not exist peru and the enormous landmass of south america were marked terror incognito on the maps land unknown but in the peaks and falls of the andes mountains the people were coming to power they worshiped a creator god as well as the sun moon and stars in a single century they will conquer and rule an empire equal to that of rome the dramatic rise and fall of their culture would change forever the course of american and european history they were known by the name of their all-powerful divine king son of the son the income [Music] [Music] according to legend the inca pachacuti plunged a golden rod into the earth to mark the center of power they call this place cusco the naval of the world so [Music] over 3000 metres above sea level cusco is the highest capital and the oldest continuously inhabited city in south america [Music] planned cusco in a grid pattern diverting two rivers into channels to refresh his city and irrigate the terraced hillsides but the inca genius was for stone without the wheel or horse using ramps and rollers they dragged cut and fitted the enormous stones that underpin cusco to this day today we can still walk the streets of ancient cusco marveling at the architecture and artistry of the inca masons [Music] colonial buildings like the convento rest on the shoulders of inca walls [Music] when an earthquake toppled the superstructures in 1956 these great stones held firm the korikancha the coral of gold was the most important temple in the empire today it forms the base of the colonial church of santo domingo [Music] dedicated to viracocha the creator god and inti the sun god it was also a prison for the gods of inca enemies their icons housed here in homage and as hostages [Music] was also a treasure house that beggared belief more than 700 sheets of pure gold covered to the carved granite walls [Music] the courtyard was filled with life-size sculptures of animals and a field of corn all fashioned from gold even the floors were paved with solid gold [Music] and here in the inca holy of holies a massive golden image of the sun encrusted with emeralds reflected the glory of the sun god [Music] [Music] was also a center of religious rituals in honor of the gods who according to inca myth created the first inca people from maize [Music] cusco itself was designed in the shape of a great stone puma a sacred animal of the inca these zigzag walls of the 15th century saxahuaman fortress are the teeth of the puma still snarling defiance from the inca stronghold [Music] with the capital consolidated the inca were ready for empire in 1438 pachukuti and his inca armies swept out along the four roads that radiated out from cusco to the taiwan tinsuyu the four quarters of the world napoleon said an army marches on its stomach [Music] stations dotted the road at regular intervals supplying the warriors runners relayed messages to and from cusco covering up to 240 kilometers a day herds of llamas carried provisions llamas had the added advantage of being edible as well as agile [Music] as the empire expanded tribute and treasure flowed back the four roads to cusco creating enormous wealth for the emperor his family and nobles gold sweat of the sun and silver the tears of the moon they would fashion into sacred art and build cities roads and bridges in the most precipitous places on earth sons of conquered chieftains also came to cusco to learn the inca ways and guarantee the loyalty of their tribes [Music] but who built the massive infrastructure that underpinned the inca empire like the egyptians the incas levied muti a labor tax 12 million people extended and maintained over ten thousand miles of road farmed the land and fought to subdue their enemies in return the state gave them food and chitchat beer even old age pensions and disability benefits as the romans did the incas conquered and assimilated those who were loyal remained on the land those who resisted were removed and replaced pisac the city of towers broods on the height one of the stone cities guarding strategic parts of the empire [Music] like all inca cities it is built in the shape of a creature sacred to the inca pisac means partridge [Music] pisac was ruled by akalish a governor who ensured a portion of all produce went to the inca fresh onions small corn fruit and potatoes flavor the air of the market square little has changed from the era of pachacuti buyers and sellers wear vivid colors and barter as their ancestors did [Music] terrorist fields rippled down the slopes all around because agriculture was and still is the lifeblood of pisac the nearby amphitheater at mori was more than an agricultural laboratory the crops grown here symbolized the generosity of the gods and the ever-renewing relationship between the inca and their deities and the entire empire was tallied and taxed with this the kipu is a length of colored string knotted at specific intervals according to the decimal system the incas had no writing as we know it with colored strings they administered the largest empire in the known world [Music] but the string quickly stretched to breaking point the lifestyle of the royals heaped taxes on the lowly and when the reigning inca waena kapak died the empire split in a bloody civil war [Music] bodies hung from trees and strange rumors abounded articles warned of bearded invaders chasky ran to cusco with news of a house floating on the sea crowded with bearded men [Music] at that critical point the spaniards waded ashore how could 200 conquistadores and a handful of priests topple an empire [Applause] [Music] [Music] give me a lever and a firm place to stand archimedes the greek said and i will shift the world the keystone of the empire was the powerful inca atahualpa and the conquistador francisco pisarro had a lever a daring plan that would shift the history of the world nestles in the foothills of the andes almost 2 700 meters above sea level for the kakamaka a pre-incan people it was a sacred place a city of the dead the cliffs are carved into crypts simple niches and corridors like the catacombs of rome here lie the ancestors of the kakamarka a people conquered by the inca on their path to power [Music] the spaniards named them las pentanillas the little windows in 1532 the souls of the kakamaka ancestors witnessed the fateful collision between europe and south america atahualpa came in peace to meet pitharro in the plaza de armas suddenly armed horsemen burst from high doorways muskets boomed the people panicked and fled atawalpa was toppled from his throne and the sun fell to earth [Music] [Music] the divine master of 12 million subjects was confined here in el cuarto de la rescate his ransom this room filled with gold to a height he could reach and two other rooms with silver in today's money it would amount to more than 250 million dollars and when the rooms were filled with the sweat of the sun and the tears of the moon as the incas called gold and silver pitharo had atahualpa strangled the glory of inca gold and silver artifacts was melted into inguts and shipped to spain [Music] some of it found its way here to glorify the god of the conquerors symbolizing the superiority of the new god gold clothes the christian altar of the barak cathedral that stands in the plaza de armas a monument to the end of an empire [Music] when pitharro took cusco the capital the inca people turned their faces to the mountains they would make their last stand where their gods resided in the sky [Music] the sacred valley is a place of mystery its terraced feels fingerprints of the sun god oyente tambo clings to a mountain spur 2 800 meters above sea level in the ketchu language it means a place of rest according to legend the internal organs of mummified inca were brought here for burial the inca genius for stone is everywhere from the steep staircase to the terraced fields and at the heart of olente tambo the temple of the sun [Music] the cut stone blocks are set without mortar they are an architectural wonder only matched by the engineering ability that brought them from a quarry eight kilometers away on the other side of the river but allente tambo is incomplete this typical trapezoidal doorway in the temple of the sun is not ruined but unfinished whoever built these walls was interrupted the spaniards were coming it took just 50 horsemen to storm the heights and oyente tanvo fell [Music] where did the inca go there is a mysterious motif carved in the stones of ayante tambo the staircase is it a reminder of the highest places the holiest places of the inca gods where offerings could be given and deliverance granted we must climb this symbolic staircase to find what the spaniards never found the glorious lost city in the sky [Music] the dense cloud forests of the hyandes hid the last inca mangkokapak for a time by 1570 the spaniards had stripped the inca of language land and worship of their gods everything that made them unique [Music] but they missed something machu picchu lies cradled between two peaks high in the andes mountains [Music] guarded on three sides by a gorge that drops 800 meters to the urubamba river the complex spreads over 13 square kilometers and includes more than 200 buildings [Music] pablo neruda the south american poet called it tall stepped city of stone hiram bingham the north american historian who found it in 1911 said it was like an unbelievable dream it was the brainchild of pachacuti a country palace for the inca built on one of the most inaccessible sites on earth brilliantly adapted to the natural landscape it is an enduring monument to the architectural and engineering ability of the inca there was no shortage of stone to be quarried and run by rampant roller to the site but where did they find water [Music] they found a natural mountain spring channeling water to the agricultural terraces of machu picchu bringing it tumbling down within the city to feed 16 fountains who lived here [Music] it was a city divided the rough-cut stone houses of the peasants still stand within sight of the grander buildings of the powerful [Music] but machu picchu was also a religious center the temple of the condor uses the natural rock formation to portray the master of the mountain skies a bird sacred to the inca [Music] at the top of the complex of sacred buildings a granite monolith the inti huatana a place where the sun is kept prisoner machu picchu's most famous monument suggests a strong link between the inca worship of the heavenly bodies and astronomy using the angles of this pillar astronomers could predict the solstices and claim control over the seasons there were many in tihuatana throughout peru the spaniards smashed them to wipe out worship of the sun all except this one at the heart of machu picchu even today machu picchu is still a place of mystery the most well-known of the inca sites and yet the one we know least about what we do know is that after just 50 years in use it was deserted and the jungle grew back to reclaim and conceal the last great citadel of the inca empire and what of the gods viracocha inti the gods of the heavens rocks springs valleys and high places disappeared with the inca empire to be remembered in art and architecture as the lost gods [Music] b [Music] [Music] eight hundred years before the birth of jesus a nomadic warlike people took root and rose in central europe their world was awash with benign spirits and demonic forces yet they built no basilicas or temples nature itself was their cathedral like many other civilizations in the ancient world they worshipped a sun god and mother goddess and their afterlife was an extension of the verve and vitality of their life on earth the druids were the priests and the magisters who held their world together and performed secret rituals and sacrifices to the classical civilizations of their day they were barbarians who howled at their gates and haunt their dreams and yet they would create art in metal to rival that of rome and greece masters of the horse and of ireland they were the celts [Music] so [Music] roaming from the west of siberia and the steps of northern mongolia in the 8th century bc a group of celts settled to farm above the lake and beneath the dachstein mountains in holstein [Music] celts saw no borders between the natural and supernatural worlds for them everything in the natural world had a religious significance [Music] the sun god blessed their fields with plenty taranis the thunder god rumbled in the mountains above them and gifted rain to the crops springs running water and the placid lake were the dwelling places of spirits to be soothed with offerings outside their settlement chern nunos like the greek pan was the antler god of wild animals and the wild boar was especially revealed as a symbol of warriors and warfare and a food reserved for gods [Music] but the horse which had brought them here was revered above all others as the goddess at ponna [Music] to the celts caves crevasses every opening in the earth was a portal to the underworld and it was a gift of the underworld that underpinned their culture [Music] from prehistoric times people have burrowed here beneath the earth for a mineral worth its weight in gold [Music] salt it was known as the white gold and in the ancient world it could make the difference between life and death salt preserved meat during the long winter months when the fields lay fallow the halstead sword mine also preserved a miner the victim of a long forgotten slide and close by a recent discovery this fourth century bc wooden stairway used by the mining celts of halstead symbolized a portal to the underworld [Music] as it was with the egyptians and etruscans it is the graves of the dead that revealed the beliefs of the celts they believed in an afterlife and furnished the dead with food and drink and as the egyptians did a boat for crossing to the other world [Music] they also provided the implements the dead would need for survival there the grave vines also revealed their art in their pottery and their mastery of metal [Music] amber gold and other precious imported objects were the fruits of the salt trade with greek settlements as far south as marseille in france [Music] but the graves of the past also hint at the glory of the celtic future the sacred horse of the steps would be harnessed to a two-field chariot an idea taken from the greeks [Music] bronze armaments of war would give way to iron the celtic warriors who chose to be buried in their war chariots would race out of central europe and ravage the classical civilizations of rome and greece in the 4th century bc rome was just emerging from etruscan domination when the celts attacked marauding band rampaged through italy and ransacked rome [Applause] celtic society was structured around warfare but the celts unlike the romans did not fight for territory but for prestige and plunder and even the booty they brought home to central europe was regarded as the property of the gods [Music] in 279 bc they swept east to greece to the very gates of delphi the spiritual powerhouse of greek civilization eager for the fabulous treasuries that lined the sacred way [Music] legend tells us that the celts were more fascinated by the statues of great gods that abounded in delphi they were astounded that the elemental gods of nature could be reduced to human form ironically it was not the weapons of the greeks that repelled them but the snowstorms of the high mountains surrounding delphi the celts were a powerful force and only a force of nature could hold them back barked by the snow of the sacred high places the celts were treated behind them they left a legacy of fear [Music] neither the greeks nor the romans would forget the terror of the barbarians at their gates in time greece would fall to rome and rome would plot the downfall of the cats [Music] it was the celt's misfortune that the romans shared their belief in war as a passage to power and prestige in the first century bc rome would produce a general in search of a victory over a foreign foe to secure power at home [Music] the gauls the celtic people of central france were a four worthy of julius caesar veni vidi vicky i came i saw i conquered julius caesar wrote summing up his savage slaughter of the calcium france he pushed further into central europe where the celt's inclination to fight among themselves aided the romans by the time the celts agreed to bury their differences it was already too late many of those celts who survived the battles with the romans slaughtered their loved ones and took their own lives rather than liver slaves ironically for the defeated celts the romans brought a cohesion to their world that it had never known they also brought to their gods the celts of central europe accepted jupiter saturn mercury and the others after all what was the foreign family of roman gods to a people who had hundreds of their own already the celts who had raided south and east were finding their way westward but where would they find refuge from the might of rome [Music] the continental celts did not invade britain they were much too busy warring among themselves to organize such an expedition from 500 to 100 bc they trickled into england and wales and assimilated the briton culture castle henries in wales the castle of the prince is an iron age promontory fort resurrected and recreated by archaeologists the celtic hamlet was a cluster of huts built with arched timber walls of wicker and roofed with thatch chieftain's roundhouse was more elaborate decorated with a swirling celtic art with which they embossed their shields and dyed their bodies [Music] urged on by their druid priests and without armor the celts crashed recklessly into battle assured by the same druids that those slain would be reincarnated through the magical cauldron of kiemin fall or igrona goddesses of slaughter when the celts weren't warring there were farmers and the granary was at the heart of the hamlet [Music] in earlier times the wooden plow could barely turn the thin upland soil for planting the cults brought about an agricultural revolution in britain and it started in the village smithy under the protection of gobnew the god of blacksmiths similar to the greek and roman gods hefestus and vulcan [Music] [Music] iron meant new farming implements with which the celts produced higher yields a gift of amazon god of agriculture [Music] iron weapons were a huge advantage for raid and reprisal against neighboring tribes and from these forays they brought cattle and human heads home to the hamlet to the celts the head was the seat of power to be taken out of battle so that the power of the victim came to the victor it was a symbol of prestige they hung from their doorposts julius caesar one of rome's most astute generals identified the seat of celtic power it was not in the edge of their iron weapons the suicidal ferocity of their warriors not even in their gods but in the powerful priests who stood between gods and men in the celtic world the druids [Music] this priestly cast served a 20-year apprenticeship in mystery folklore magic and poetry [Music] they were counselors teachers and arbitrators the glue that held the celtic world together caesar tells us the druids perform their rituals in groves of oak trees placating the gods and divining the future [Music] inevitably that future would include rome [Music] in 55 bc julius caesar crossed the channel from gore the already fragmented celts were smashed and assimilated by successive roman campaigns power of the druids which had bound the celtic world together in britain was broken [Music] um [Music] the romans looked further west to hibernia the celtic island at the edge of the world and decided it wasn't worth the trouble celtic island would survive intact for a time the celts came to ireland in four waves the fourth arriving in 500 bc they arrived in the land already marked by the cultures of the touhaden the fir bollock and the mylesians a land of mighty monuments like newgrenge older than the pyramids of egypt [Music] it was a land bristling with standing stones and brooding dolmens as they did in central europe and britain the celts adopted and adapted the gods of ireland dagda became their sun god already represented in the spiral art common to the latin culture of celtic switzerland [Music] [Music] [Music] rods fortified enclosures were already common in ireland [Music] the celts built them on water [Music] the crannog was built in a lake on a foundation of wood stone and sods surrounded by a wooden palisade [Music] access was by boat or causeway and they farmed the lakeshore [Music] they also adapted irish burial customs placing the dead in cyst tombs shallow pits lined with stone slabs and covered by a large flat cap stone the urn placed inside held food for the afterlife [Music] standing stones sometimes marked their resting places and stone circles their places of ritual sacrifice [Music] [Music] but the tribal memory kept old fears alive and beneath their houses and enclosures they built suturings stone-lined passageways that could store food and provide refuge from attack [Applause] [Music] but the attack was more likely to come from neighbor than invader the celts of ireland were invincible and a symbol of that power towered over the western ocean [Music] it was according to legend the great stronghold of the fear bollock and named after their chief ankus rising 61 meters above sea level it covers over four and a half hectares its fortifications rippling out in three concentric semicircles [Music] as well as the strong walls the area before the fort is peppered with sharp stones leaning out of the ground to defend it against attack duningus is a giant stone thumbprint marking the edge of the known world a place of mystery haunted by keening atlantic winds echoing with the spirits of a long gone people the romans did not come but in the 5th century a.d the celts themselves brought a roman as a slave from britain a slave who escaped and returned as the bishop patrick a roman subject preaching another roman subject jesus of nazareth what the roman empire with its pantheon of gods failed to do was done by one man and one god patrick beheaded celtic island converting the leaders that the people might follow monasteries sprang up all over the island christian versions of the celtic hamlet as the celts had done to the irish gods so the christian faith did to theirs converting their standing stones to crosses and their sacred springs to holy wells why did christianity appeal to the irish cults deeply planted in their folklore was the idea of a hero god who could be betrayed killed and rise again it was not a major cultural leap to accept the death and resurrection of jesus and what of the old gods the stories of the old gods passed by word of mouth from one generation to the next would be set down in writing by christian monks in these manuscripts the beliefs that underpinned the celtic world and ordered the everyday lives of the celtic people were converted into heroic tales and myths they are a lasting epitaph for the lost gods [Music]

Channel: Parable - Religious History Documentaries

Views: 580,233

Keywords: Parable - Religious History Documentaries, ancient civilizations worship, ancient mysteries, cultural anthropology, cultural diversity, cultural significance, deity worship, divine beings, divine origins, god worship, godly myths, gods worship, historical cultures, historical practices, maya civilization, mythic deities, past civilizations, religious influence, religious practices, spiritual history, worship practices

Id: S-2cuHTQbME

Length: 146min 39sec (8799 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 16 2022