Choa Kazan bill is an ancient elamite complex of the cuza Stan province of Iran it's one of the few accidents ziggurats outside of Mesopotamia it lies approximately 25 kilometres west of Des faul 45 kilometers south of souza and 230 kilometers north of Abadan by way of avaaz which is 120 kilometers away it measures 105 by 105 meters and was probably 52 meters high it was to be the center of a new town which was to be killing the Kings residence but was never quite finished the town measured about one square kilometer and was surrounded by a four kilometer wall it was built around 1250 BC by the king Josh knop arecia mainly to honor the Great God in Shushan och its original name was door intosh which means town of intosh but it's unlikely that many people besides priests and servants ever lived there the complex is protected by three concentric walls which define the principal areas of the town the inner area is wholly taken up with a great ziggurat dedicated to the main god which was built over an earlier square temple with storage rooms also built by intosh Nareesha the middle area holds 11 temples for lesser gods it's believed that 22 temples were originally planned but the king died before they could be finished and his successors discontinued the building work in the outer area our royal palaces a funerary Palace containing five subterranean royal tombs in the eastern part of the city close to the city wall was a palace which seems to have consisted of three large houses a spacious court and a big gate the palace was therefore of the normal Near Eastern type many rooms surrounding big courts built inside a city against the wall a temple dedicated to the Babylonian God knew sku completed this section of the city as was customary in the Near East the tombs of the Kings were underneath the palace although one skeleton was fun most people had been cremated so far this is the only place in Alam where the dead bodies were burnt ziggurats were built not as temples in the traditional sense in that they weren't meant for priests to reside or to perform rituals in instead a cigarette was viewed as a resting place for the gods by building a ziggurat near a major city the rulers could ensure that the gods stayed near offering their aid in battle and keeping the crops growing the building materials in Chagas anvil are mainly mud bricks and occasionally baked bricks the monuments were well built and beautifully decorated with glazed baked bricks gypsum ornaments of fans and glass thousands of baked bricks bearing inscriptions with element cuneiform characters were all inscribed by hand ornamenting the most important buildings glazed terracotta statues such as bowls and winged Griffins guarded the entrances to the ziggurat near some of the temples kilns were found that probably were used to produce baked bricks and decoration materials although construction in the city abruptly ended after intosh now perishes death the site was not abandoned but continued to be occupied until it was destroyed by the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal in 640 BC some scholars speculate based on the substantial numbers of temples and sanctuaries at Chagas anvil that in toshka parrisha attempted to create a new religious center possibly intended to replace Susa which would unite the gods of both highland and lowland Elam at one point the monument for which Chagas anvil is famous its temple Tower or ziggurat is not an Iranian architectural form either it was developed in southern Mesopotamia the most famous ziggurat was in the city of Babylon itself and was called Ottoman Anki it was dedicated to the god Marduk and its builders King novel polis AR and King Nebuchadnezzar claim that it reached into heaven this boast is repeated in the famous biblical story of the Tower of Babel which is simply the story of a ziggurat and that is exactly the monument and Chagas anvil was a stairway to heaven even by today's standards this is a remarkable piece of engineering the refinery that's been excavated and is the oldest one known monument of this type in the world archeological excavations undertaken between 1951 and 1962 revealed the site again and the ziggurat is the best preserved example in the world in 1979 Chagas anvil became the first iranian site to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List Bojan formerly known as pagan is an ancient city located in the Mandalay region of Myanmar Burma but John is home to the largest and densest concentration of Buddhist temples pagodas stupas and ruins in the world with many dating from the 11th and 12th centuries these shape and construction of each building is highly significant in Buddhism with each component part taking on spiritual meaning from the 9th to the 13th centuries the city was the capital of the kingdom of pagan the first kingdoms to unify the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar this kingdom was the first to unify the area that's now Mayan Mar establishing the Burmese culture and ethnicity as well as Thurid Dave of Buddhism in the region over this period of rule as the city and Kingdom grew in influence and stature over 10,000 temples were built on the plains surrounding the capital next to the ARA Wadi River today seven centuries later approximately 2,200 remained standing some 70 kilometers north of Bangkok iya taya was founded in 1350 becoming the capital of the Siam Kingdom an island seated at the confluence of Three Rivers it quickly became a major trading port and by the sixteenth century had grown to be one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the Orient the court of King Narai 1656 to 1688 develop strong links with the court of louis xiv whose ambassadors compared the size and wealth of the city to paris some estimate that by 1700 I you taya was the largest city in the world with over 1 million inhabitants Dutch and French reports of the 18th century portray a grand city with large palaces and flotillas of trading vessels from all over the world in 1767 however the Burmese invaded and the city was almost destroyed the abandoned city became overgrown by the jungle and restoration work didn't begin until the 1950s the most famous watt or temple in Aiea is wat fra maha tante thoroughly ransacked by the burmese all that remains are numerous stone prongs many define gravities with their drunken angles Bangkok's famous golden buddha probably came from IU taya ten feet long and weighing five and a half tonnes this solid gold statue was at some time covered in stucco and colored glass probably to conceal its value from the invading Burmese when it was taken from Ayodhya is unknown and not until it was being moved from a disused temple in 1955 was the stucco damaged and the gold underneath revealed for all to see other sites to see in Ayodhya include the wat chai wattanaram a replica of Angkor Wat built by King Prasad thing in 1630 it symbolizes Mount Meru the abode of the heavenly gods largely intact it gives a hint of how the Old Capitol must have once looked the main river runs beside this temple complex we look down to one of the old palace compounds I you Tia once boasted three palaces beautiful stairs covered with lanterns lead down to the water's edge it's easy to imagine the river covered with barges small fishing boats and large trading ships the majestic city of Persepolis wants the wealthiest city Under the Sun as noted in the writings of Dai odorous cyclists was a grandiose showcase of the a committed Empire when it was built in the 5th century the Persians ruled over an estimated 44 percent of the entire human population Persepolis which means the city of the Persians was called Parsa and was quite a curious complex it was in a mountainous region that wasn't easily approached and was visited usually only in the spring and summer because roads during the rainy season turned into mud Darius the first who ruled from 522 until 486 BC started the construction in 518 BC at the place chosen by Cyrus the Great the founder of the equity Empire Zaire sees the first finish the construction during his rule 486 to 465 and most of the palace is his work it was located 37 miles to the northeast of Shiraz on the east side of the Mount of Mercy Ramat Mountain which was cut into to provide space for the platform for the 1345 square foot terrace the royal complex that represents visual microcosms of the empire included the empanada or audience hall the throne hall the palaces of darius and zerah sees the gate of all nations the treasury and the harem according to the historian Diodorus Persepolis was enclosed by three walls first seven feet honey the second about fourteen feet and the last one 30 feet tall and towers always heavily manned one of the most characteristic features of this architectural gem is the Persepolis stairway which is built into the western wall and believed to have been originally intended as the main entrance to the terrace the two symmetrical 23 foot wide staircases have 111 shallow steps they are full processional reliefs of dark grey stone rendering the 23 nation representatives of the Empire with their offerings to the king in repetitive scenes even today one can identify the represented nations as Egyptians Indians Tajiks bactria --nz Assyrians and so on find their cultural accessories and physical appearance both the eastern and western entrances to the Grand Hall of the gate of All Nations built by Z receipts are guarded by qu lamassu protective deities with the body of a bull and a human head there's also inscribed in three languages the name of Zaire sees so will be known that he ordered their construction the throne Hall or hundred columns Palace consisted of one large room made of limestone and decorated with reliefs depicting throne scenes and scenes of the king fighting monsters its construction was begun by Zira seized and completed by his sons art to Xerces initially an important reception room it was later used as a storehouse for the Treasury the op inada was even larger than the throne Hall built first by Darius and finished by Zaire C's it was the main audience hall 72 impressive columns topped with carvings of animals supported the roof of the Grand Hall it was an edifice full of gold silver precious stones and ivory as were all other buildings near the site are found three tombs that are carved into the Hussain ku mountain it's believed that dari is the great Xerces the first artaxerxes and darius the second are buried there the facade in the form of a cross has a relief of the king in the ahora Mazdas winged disc chief god of the Zoroastrian religion worshiped by Persians the entrance to the tomb is high from the ground and leads deep into the mountain today only 13 of the 37 columns are still standing since the city went through a devastating history of destruction nevertheless it continues to be the symbol of the strength and glory of the a committed monarchy Alexander the Great known for his daring and sometimes cruel temper gave the order for the city to be burned to ashes in 330 BC there's speculation he did it to revenge Athens which was burned by his air season 480 BC but it wasn't until nine 18:31 the archeological excavations began under the supervision and sponsorship of the Oriental Institute of Chicago in 1979 who nesco listed it on its world heritage list it's a site of previous glory that still provokes amazement and admiration according to archaeologists construction of the Ajanta caves in maharashtra india began about 2200 years ago over hundreds of years of work and more than 30 monuments were laborious ly cut into the rock face of the mountains according to speculation the use of the caves stopped around a thousand ad for unknown reasons letting a thick jungle canopy grow around them hiding them away for many generations no human I saw the caves again until centuries later in 1819 when an Englishman by the name of John Smith was hunting a tiger and he discovered a hidden doorway to one of the temples we know this because he unfortunately left his name on the wall of the temple and a date which can still be seen today but although that first English Discoverer did not go immediately public with his discovery the existence of the caves became known and soon after Indian and European tourists started pouring into the ancient site after much digging and cleaning that as the caves were home to many species of animals for centuries experts have dated the caves from the second century BC to hundred years before the birth of Christ their function seems to be ritualistic used as prayer halls much use of Roman design is evident in the columns and arches of the caves the hard rock face of the caves was supposedly chiseled with rough tools and even bare hands this seems impossible as such there are many conflicting theories as to how it was built it seems that the first hallowed caves were dug during the time of the satavahana Empire which dates back to around 230 BC almost every surface but the floor is covered in paintings literally they've lost much of their former glory of course but efforts are being made to restore them poems are also painted on the walls five 47 of them which tells stories of Buddha's previous lives to create them a chisel was used to make room for plaster on the walls which was spread on the surface before it dried the painter would paint on it soaking it into the plaster so it became part of the surface this method has been proven to survive for over 2,000 years no one knows why the caves were deserted and we may never know the answer to this mystery but they continue to draw many visitors who marvel at the art of the Ancients that came before them Sigiriya is one of the most valuable historical monuments of Sri Lanka referred by locals as the eighth wonder of the world this ancient palace and fortress complex has significant archaeological importance and attracts thousands of tourists every year it's probably the most visited tourist destination of Sri Lanka the palace is in the heart of the island between the towns of dambulla and Saba rain on a massive rocky plateau 370 meters above the sea level Sigiriya rock plateau formed by magma of an extinct volcano is 200 meters higher than the surrounding jungles its view astonishes the visitors with the unique harmony between the nature and human imagination the fortress complex includes remnants of a ruined Palace surrounded by an extensive network of fortifications vast gardens ponds canals alleys and fountains the surrounding territories of sigiriya were inhabited for several thousand years since 3rd century BC the rocky plateau of sigiriya served as a monastery in the second half of the 5th century King Kasyapa decided to construct a royal residence here after his death Sigiriya again became a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century when it was abandoned it was designed in the form of a huge stone lion whose feet have survived up to today but the upper parts of the body were destroyed thanks to this lion the palace is named sigiriya the term sigiriya originates from the term Sahari in other words lie in rock the western wall of sigiriya was almost entirely covered by frescoes created during the reign of Kasyapa 18 frescoes have survived to this day the Magnificent archaeological site of me stone is located inside the valley complex of Quang Nam Province southern Vietnam around 69 kilometers southwest of Da Nang City from the 4th to 15th centuries it was an imperial city during the charm dynasty besides hoi an old town an ancient destination of historical value in Danang Meis own and Kang Nam is also a place of historical and culture oriented tourism me soon became center of spirituality and worship during the reign of the Champa Kingdom exemplifying the height of CIAM architectural achievement the Nissan Sanctuary is a large complex of religious monuments originally consisted of more than 70 structures the vestiges of 25 of which remain today the builders of Nissan were the nobility of the Champa Kingdom who derived their cultural and spiritual influences almost exclusively from India the other four most absorbing element of Meis own besides religious element is its unique Cham style art of architecture which was comprehensively affected by Indian style each historical period has its own identity so that each temple worshiping a genie or a king of a different dynasty has its own architectural style of a different impression all the cham towers were built on a quadrate foundation and each comprises three parts a solid tower base representing the world of human beings the mysterious and sacred tower body representing the world of spirits and the tower top built in the shape of a man offering flowers and fruits or of trees birds animals etc representing things that are close to the spirits and human beings according to many researchers of the ancient cham towers the architectural art of the cham towers at my son-- sanctuary is the convergence of sorted styles including the continuity of the ancient style in the 7th to 8th centuries the high style of the 8th to 9th centuries the dongdong style from the mid 90s own and miso and binh dinh Styles etc among the remnants of many architectural sites excavated in 1898 a 24 meters high tower was found in the theft chow area and coded AI by archaeologists and researchers on me song the tower is a masterpiece of ancient Cham architecture it has two doors one in the east and the other in the west the tower body is high and delicate with a system of paved pillars six sub towers surrounded the tower this two-story tower looks like a lotus flower the tombow the upper layer is made of sandstone and carved with elephant and lion designs in the lower layer the walls are carved with fairies water evils and men riding elephants unfortunately the tower was destroyed by u.s. bombs in 1969 the sanctuary comprises more than 70 architectural works they include temples and towers that connect to each other with complicated red brick designs the main component of the cham architectural design is the tower built to reflect the divinity of the king bricks are the main material for the construction of the cham towers however it is yet been unable to figure out the reasonable explanation for the linking material brick baking method and construction method of the Champa even these days this remains as an attractive secret to contemporary people although there are not many remnants left those that remain display the typical sculpture works of cultural value of the Cham nationality they're awesome vivid proof confirming the history of a national living within the Vietnamese community boasting of a rich cultural tradition Kandee suku is located about 910 meters above sea level at the western slope of Lao Wu mountain in Central Java built around 1437 its style and shape differ completely from other Javanese temples built in the same era but because of lack of written testimony the exact whereabouts are not clear at all because of several Hindu inspired stone reliefs and statues related to fertility and the Lin jom yoni cult is sometimes also titled as the erotic temple candi sukuh makes a wonderful day trip from solo and when already there considered an awful visit candy Satou which is nearby the temple itself which is from the time when Java was still predominantly Hindu has more a pyramid Maya like look than something you would expect in Java the results are very impressing rich in symbolism Hindu and Javanese mythology take your time to look at them you'll see a ganache in a dancing position the elephant-headed Ganesh being venerated as the remover of obstacles several pictures of a Garuda a female womb with figures in it like before birth there are also three big flat stone turtles their heads facing to the west which probably were used as sacrifice and offering platforms in Hindi mythology the tortoise symbolizes the base or support of the world and is also an avatar of Vishnu when the temple was rediscovered in 1815 during the times of Thomas raffles it was in a very bad condition and many of the statues thrown down and most of the figures decapitated this vandalism was probably a result of Java being conquered by the Islam religion during the 16th century ancient archaeological sites can be found all over Asia they're fascinating histories and impressive artifacts open intriguing glimpses to times past and open a window on Asian history steeped in a rich and complex history today the remnants of old religious monuments and abandoned palaces are a reminder of the glory of powerful former empires these palaces capture the imagination and in some cases defy belief recent archaeological excavations on the island of Java in Indonesia have called into question the conventional ten thousand year theory for the rise of humanity the controversial findings of this most recent study push humanity's reign back an additional 15 thousand years finding such as these shed new light on the ultra terrestrial theory the object of archaeological scrutiny is the sacred mountain canoe and Padang as we shall see this sacred mountain may prove to not be a mountain at all the geophysical evidence is unambiguous guru Madan is not a natural hill but a man-made pyramid and the origins of construction here go back long before the end of the last ice age since the work is massive even at the deepest levels and bears witness to the kinds of sophisticated construction skills that were deployed to build the pyramids of Egypt or the largest megalithic sites of Europe I can only conclude that we're looking at the work of a lost civilization and a fairly advanced one guru Padang is a megalithic site located in Korea mukti village in the West Java province of Indonesia 30 miles southwest of the city of Chandra and 55 miles from the capital of Jakarta it's been called the largest megalithic site in all of southeastern Asia and has produced carbon dating results which if confirmed suggests it's extraordinarily old since its first exploration by archaeologists in 1914 the site was thought to be a natural Hill with 2,500 year old megalithic structures on top of it but in 2010 geologist dr. Danny Hillman not to ajaja who earned his doctorate at Caltech recognized this hill as a possible man-made pyramid and began to explore it using penetrating radar seismic tomography resistivity survey and other remote sensing techniques as well as some direct excavations in deep core drilling the results were immediately intriguing producing evidence of deeply buried man-made chambers and yielding carbon dates going back as far as 26,000 years this was the last ice age when our ancestors are supposed according to the Orthodox archaeological model to have been nothing more than primitive hunter-gatherers incapable of large-scale construction and engineering feats was it possible that geologists not to wit jaja was unearthing the proof of a lost advanced civilization of prehistoric antiquity sukhothai historical park covers an area of about 70 square kilometers and contains more than 190 historical ruins inside the city wall and moat wat mahat stands at its epicenter as the spiritual center of the kingdom and the royal palace now collapsed lies to its northwest to the city's immediate north is a small contained area housing wat fra pi lung believed to be the original foundation site of the Sukkot ike kingdom strolling through the grounds of the historical park you'll encounter at least three architectural styles early Sukkot I people shared the same beliefs in the system of the universe with the Khmer temples were laid out according to the Mount Meru concept with the central prong being the tallest and most significant structure only after Theravada Buddhism entered the kingdom did the sale oneis bell-shaped channeis replaced the corn shaped prongs Sukkot I craftsmen also developed their own style known as the lotus bud Chetty about 60 kilometres from Sukkot is torkoal Park is its sister city see such an ally a flourishing center for trade with China at the much of what constitutes modern Thailand can be traced back to the sukkot I kingdom although some history dating back to this ancient period remains pretty much unclear and debatable before the rise of the sukkah Thai Siam was made up of small fiefdoms subject to the ancient Khmer empires rule sukkot eyes founding monarch was able to consolidate power and succeed the khmer as the ruler of newfound siam as well as in the realms of government and religion the short-lived sukkot i kingdom marked a golden period for art and architecture King rom-com hang the great 12:39 to 1317 the second ruling monarch of the Frank dynasty established the sailin east school of Theravada Buddhism as the state religion set up an administrative system and documented thai alphabets from ancient Khmer scripts say learn a style bell-shaped stupas grew to become a common sight at Buddhist temples across the kingdom sukhothai temple craftsmen also developed their own style known as Sukkot eye style the most notable being the lotus bud Shetty's brick / stucco construction technique and buddha images with a signature graceful form after king rom-com hang Sukkot I slowly entered a period of decline beginning in 1378 onwards by the mid 15th century Sukkot I was fully annexed by the IU taya Kingdom the main attraction for visitors to Cambodia is undoubtedly anger and the anger or Wat temple complex Angoor want literally means city of temples and it is the biggest religious structure in the world billed as the eighth wonder of the world it was built in the 12th century and is now one of the most enduring architectural achievements in the world shrouded in legend and mystery this once lost city boasts 1,000 archaeological sites and covers an area of 170 square miles during French colonial rule peasants alluded to the discovery of a palace built by giants but the practical-minded French casually dismissed their stories as simple folklore it was not until the discovery of Angoor by french adventurer henry mahout in 1860 that this lost city revealed its inner beauty to the world for several centuries Angoor controlled the greater part of Southeast Asia inhabiting over 1 million people in its prime even though Cambodia is mostly Buddhist today the ideas of the Hindu religion served as the foundation for the building of Angkor the evidence of this religious influence can be seen today in both these Stone God carvings and the layout of the temples themselves mimicking that of the Hindu universe over 100 temples of Angkor were commissioned over the years by successive kings and are the only buildings that remain on the lost city today Angoor was built by the Angkorian God Kings who ruled the region for more than 500 years from 802 ad to the mid 1300s spanning 81 hectares the advanced complex incorporated more than 60 temples and had five main towers which are now depicted on the Cambodian flag these towers are thought to have presented the five peaks of Mount Meru the home of the Hindu gods and the temples were encircled by moats which represented the ocean surrounding the mountain king Surya Varman ii who reigned from 1113 to 1152 was responsible for the temple of Angkor Wat huge pyramid shaped structure which was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu the temple contains some of the most beautiful examples of Khmer and Hindu art though sadly it has been repeatedly ransacked throughout history and artifacts are still circulating on the illegal international art market by the mid 15th century Angoor had been abandoned phenom penh became the new capital and the site crumbled into obscurity until its discovery in 1860 the cause of Angkor Wat was taken up by the French who invested 40 years of technical expertise in preventing further deterioration of the site however their grand plans were halted first by the Khmer Rouge guerrillas who occupied the site and used it as a munitions dump for the duration of the Civil War and later by the Vietnamese restoration work was resumed in 1986 and these days thousands of pilgrims and tourists flocked to the religious center every year Siamese Buddhist monks still occupied part of Angkor and their presence has been a major factor in the preservation of the site in 1992 Angkor Wat was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music]
