1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:02,167 --> 00:00:03,967 [narrator] Ancient Iraq, 3 00:00:03,967 --> 00:00:07,267 a land of myth and legend, 4 00:00:07,267 --> 00:00:10,267 home to some of the greatest cities of the Bible. 5 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 6 00:00:11,267 --> 00:00:14,067 Well, it's the cradle of civilization. 7 00:00:14,067 --> 00:00:17,100 This is one of the most important areas in the world. 8 00:00:18,267 --> 00:00:20,900 [narrator] Now, after decades of war, 9 00:00:20,967 --> 00:00:24,167 pioneering archaeologists are returning to Iraq. 10 00:00:25,900 --> 00:00:28,867 Our cameras have unprecedented access 11 00:00:28,867 --> 00:00:30,000 as they unearth buried treasures 12 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:31,000 as they unearth buried treasures 13 00:00:31,367 --> 00:00:35,167 and discover the real world of the Old Testament. 14 00:00:35,167 --> 00:00:40,500 Western civilization only kept memories from the Bible. 15 00:00:40,567 --> 00:00:43,867 It's very difficult to pick apart the myths and the legends. 16 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:51,367 [narrator] This time investigators uncover the lost cities of Genesis, 17 00:00:51,367 --> 00:00:56,267 Uruk and Ur, the legendary birthplace of Abraham. 18 00:00:56,267 --> 00:00:58,000 Ur was transcended. 19 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,000 It essentially ruled over many cities. 20 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:00,367 It essentially ruled over many cities. 21 00:01:00,367 --> 00:01:01,000 [narrator] Why did people here go from being simple farmers 22 00:01:03,467 --> 00:01:06,200 to big time city slickers? 23 00:01:06,267 --> 00:01:08,867 And did the collapse of this brave new world 24 00:01:08,867 --> 00:01:12,900 influence one of the greatest biblical stories ever told? 25 00:01:12,967 --> 00:01:15,400 Noah and the great flood. 26 00:01:22,867 --> 00:01:25,800 It's just before dawn in southern Iraq. 27 00:01:27,100 --> 00:01:30,000 A small convoy of vehicles heads out across the desert. 28 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:30,167 A small convoy of vehicles heads out across the desert. 29 00:01:32,067 --> 00:01:35,900 Joining the team is archaeologist Sebastien Rey. 30 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:43,100 He and his colleagues are traveling 200 miles south of Iraq's capital Baghdad, 31 00:01:43,167 --> 00:01:45,367 heading for a set of ancient ruins, 32 00:01:45,367 --> 00:01:48,867 which could unlock the origins of civilization itself. 33 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,067 [Sebastien Rey] Archeology is truly amazing here. 34 00:01:54,067 --> 00:01:57,667 Every morning, I have this exciting of maybe this is the day 35 00:01:57,667 --> 00:02:00,000 where we will find something truly exceptional. 36 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:00,700 where we will find something truly exceptional. 37 00:02:03,100 --> 00:02:05,067 [narrator] The sands of southern Iraq 38 00:02:05,067 --> 00:02:07,100 hold a unique place in human history. 39 00:02:08,667 --> 00:02:12,300 6,000 years ago, a people called the Sumerians 40 00:02:12,367 --> 00:02:15,367 built the world's first cities here. 41 00:02:15,367 --> 00:02:16,567 They vanished, 42 00:02:16,567 --> 00:02:19,100 but for reasons that are still unclear. 43 00:02:19,167 --> 00:02:23,067 Their civilization influenced the stories of the Bible, 44 00:02:23,067 --> 00:02:27,767 written 1,000s of years later by a very different people. 45 00:02:27,767 --> 00:02:30,000 According to Genesis, this is where the world began. 46 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,000 According to Genesis, this is where the world began. 47 00:02:32,167 --> 00:02:36,100 The setting for the Garden of Eden, the great flood, 48 00:02:36,167 --> 00:02:40,767 and where the descendants of Noah built Erech, a mighty city. 49 00:02:44,767 --> 00:02:50,667 Today, biblical scholars identify Erech with Uruk in southern Iraq, 50 00:02:50,667 --> 00:02:54,867 a huge Sumerian metropolis older than the pyramids. 51 00:02:56,500 --> 00:03:00,000 Uruk had temples studded with intricate stone mosaics... 52 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:00,300 Uruk had temples studded with intricate stone mosaics... 53 00:03:01,867 --> 00:03:04,867 ...and developed a maze of streets, 54 00:03:04,867 --> 00:03:06,767 filled with mud brick houses... 55 00:03:08,300 --> 00:03:11,467 ...wildly seen as the world's first true city. 56 00:03:12,900 --> 00:03:18,100 6,000 years ago, this was a revolutionary way of living. 57 00:03:18,167 --> 00:03:22,767 Why were the Sumerians the first people to build cities? 58 00:03:22,767 --> 00:03:26,167 And what was the world of Genesis really like? 59 00:03:29,667 --> 00:03:30,000 The first Westerners to uncover Iraq's lost cities 60 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,000 The first Westerners to uncover Iraq's lost cities 61 00:03:32,867 --> 00:03:35,667 were inspired by the stories of the Bible. 62 00:03:35,667 --> 00:03:39,367 But archeologists have still barely scratched the surface 63 00:03:39,367 --> 00:03:41,200 of what lies buried here. 64 00:03:42,467 --> 00:03:49,600 These rare aerial images show the sheer scale of Uruk's sprawling ruins today. 65 00:03:49,667 --> 00:03:54,067 Sebastien Rey from the British Museum belongs to a new generation, 66 00:03:54,067 --> 00:03:58,467 working alongside Iraqi colleagues and driven by science. 67 00:03:59,567 --> 00:04:00,000 Our cameras have unique access 68 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,000 Our cameras have unique access 69 00:04:01,667 --> 00:04:03,767 to follow their groundbreaking dig 70 00:04:03,767 --> 00:04:06,600 at a neighboring site called Girsu. 71 00:04:06,667 --> 00:04:10,867 It could shed new light on how the first cities like Uruk evolved. 72 00:04:13,300 --> 00:04:17,167 [Rey] Girsu in the third millennium BC was a very, very big city. 73 00:04:17,167 --> 00:04:19,267 We call it a mega city. 74 00:04:19,267 --> 00:04:24,367 And it was home to more than 20,000 people. 75 00:04:24,367 --> 00:04:29,367 [narrator] The Sumerians, like the ancient Egyptians, built on a massive scale. 76 00:04:29,367 --> 00:04:30,000 The team is uncovering a very unusual structure. 77 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,000 The team is uncovering a very unusual structure. 78 00:04:32,667 --> 00:04:34,700 It's colossal 79 00:04:34,767 --> 00:04:38,467 and unlike anything every found in ancient Iraq. 80 00:04:38,467 --> 00:04:41,600 [Rey] This construction is a very unusual plan, 81 00:04:41,667 --> 00:04:43,867 almost in the shape of a big X. 82 00:04:48,900 --> 00:04:53,100 [narrator] Sebastien works with archaeologist Ebru Torun. 83 00:04:53,167 --> 00:04:56,167 She investigates the strange design. 84 00:04:59,100 --> 00:05:00,000 [Ebru Torun] This is a very interesting structure 85 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,000 [Ebru Torun] This is a very interesting structure 86 00:05:01,367 --> 00:05:05,667 built actually like two symmetrically arranged convex walls. 87 00:05:07,067 --> 00:05:10,200 We have studied the structure almost brick by brick, 88 00:05:10,267 --> 00:05:13,267 uh, and we know that it was made of fire bricks. 89 00:05:14,767 --> 00:05:17,167 It must have been a very useful structure 90 00:05:17,167 --> 00:05:20,500 because it was kept maintained for many, many centuries. 91 00:05:22,067 --> 00:05:25,567 [narrator] Archeologists once thought this structure could be a tomb 92 00:05:25,567 --> 00:05:26,867 or even a temple. 93 00:05:28,367 --> 00:05:30,000 But it stands inside an ancient canal. 94 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:31,000 But it stands inside an ancient canal. 95 00:05:33,300 --> 00:05:37,367 These are actually the foundations of a bridge... 96 00:05:37,367 --> 00:05:41,367 ...built from 1,000s of mud bricks with bitumen as mortar. 97 00:05:41,367 --> 00:05:44,267 This structure was once 26 feet high 98 00:05:44,267 --> 00:05:47,067 and up to 130 feet wide. 99 00:05:47,067 --> 00:05:50,067 It's a small bridge by modern standards, 100 00:05:50,067 --> 00:05:52,800 but when it was built 4,000 years ago, 101 00:05:52,867 --> 00:05:55,267 it was revolutionary. 102 00:05:55,267 --> 00:05:58,900 It's also an ancient water management system. 103 00:05:58,967 --> 00:06:00,000 By squeezing the current threw a narrow channel, 104 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,000 By squeezing the current threw a narrow channel, 105 00:06:01,967 --> 00:06:03,967 the water picked up speed 106 00:06:03,967 --> 00:06:07,467 without raising the level downstream, 107 00:06:07,467 --> 00:06:11,067 a testament to Sumerian ingenuity. 108 00:06:11,067 --> 00:06:15,267 The bridge is the oldest ever found in the world. 109 00:06:15,267 --> 00:06:19,200 Could it reveal why the Sumerians invented cities? 110 00:06:23,900 --> 00:06:28,800 [Torun] This structure is not only a very impressive archeological ruin, 111 00:06:28,867 --> 00:06:30,000 it also tells us a lot about how 112 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:31,000 it also tells us a lot about how 113 00:06:32,167 --> 00:06:38,367 people, Sumerians, actually found solutions to live in this climate. 114 00:06:38,367 --> 00:06:39,967 It's a unique structure. 115 00:06:39,967 --> 00:06:43,900 [narrator] The bridge is the first hint that this arid land 116 00:06:43,967 --> 00:06:46,367 looked very different in biblical times. 117 00:06:47,567 --> 00:06:51,567 Sebastien works with geoarchaeologist Jaafar Jotheri 118 00:06:51,567 --> 00:06:54,500 to reconstruct Girsu's original environment. 119 00:06:57,667 --> 00:07:00,000 [narrator] Together they fly a drone to look for more canals 120 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:00,900 [narrator] Together they fly a drone to look for more canals 121 00:07:00,967 --> 00:07:01,000 like the one with the bridge. 122 00:07:05,767 --> 00:07:08,600 Work that would take months on the ground 123 00:07:08,667 --> 00:07:10,267 takes minutes in the air. 124 00:07:12,167 --> 00:07:15,067 You would think the drone is really important. 125 00:07:15,067 --> 00:07:19,767 We used to use tradition way of survey and excavation. 126 00:07:19,767 --> 00:07:22,267 But now, we are allowed to discover lots of things. 127 00:07:22,267 --> 00:07:25,300 If you have high technology, and you can plan well 128 00:07:25,367 --> 00:07:28,067 where to excavate or where to dig. 129 00:07:31,900 --> 00:07:36,067 [narrator] From above, the desert looks flat and featureless, 130 00:07:36,067 --> 00:07:39,300 but it hides remarkable secrets. 131 00:07:39,367 --> 00:07:44,867 [Rey] So this image is made up of more than a 100 drone photos. 132 00:07:44,867 --> 00:07:50,067 The main large straight lines you can see are ancient canals. 133 00:07:50,067 --> 00:07:55,767 [narrator] The drone's survey reveals that water surrounded Girsu in ancient times. 134 00:07:55,767 --> 00:08:00,000 This desert city was the Venice of its day. 135 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:00,067 This desert city was the Venice of its day. 136 00:08:00,067 --> 00:08:01,000 [Rey] We always had this idea 137 00:08:02,100 --> 00:08:06,267 that a Mesopotamian city, any city like Uruk, like Babylon, 138 00:08:06,267 --> 00:08:10,100 is strongly connected to one river course. 139 00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:12,800 But here in the case of Girsu... 140 00:08:12,867 --> 00:08:16,967 ...there are numbers of canals that run across through the site. 141 00:08:18,867 --> 00:08:22,400 [narrator] Conventional wisdom says that the construction of these canals 142 00:08:22,467 --> 00:08:25,400 led directly to the birth of the first cities. 143 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:31,000 An extraordinary vase discovered at Uruk... 144 00:08:35,067 --> 00:08:39,567 ...reveals how they allowed the Sumerians to turn the desert into fields. 145 00:08:41,100 --> 00:08:45,367 The vase depicts farmers who carry baskets overflowing with crops. 146 00:08:47,267 --> 00:08:50,100 A herd of goats and sheep graze freely. 147 00:08:50,167 --> 00:08:54,500 It's a fertile landscape that some believe might even have inspired 148 00:08:54,567 --> 00:08:58,067 the story of the Garden of Eden in the Bible. 149 00:08:58,067 --> 00:09:00,000 Genesis describes how a stream running from Eden flowed 150 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:01,000 Genesis describes how a stream running from Eden flowed 151 00:09:01,567 --> 00:09:05,967 into Iraq's life-giving rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. 152 00:09:07,467 --> 00:09:10,300 Some scholars believe the name Eden itself 153 00:09:10,367 --> 00:09:14,700 may come from the Sumerian word for a plain or open country. 154 00:09:16,467 --> 00:09:18,800 But no one knows for sure if this theory 155 00:09:18,867 --> 00:09:21,800 about the rise of the first cities is correct 156 00:09:21,867 --> 00:09:24,867 because few have ever tried to date these canals... 157 00:09:26,267 --> 00:09:28,367 ...until now. 158 00:09:28,367 --> 00:09:30,000 [Rey] Our knowledge of ancient Mesopotamia 159 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:30,967 [Rey] Our knowledge of ancient Mesopotamia 160 00:09:30,967 --> 00:09:31,000 is very limited, and it dates back to 161 00:09:33,567 --> 00:09:35,100 50, 60, 70 years. 162 00:09:37,900 --> 00:09:41,200 [narrator] Sebastien's team uses an ingenious technique 163 00:09:41,267 --> 00:09:45,467 to find out exactly how old the canals are 164 00:09:45,467 --> 00:09:50,067 and if they were dug at the same time as the city was built. 165 00:09:50,067 --> 00:09:55,167 The one way of dating an ancient canal is to collect shells 166 00:09:55,167 --> 00:09:57,700 from the bottom of those canals. 167 00:09:57,767 --> 00:10:00,000 We can radiocarbon date the shells, 168 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:00,767 We can radiocarbon date the shells, 169 00:10:00,767 --> 00:10:01,000 and this would date the canal itself. 170 00:10:03,867 --> 00:10:07,367 [narrator] The team analyzes more than 20 shells. 171 00:10:07,367 --> 00:10:10,667 The results reveal a staggering surprise. 172 00:10:12,300 --> 00:10:16,567 [Rey] These are, um, the first results we have from the lab. 173 00:10:16,567 --> 00:10:19,800 The range of dates for the earliest largescale canal... 174 00:10:20,900 --> 00:10:24,467 ...is roughly from 6,000 BCE 175 00:10:24,467 --> 00:10:27,967 to 4,500 BCE. 176 00:10:27,967 --> 00:10:30,000 [narrator] The canals appear to predate any Sumerian city 177 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,000 [narrator] The canals appear to predate any Sumerian city 178 00:10:31,867 --> 00:10:34,000 by at least 1,000 years. 179 00:10:36,767 --> 00:10:39,800 It means that settled farming cannot be the spark 180 00:10:39,867 --> 00:10:42,167 that led to places like Uruk. 181 00:10:42,167 --> 00:10:48,000 So if we assume that the model that everyone agrees on today 182 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,267 that Uruk, the famous city is the first city, 183 00:10:51,267 --> 00:10:57,000 these canals are 1,000 to 2,000 years earlier 184 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,067 than this very important date. 185 00:11:00,867 --> 00:11:01,000 This would significantly change almost everything we know 186 00:11:04,367 --> 00:11:07,800 about the rise of the city in Mesopotamia. 187 00:11:10,167 --> 00:11:11,867 [narrator] Everything that we thought we knew 188 00:11:11,867 --> 00:11:14,867 about the dawn of civilization could be wrong. 189 00:11:19,700 --> 00:11:23,500 Something else must have motivated people here to build cities. 190 00:11:24,667 --> 00:11:27,867 Why did people leave this real life Garden of Eden 191 00:11:27,867 --> 00:11:30,000 for life in a big metropolis? 192 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:31,000 for life in a big metropolis? 193 00:11:31,067 --> 00:11:34,867 A clue could lie at the center of Uruk with a vast temple. 194 00:11:35,667 --> 00:11:37,767 The world's first pyramid. 195 00:11:44,967 --> 00:11:48,400 [narrator] The Bible says that after the Great Flood, 196 00:11:48,467 --> 00:11:51,467 the descendants of Noah spread out across the Earth. 197 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:57,067 One man, a mighty hunter called Nimrod, 198 00:11:57,067 --> 00:12:02,867 supposedly founded the world's first cities in the land of Shinar. 199 00:12:02,867 --> 00:12:08,067 Archeology confirms that Iraq is indeed where cities began. 200 00:12:08,067 --> 00:12:11,701 But why did humans decide to build them here in the first place? 201 00:12:11,701 --> 00:12:11,767 But why did humans decide to build them here in the first place? 202 00:12:14,767 --> 00:12:17,067 A clue could lie at the center of Uruk. 203 00:12:18,467 --> 00:12:22,867 Here archaeologists have discovered the world's first pyramid. 204 00:12:22,867 --> 00:12:26,400 A raised platform called a ziggurat. 205 00:12:26,467 --> 00:12:30,200 On top is a temple dedicated to the Sumerian sky god. 206 00:12:32,067 --> 00:12:35,800 It's gleaming, whitewashed walls make it stand out from afar. 207 00:12:38,467 --> 00:12:41,701 Next to it lies a temple precinct, the Eanna. 208 00:12:41,701 --> 00:12:42,000 Next to it lies a temple precinct, the Eanna. 209 00:12:43,267 --> 00:12:47,367 Ancient builders studded its walls with thousands of stone cones 210 00:12:47,367 --> 00:12:50,467 creating a mosaic of intricate geometric patterns. 211 00:12:51,967 --> 00:12:57,067 5,000 years ago, there was no other place like this on Earth. 212 00:12:57,067 --> 00:13:00,767 So could religion explain the birth of the first cities? 213 00:13:07,467 --> 00:13:11,701 Sebastien Rey investigates a building buried at the nearby city of Girsu. 214 00:13:11,701 --> 00:13:12,000 Sebastien Rey investigates a building buried at the nearby city of Girsu. 215 00:13:14,100 --> 00:13:19,100 Here Iraqi excavators unearth terracotta cones embedded in the walls 216 00:13:19,167 --> 00:13:21,567 similar to those at Uruk's temple. 217 00:13:25,067 --> 00:13:27,767 [Sebastien Rey] I'm holding in my hands one of the most iconic objects 218 00:13:27,767 --> 00:13:30,100 of the site of Girsu Tello. 219 00:13:30,100 --> 00:13:32,067 This is a temple cone. 220 00:13:32,067 --> 00:13:34,167 But rather, we should really call it a temple nail. 221 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:36,600 It was a symbolic object. 222 00:13:37,900 --> 00:13:41,567 There's an inscription incised on this object. 223 00:13:41,567 --> 00:13:41,701 The text always starts with the name of Ningirsu. 224 00:13:41,701 --> 00:13:42,000 The text always starts with the name of Ningirsu. 225 00:13:45,467 --> 00:13:48,667 [narrator] Each Sumerian city had its own deity. 226 00:13:49,867 --> 00:13:54,067 Girsu's patron god was the thunder god, Ningirsu. 227 00:13:55,300 --> 00:13:59,367 Hero of epic tales and slayer of the monster, Anzu. 228 00:13:59,367 --> 00:14:00,867 [bestial roar] 229 00:14:00,867 --> 00:14:05,400 The Sumerians believed that each city had its own deity. 230 00:14:05,467 --> 00:14:10,067 The cone reveals that this building is the temple of Ningirsu, 231 00:14:10,067 --> 00:14:11,701 one of the most sacred sites in ancient Iraq. 232 00:14:11,701 --> 00:14:12,000 one of the most sacred sites in ancient Iraq. 233 00:14:14,267 --> 00:14:17,067 [Rey] When we found the cones inserted in the walls, 234 00:14:17,067 --> 00:14:19,467 it was an exceptional moment. 235 00:14:19,467 --> 00:14:22,800 We knew for a fact that we had indeed discovered 236 00:14:22,867 --> 00:14:26,267 this long-forgotten temple of Ningirsu. 237 00:14:29,367 --> 00:14:32,467 [narrator] Legend says that Ningirsu himself ordered 238 00:14:32,467 --> 00:14:34,867 the construction of this building 239 00:14:34,867 --> 00:14:37,500 by appearing to the city's king in a dream. 240 00:14:41,167 --> 00:14:41,701 A headless statue discovered in the building depicts 241 00:14:41,701 --> 00:14:42,000 A headless statue discovered in the building depicts 242 00:14:44,167 --> 00:14:48,167 the king as an architect holding a floor plan. 243 00:14:48,167 --> 00:14:51,767 At first, its geometry baffled archaeologists. 244 00:14:51,767 --> 00:14:55,867 But Sebastien managed to decode the measurements inscribed on it. 245 00:14:55,867 --> 00:15:01,100 Incredibly, the dimensions matched the building in this trench perfectly. 246 00:15:03,267 --> 00:15:06,867 This floor plan is supposed to be a divine blueprint. 247 00:15:11,367 --> 00:15:11,701 Sebastien thinks that sacred shrines like this evolved into the first cities. 248 00:15:11,701 --> 00:15:12,000 Sebastien thinks that sacred shrines like this evolved into the first cities. 249 00:15:17,367 --> 00:15:21,367 Girsu's temple was built just as the city started to get going. 250 00:15:23,167 --> 00:15:26,100 [Rey] So a temple in ancient Mesopotamia was like a magnet. 251 00:15:26,100 --> 00:15:30,100 It attracted people worshipping the gods. 252 00:15:30,167 --> 00:15:34,867 And the whole city gravitated around this important structure. 253 00:15:36,667 --> 00:15:38,367 [narrator] Religion helped to give rise 254 00:15:38,367 --> 00:15:41,667 to the civilization that would shape the Bible. 255 00:15:41,667 --> 00:15:41,701 Gods lay at the heart of the day-to-day Sumerian world. 256 00:15:41,701 --> 00:15:42,000 Gods lay at the heart of the day-to-day Sumerian world. 257 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,967 But many early cultures had shrines. 258 00:15:49,967 --> 00:15:53,267 How did the Sumerians turn theirs into cities? 259 00:15:54,367 --> 00:15:57,267 A clue lies with a skill we take for granted. 260 00:15:59,767 --> 00:16:01,500 Writing. 261 00:16:02,767 --> 00:16:06,567 Phil Jones investigates how Sumerian priests were the first people 262 00:16:06,567 --> 00:16:10,067 to harness the true power of this radical new idea. 263 00:16:11,767 --> 00:16:12,000 Writing is probably one of the three or four most crucial inventions 264 00:16:16,467 --> 00:16:18,200 in the whole of human history. 265 00:16:19,267 --> 00:16:22,300 It is a complete game changer. 266 00:16:22,367 --> 00:16:26,667 [narrator] The Sumerians developed a system of writing called cuneiform. 267 00:16:26,667 --> 00:16:30,100 A series of wedge-shaped symbols made on wet clay. 268 00:16:31,667 --> 00:16:34,067 Some archaeologists think writing was invented 269 00:16:34,067 --> 00:16:36,700 in the temple as a method of book keeping. 270 00:16:36,767 --> 00:16:41,400 This is a cuneiform tablet just over 4,000 years old. 271 00:16:41,467 --> 00:16:41,701 So this is basically a receipt 272 00:16:41,701 --> 00:16:42,000 So this is basically a receipt 273 00:16:43,467 --> 00:16:47,100 for various uh, officials receiving grain. 274 00:16:47,167 --> 00:16:50,100 First line ends with the name of a person. 275 00:16:50,167 --> 00:16:53,400 When its finished giving the list of people receiving the grain, 276 00:16:53,467 --> 00:16:57,400 we have a total of how much grain has been involved. 277 00:16:57,467 --> 00:16:59,600 [narrator] This carving from Uruk reveals 278 00:16:59,667 --> 00:17:03,267 how temples had to administer an extraordinary amount of produce. 279 00:17:05,767 --> 00:17:10,467 Citizens carry jars of fruit, grain and fish to the temple. 280 00:17:10,467 --> 00:17:11,701 All offerings for the goddess Inanna. 281 00:17:11,701 --> 00:17:12,000 All offerings for the goddess Inanna. 282 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,467 But priests would also redistribute some of this food 283 00:17:17,467 --> 00:17:20,167 back among the people living in the city. 284 00:17:20,167 --> 00:17:23,200 The Sumerians were the world's first bureaucrats. 285 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,867 [Phil Jones] Writing allows you to keep track of the raw materials 286 00:17:28,867 --> 00:17:30,500 moving through the system. 287 00:17:30,567 --> 00:17:33,867 The temple itself is partly a religious institution, 288 00:17:33,867 --> 00:17:37,067 but it's also essentially a real estate corporation. 289 00:17:38,667 --> 00:17:41,701 [narrator] Sebastien believes that the temple ran these fledgling cities. 290 00:17:41,701 --> 00:17:42,000 [narrator] Sebastien believes that the temple ran these fledgling cities. 291 00:17:43,267 --> 00:17:46,767 It was the engine which powered the growth of civic life. 292 00:17:48,167 --> 00:17:50,567 [Rey] Everything is linked to the temple. 293 00:17:50,567 --> 00:17:54,867 So in Uruk for example, most of the very first tablets that we have 294 00:17:54,867 --> 00:17:57,767 are linked to the temple of Inanna. 295 00:17:57,767 --> 00:18:00,767 So there can be no doubt that in Mesopotamia 296 00:18:00,767 --> 00:18:04,267 the birth of the city and the invention of writing 297 00:18:04,267 --> 00:18:06,800 is linked to development of the temple. 298 00:18:08,500 --> 00:18:11,701 [narrator] Sumer was a land of incredible innovations. 299 00:18:11,701 --> 00:18:12,000 [narrator] Sumer was a land of incredible innovations. 300 00:18:12,367 --> 00:18:16,667 Is this why the later Biblical writers believe the world began here? 301 00:18:18,267 --> 00:18:22,867 Writing also allowed humans to record stories for the very first time. 302 00:18:24,100 --> 00:18:28,700 But the Sumerians were devoted to one story in particular. 303 00:18:28,767 --> 00:18:31,067 The myth of a Great Flood. 304 00:18:31,967 --> 00:18:33,567 Where does it come from? 305 00:18:33,567 --> 00:18:37,967 And why is it so similar to the tale of Noah's Ark in the Bible? 306 00:18:42,767 --> 00:18:44,300 [narrator] Thousands of years ago, 307 00:18:44,367 --> 00:18:49,067 the Sumerians believed a great flood destroyed the world. 308 00:18:49,067 --> 00:18:54,300 Legend says the gods grew angry with humanity for being too noisy. 309 00:18:54,367 --> 00:18:57,667 So they sent a great deluge to wipe them out. 310 00:18:58,567 --> 00:19:00,867 But they spared one man 311 00:19:00,867 --> 00:19:05,067 who they told to build a boat and rescue all life. 312 00:19:05,067 --> 00:19:09,467 Why is this Sumerian tale so similar to the story of Noah's Ark? 313 00:19:10,567 --> 00:19:11,487 Could a real event connect them both? 314 00:19:11,487 --> 00:19:12,000 Could a real event connect them both? 315 00:19:13,767 --> 00:19:18,767 Archaeologists have found many versions of this story. 316 00:19:18,767 --> 00:19:25,067 The most famous is found in the tale of a king of Uruk called Gilgamesh. 317 00:19:25,067 --> 00:19:29,867 The discovery of his story in the 19th century astounded a Western world 318 00:19:29,867 --> 00:19:31,600 brought up on the tale of Noah. 319 00:19:35,267 --> 00:19:39,667 It appeared to confirm that the Bible conveyed historical truth. 320 00:19:41,500 --> 00:19:42,000 Gilgamesh was an epic hero, but he may be based 321 00:19:45,367 --> 00:19:50,100 on a real king who lived nearly 5,000 years ago. 322 00:19:50,100 --> 00:19:53,500 So if he did exist, what was the world he came from, 323 00:19:53,567 --> 00:19:56,367 the world of the flood? 324 00:19:57,767 --> 00:20:01,000 The rise of these early rulers is shrouded in mystery. 325 00:20:02,467 --> 00:20:05,000 Barbara Helwing looks for clues here 326 00:20:05,067 --> 00:20:07,567 at the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin. 327 00:20:07,567 --> 00:20:10,000 The big change of the fourth millennium 328 00:20:10,067 --> 00:20:11,487 is that we see a new type of leadership emerging. 329 00:20:11,487 --> 00:20:12,000 is that we see a new type of leadership emerging. 330 00:20:13,867 --> 00:20:18,000 There is a figure responsible for forming the interface 331 00:20:18,067 --> 00:20:20,900 between the humans and the deities. 332 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:27,900 [narrator] This small clay impression depicts one of these new rulers. 333 00:20:27,967 --> 00:20:30,700 He stands on a boat next to a model of Uruk's temple... 334 00:20:32,367 --> 00:20:35,700 ...a sign of his sacred responsibilities. 335 00:20:35,767 --> 00:20:40,467 But as cities grew bigger, they needed leaders who could combine many roles. 336 00:20:41,867 --> 00:20:42,000 [Barbara Helwing] We also see him in scenes of violence. 337 00:20:45,167 --> 00:20:49,367 This personality takes charge of organizing these things. 338 00:20:49,367 --> 00:20:53,800 [narrator] This was the world that Gilgamesh would have come from if he existed... 339 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,000 ...one with a dark side. 340 00:20:59,067 --> 00:21:04,100 [Helwing] Constructing such a public building requires a huge work force, 341 00:21:04,167 --> 00:21:05,567 and we know from the early texts 342 00:21:05,567 --> 00:21:09,100 that there are people who are treated as slaves, 343 00:21:09,100 --> 00:21:11,487 and people who are treated as laborers. 344 00:21:11,487 --> 00:21:11,600 and people who are treated as laborers. 345 00:21:11,667 --> 00:21:12,000 We haven't seen an institutionalized inequality in the same way, 346 00:21:17,100 --> 00:21:20,567 and it fascinates me. 347 00:21:20,567 --> 00:21:23,900 I would like to understand how people ever agreed to do this. 348 00:21:26,100 --> 00:21:30,300 [narrator] A curious ancient text called the Sumerian King List 349 00:21:30,367 --> 00:21:33,300 claims that Gilgamesh was one of these early rulers. 350 00:21:35,867 --> 00:21:41,487 He appears as one of the kings who reigned after an event known as the Flood. 351 00:21:41,487 --> 00:21:41,767 He appears as one of the kings who reigned after an event known as the Flood. 352 00:21:41,767 --> 00:21:42,000 At first, it appears to confirm the Sumerian myth... 353 00:21:45,967 --> 00:21:47,100 ...but there's a problem. 354 00:21:48,267 --> 00:21:50,667 Historians think that originally, 355 00:21:50,667 --> 00:21:53,867 the stories of Gilgamesh and the Flood were separate. 356 00:21:56,500 --> 00:21:58,867 They were only combined much later. 357 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,867 But Assyriologist, Stephanie Dalley 358 00:22:03,867 --> 00:22:06,867 thinks that the idea of a global deluge 359 00:22:06,867 --> 00:22:10,667 could have its origins in southern Iraq's unique geography. 360 00:22:12,067 --> 00:22:15,367 You need a flood to give people the idea of it, 361 00:22:15,367 --> 00:22:18,067 and that's what you do get in Mesopotamia. 362 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,667 [narrator] In ancient times, the Sumerian cities 363 00:22:22,667 --> 00:22:25,267 lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers 364 00:22:25,267 --> 00:22:27,300 and were much closer to the sea. 365 00:22:29,667 --> 00:22:32,967 Under certain conditions, a flood could submerge 366 00:22:32,967 --> 00:22:35,200 everything as far as the eye could see. 367 00:22:37,100 --> 00:22:39,267 You wouldn't get that in Palestine, 368 00:22:39,267 --> 00:22:41,487 you wouldn't get that in most of Syria, 369 00:22:41,487 --> 00:22:42,000 you wouldn't get that in most of Syria, 370 00:22:42,067 --> 00:22:44,467 but you do get it in Mesopotamia 371 00:22:44,467 --> 00:22:48,200 because of the two great rivers flooding over, 372 00:22:48,267 --> 00:22:51,667 one into the other, and covering the whole of the land. 373 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,967 [narrator] Intriguingly, archeologists have found 374 00:22:55,967 --> 00:22:59,100 evidence of flooding at several Sumerian cities. 375 00:23:00,767 --> 00:23:02,967 They all date from different times. 376 00:23:03,867 --> 00:23:06,467 Flooding was an ever-present hazard. 377 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,487 But the story of the Flood also reflects an attempt by the Sumerians 378 00:23:11,487 --> 00:23:12,000 But the story of the Flood also reflects an attempt by the Sumerians 379 00:23:12,567 --> 00:23:15,067 to reconstruct their distant past... 380 00:23:16,267 --> 00:23:19,067 ...just like the Book of Genesis. 381 00:23:19,067 --> 00:23:22,767 The Flood was the equivalent of a Sumerian year zero. 382 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,800 [Stephanie Dalley] When you look at the Sumerian King List, 383 00:23:26,867 --> 00:23:32,067 you do see that it's an absolute defining point in history. 384 00:23:32,067 --> 00:23:35,967 Before which, people had legendarily long lives, 385 00:23:35,967 --> 00:23:38,100 or they had perhaps 386 00:23:38,100 --> 00:23:41,487 the names of animals or constellations. 387 00:23:41,487 --> 00:23:42,000 the names of animals or constellations. 388 00:23:47,667 --> 00:23:51,400 [narrator] It's impossible to say if a shared memory of a flood 389 00:23:51,467 --> 00:23:55,400 filtered down to the early Israelites as well, 390 00:23:55,467 --> 00:23:58,767 but many historians believe that the Biblical authors 391 00:23:58,767 --> 00:24:04,567 must have borrowed key details from the Sumerian tales for their story of Noah's Ark. 392 00:24:07,467 --> 00:24:09,900 But how did this happen? 393 00:24:09,967 --> 00:24:11,487 The Flood story is far from the only chapter in Genesis 394 00:24:11,487 --> 00:24:12,000 The Flood story is far from the only chapter in Genesis 395 00:24:13,467 --> 00:24:15,900 with a mysterious Sumerian connection. 396 00:24:17,367 --> 00:24:19,667 Why did the Biblical writers also believe 397 00:24:19,667 --> 00:24:23,467 that their ancestor, Abraham, came from this place, 398 00:24:24,167 --> 00:24:26,767 the legendary city of Ur? 399 00:24:30,767 --> 00:24:36,367 [narrator] 4,300 years ago, disaster struck the Biblical city of Uruk. 400 00:24:37,867 --> 00:24:42,867 A new city in the north, Akkad, conquered all of the Sumerian people 401 00:24:42,867 --> 00:24:46,067 and created the world's first empire. 402 00:24:46,067 --> 00:24:50,467 The city of Akkad itself has never been identified, 403 00:24:50,467 --> 00:24:54,100 but the Bible alludes to its world-shattering power. 404 00:24:54,100 --> 00:24:58,133 According to Genesis, Nimrod, the founder of Uruk, also established Akkad. 405 00:24:58,133 --> 00:24:59,000 According to Genesis, Nimrod, the founder of Uruk, also established Akkad. 406 00:25:01,567 --> 00:25:04,167 Some believe his name might refer to an Akkadian king... 407 00:25:05,567 --> 00:25:06,867 ...called Naram-Sin. 408 00:25:09,867 --> 00:25:12,567 Eventually, the Sumerians fought back 409 00:25:12,567 --> 00:25:14,767 under the leadership of another city, 410 00:25:14,767 --> 00:25:17,100 one of the most famous in the Bible... 411 00:25:18,367 --> 00:25:21,667 ...Ur, the legendary birthplace of Abraham. 412 00:25:24,267 --> 00:25:28,133 Excavations reveal that 4,100 years ago, Ur was a mighty metropolis. 413 00:25:28,133 --> 00:25:29,000 Excavations reveal that 4,100 years ago, Ur was a mighty metropolis. 414 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:39,567 At its center rose a towering ziggurat, dedicated to the moon god, Nanna... 415 00:25:41,267 --> 00:25:44,067 ...surrounded by a sprawling religious district. 416 00:25:45,667 --> 00:25:48,100 Beyond it lay a maze of streets, 417 00:25:48,100 --> 00:25:51,900 home to as many as 65,000 people, 418 00:25:51,967 --> 00:25:55,567 all surrounded by fertile farmland. 419 00:25:55,567 --> 00:25:58,133 So who lived here, and why does the Bible say that Abraham was among them? 420 00:25:58,133 --> 00:25:59,000 So who lived here, and why does the Bible say that Abraham was among them? 421 00:26:05,267 --> 00:26:09,800 Archaeologist, William B. Hafford from Penn Museum 422 00:26:09,867 --> 00:26:12,867 investigates Ur during its golden age. 423 00:26:12,867 --> 00:26:16,467 During the Ur Three dynasty, Ur was transcendent. 424 00:26:16,467 --> 00:26:18,267 It essentially ruled over many cities. 425 00:26:18,267 --> 00:26:22,867 [narrator] The city's most famous ruler was a king called Ur-Nammu. 426 00:26:22,867 --> 00:26:27,067 He instigated a massive building program. 427 00:26:27,067 --> 00:26:28,133 Many of the structures we see today date from his reign. 428 00:26:28,133 --> 00:26:29,000 Many of the structures we see today date from his reign. 429 00:26:32,167 --> 00:26:34,467 [William Hafford] These are mud bricks, the fundamental building block 430 00:26:34,467 --> 00:26:36,567 of all southern Mesopotamian cities. 431 00:26:36,567 --> 00:26:43,567 The stamp here tells us that this brick was made for Ur-Nammu, the king, 432 00:26:43,567 --> 00:26:48,267 and he was building the temple of Nanna, the moon god, 433 00:26:48,267 --> 00:26:51,667 and it also mentions that he built the city wall of Ur. 434 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,133 [narrator] Ur's colossal buildings reveal the power of Ur-Nammu... 435 00:26:58,133 --> 00:26:58,500 [narrator] Ur's colossal buildings reveal the power of Ur-Nammu... 436 00:27:01,100 --> 00:27:03,567 ...but they also required vast resources. 437 00:27:04,567 --> 00:27:07,467 As the cities of Sumer grew larger, 438 00:27:07,467 --> 00:27:13,067 competition between them became more intense, leading to war. 439 00:27:15,767 --> 00:27:19,367 An ancient work of art discovered at Ur 440 00:27:19,367 --> 00:27:22,467 shows the Sumerian war machine at work. 441 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,133 Chariots ride into battle and crush foes in their path. 442 00:27:28,133 --> 00:27:29,000 Chariots ride into battle and crush foes in their path. 443 00:27:29,867 --> 00:27:34,100 There's infantry carrying spears, rushing into the fray, 444 00:27:34,167 --> 00:27:37,300 smiting enemies and taking prisoners. 445 00:27:37,367 --> 00:27:40,567 Above all stands the king of Ur, 446 00:27:40,567 --> 00:27:43,100 shown taller than everyone else, 447 00:27:43,100 --> 00:27:45,967 being presented with injured prisoners. 448 00:27:49,667 --> 00:27:54,400 But William believes that Ur owed its success to more than just military power. 449 00:27:56,167 --> 00:27:58,133 A clue lies in the hundreds of intriguing objects discovered in the city. 450 00:27:58,133 --> 00:27:59,000 A clue lies in the hundreds of intriguing objects discovered in the city. 451 00:28:02,867 --> 00:28:06,600 Ur had few raw materials... 452 00:28:06,667 --> 00:28:11,367 ...but its rich farmland meant it had plenty of grain and wool for sale. 453 00:28:13,667 --> 00:28:15,367 [Hafford] These are spindle whorls. 454 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:21,600 Well, spindle whorls are used to make thread and/or yarn. 455 00:28:21,667 --> 00:28:24,800 A major export from Mesopotamia was cloth. 456 00:28:24,867 --> 00:28:28,133 They had a lot of sheep, they could spin a lot of wool, and they could make textiles. 457 00:28:28,133 --> 00:28:28,600 They had a lot of sheep, they could spin a lot of wool, and they could make textiles. 458 00:28:30,567 --> 00:28:36,067 [narrator] This astonishing copper bowl reveals the quality of Ur's textiles. 459 00:28:36,067 --> 00:28:40,200 Corrosion has preserved details of the cloth it was wrapped in. 460 00:28:40,267 --> 00:28:44,700 [Hafford] And it preserved the pattern of how tight that weave is, 461 00:28:44,767 --> 00:28:46,567 and we can see a number of these different things 462 00:28:46,567 --> 00:28:50,067 to get the range of cloth types that they were making. 463 00:28:50,067 --> 00:28:54,600 [narrator] The artifacts also hint at what the city was getting in return, 464 00:28:54,667 --> 00:28:57,100 precious metals from distant lands. 465 00:28:59,500 --> 00:29:02,867 [Hafford] We've got carnelian coming in from the Indus valley, 466 00:29:02,867 --> 00:29:06,300 we've got copper and diorite coming in from Oman, 467 00:29:06,367 --> 00:29:10,100 and we've got lapis lazuli and gold coming from Iran and Afghanistan. 468 00:29:11,700 --> 00:29:14,667 So long distance trade networks are very important 469 00:29:14,667 --> 00:29:19,967 because this is the way you legitimize your kingship, and you show your power. 470 00:29:30,767 --> 00:29:33,200 [narrator] So why did the Biblical writers believe 471 00:29:33,267 --> 00:29:36,667 that their ancestor, Abraham, was born here? 472 00:29:37,867 --> 00:29:41,067 A clue could lie with how they describe this city. 473 00:29:42,900 --> 00:29:46,667 The book of Genesis mentions Ur three times... 474 00:29:47,767 --> 00:29:50,667 ...on each occasion as Ur of the Chaldees, 475 00:29:50,667 --> 00:29:55,467 a people who ruled southern Iraq more than 1,000 years later... 476 00:29:57,067 --> 00:29:58,133 ...when most scholars believe the Bible was written down. 477 00:29:58,133 --> 00:29:59,000 ...when most scholars believe the Bible was written down. 478 00:30:02,767 --> 00:30:08,567 Ur still existed at this time and was already more than 2,000 years old. 479 00:30:09,667 --> 00:30:12,167 One explanation is that the Biblical authors 480 00:30:12,167 --> 00:30:15,100 were trying to reconstruct their distant past. 481 00:30:18,067 --> 00:30:22,700 But people of faith believe that Abraham really did live here, 482 00:30:22,767 --> 00:30:25,900 just hundreds of years after Ur's golden age. 483 00:30:27,267 --> 00:30:28,133 This was a time of turmoil... 484 00:30:28,133 --> 00:30:29,000 This was a time of turmoil... 485 00:30:30,267 --> 00:30:33,567 ...when invaders devastated the city. 486 00:30:33,567 --> 00:30:38,567 It's also when the first written copies of the Flood myth appear. 487 00:30:38,567 --> 00:30:43,767 So could the collapse of the Sumerian world help explain both stories? 488 00:30:46,900 --> 00:30:47,000 [narrator] 4,000 years ago, 489 00:30:49,667 --> 00:30:53,100 foreign enemies attacked the great city of Ur, 490 00:30:53,167 --> 00:30:55,467 bringing its golden age to a sudden end. 491 00:30:58,100 --> 00:31:01,367 Some believe one of the most important events in the Bible 492 00:31:01,367 --> 00:31:05,600 took place during the chaotic era that followed. 493 00:31:05,667 --> 00:31:10,900 Abraham, the ancestor of the Israelites, left Ur for the Promised Land. 494 00:31:12,567 --> 00:31:15,067 This is also the time when the earliest written 495 00:31:15,067 --> 00:31:16,211 versions of the Flood myth start to appear. 496 00:31:16,211 --> 00:31:17,000 versions of the Flood myth start to appear. 497 00:31:18,767 --> 00:31:20,700 So did the fallout from the collapse 498 00:31:20,767 --> 00:31:24,700 of this great city influence the Old Testament stories? 499 00:31:26,767 --> 00:31:32,600 Today, tradition says that this building in Ur is the house of Abraham. 500 00:31:32,667 --> 00:31:37,067 Archaeologists uncovered it in the early 20th century. 501 00:31:37,067 --> 00:31:42,267 Well, the earliest archaeologists in the near and Middle East 502 00:31:42,267 --> 00:31:44,667 were often driven by Biblical stories, 503 00:31:44,667 --> 00:31:46,211 certainly Sir Leonard Woolley thought that this was the city 504 00:31:46,211 --> 00:31:47,000 certainly Sir Leonard Woolley thought that this was the city 505 00:31:48,167 --> 00:31:50,167 that Abraham may have come from. 506 00:31:50,167 --> 00:31:53,400 However, he was gonna be very careful to try and find evidence. 507 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,900 So, in a way, they were trying to see 508 00:31:57,967 --> 00:32:00,400 what was this city like through so many periods of time? 509 00:32:00,467 --> 00:32:02,567 It was occupied for 5,000 years. 510 00:32:04,667 --> 00:32:08,267 [narrator] The early excavators claimed that these were the very streets 511 00:32:08,267 --> 00:32:11,200 that Abraham would have wandered through as a boy, 512 00:32:11,267 --> 00:32:15,900 a claim that was perhaps driven by the need to raise funding for their dig 513 00:32:15,967 --> 00:32:16,211 from a public hungry for historical truth in the stories of Genesis. 514 00:32:16,211 --> 00:32:17,000 from a public hungry for historical truth in the stories of Genesis. 515 00:32:21,467 --> 00:32:23,500 [Hafford] Sir Leonard Woolley, in his academic work, 516 00:32:23,567 --> 00:32:25,500 he almost never mentions the Bible. 517 00:32:25,567 --> 00:32:27,167 In his public works and his lectures, 518 00:32:27,167 --> 00:32:31,100 he would often do it to bring in the crowds. 519 00:32:31,167 --> 00:32:36,767 [narrator] There's no physical proof that this house belonged to Abraham himself. 520 00:32:36,767 --> 00:32:41,700 What we see today was restored during the 20th century. 521 00:32:41,767 --> 00:32:45,667 But it does date to the centuries after the fall of Ur, 522 00:32:45,667 --> 00:32:46,211 which is when Biblical tradition suggests that Abraham might have lived. 523 00:32:46,211 --> 00:32:47,000 which is when Biblical tradition suggests that Abraham might have lived. 524 00:32:51,567 --> 00:32:54,567 The violent end of Ur's golden age is seared 525 00:32:54,567 --> 00:32:57,667 into the fabric of this ancient metropolis. 526 00:32:57,667 --> 00:33:02,867 Archaeologists here have found evidence of burning and destruction. 527 00:33:02,867 --> 00:33:06,067 But new discoveries reveal how the people of Ur 528 00:33:06,067 --> 00:33:09,567 managed to rebuild their shattered homes. 529 00:33:09,567 --> 00:33:12,800 The city's population continued to grow. 530 00:33:14,267 --> 00:33:16,211 [Hafford] We think that at its most dense, 531 00:33:16,211 --> 00:33:17,000 [Hafford] We think that at its most dense, 532 00:33:17,100 --> 00:33:20,667 it might have reached 25,000 people within the city walls. 533 00:33:20,667 --> 00:33:22,667 If we expand into the hinterland, 534 00:33:22,667 --> 00:33:24,500 it might have supported up to 60,000. 535 00:33:26,300 --> 00:33:29,267 [narrator] The citizens of Ur blamed a nomadic people 536 00:33:29,267 --> 00:33:32,100 of Aramaean descent for their city's woes. 537 00:33:33,500 --> 00:33:37,167 Some argue that Abraham was related to them. 538 00:33:37,167 --> 00:33:39,867 This era did see many people on the move. 539 00:33:42,067 --> 00:33:44,900 But others claim that the Biblical writers were referring 540 00:33:44,967 --> 00:33:46,211 to a different city with a similar name 541 00:33:46,211 --> 00:33:47,000 to a different city with a similar name 542 00:33:47,867 --> 00:33:50,900 in what is now southern Turkey. 543 00:33:50,967 --> 00:33:53,767 It's impossible to prove if the founding father 544 00:33:53,767 --> 00:33:57,467 of the Israelites left Ur at this time. 545 00:33:57,467 --> 00:34:00,567 For millions of people, it is a matter of faith. 546 00:34:04,267 --> 00:34:09,067 But the fall of Ur may have had an unexpected impact on another story. 547 00:34:10,300 --> 00:34:12,567 The Sumerian tale of the Flood, 548 00:34:12,567 --> 00:34:16,211 which bears many similarities to the story of Noah's Ark in Genesis. 549 00:34:16,211 --> 00:34:17,000 which bears many similarities to the story of Noah's Ark in Genesis. 550 00:34:18,467 --> 00:34:21,667 Cuneiform specialist, Samuel Chen thinks 551 00:34:21,667 --> 00:34:24,300 this attempt to rebuild the Sumerian world 552 00:34:24,367 --> 00:34:27,067 could also explain why the Flood story 553 00:34:27,067 --> 00:34:30,267 suddenly became hugely popular at this time 554 00:34:30,267 --> 00:34:31,900 The fall of the Ur Three dynasty 555 00:34:31,967 --> 00:34:35,267 was a traumatic experience for Sumer. 556 00:34:35,267 --> 00:34:38,700 Basically it was the collapse of not only urban structure, 557 00:34:38,767 --> 00:34:42,567 but also all of the supporting networks. 558 00:34:42,567 --> 00:34:46,211 [narrator] Samuel finds key similarities between the Flood story 559 00:34:46,211 --> 00:34:46,467 [narrator] Samuel finds key similarities between the Flood story 560 00:34:46,467 --> 00:34:47,000 and poems lamenting the fall of Ur. 561 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:53,067 In them, people started to question 562 00:34:53,067 --> 00:34:56,967 why the gods had allowed their own temples to be destroyed. 563 00:34:58,567 --> 00:35:03,267 The destruction of the city also brings a lot of suffering to the deities. 564 00:35:03,267 --> 00:35:06,300 They were thinking about the irrational aspect 565 00:35:06,367 --> 00:35:10,900 of a divine decision to destroy urban civilizations. 566 00:35:10,967 --> 00:35:14,767 This is something lost stories began to question 567 00:35:14,767 --> 00:35:16,211 and even make into a satire. 568 00:35:16,211 --> 00:35:17,000 and even make into a satire. 569 00:35:18,467 --> 00:35:23,267 [narrator] But the moral of the Flood story was how humans could start again. 570 00:35:24,267 --> 00:35:26,467 It was a reassuring tale. 571 00:35:27,700 --> 00:35:30,367 And as it was told again and again 572 00:35:30,367 --> 00:35:33,067 it became blockbuster entertainment. 573 00:35:35,967 --> 00:35:38,167 There was a lot of borrowing as well. 574 00:35:38,167 --> 00:35:40,100 There was a lot of cross fertilization. 575 00:35:41,367 --> 00:35:43,267 So you have these different heroes 576 00:35:43,267 --> 00:35:46,211 who were originally independent of each other. 577 00:35:46,211 --> 00:35:46,500 who were originally independent of each other. 578 00:35:46,567 --> 00:35:47,000 They were brought together to meet with each other, to make it more exciting, 579 00:35:50,267 --> 00:35:53,200 very much similar to the Marvel films. 580 00:35:54,667 --> 00:35:57,867 [narrator] The Sumerian myths became hugely popular. 581 00:35:59,700 --> 00:36:05,267 But how did tales from cities like Ur and Uruk reach the authors of the Bible 582 00:36:05,267 --> 00:36:08,400 on the other side of the Middle East? 583 00:36:08,467 --> 00:36:11,667 The answer lies with a new power: 584 00:36:11,667 --> 00:36:15,167 Babylon, the infamous city of Babel. 585 00:36:21,367 --> 00:36:25,500 [narrator] The Sumerians appeared more than 4,000 years ago. 586 00:36:25,567 --> 00:36:29,467 But the tales of their cities live on in the Bible. 587 00:36:29,467 --> 00:36:34,200 How did two civilizations separated by thousands of years 588 00:36:34,267 --> 00:36:38,367 end up sharing so many of the same stories? 589 00:36:38,367 --> 00:36:42,467 The answer could lie with a city that connects them both 590 00:36:42,467 --> 00:36:45,767 and casts a long shadow over the Old Testament. 591 00:36:46,967 --> 00:36:48,267 Babylon. 592 00:36:50,100 --> 00:36:53,767 Today these are the remains of this legendary city. 593 00:36:53,767 --> 00:36:57,167 A vast and sprawling site by the river Euphrates. 594 00:36:59,167 --> 00:37:02,200 Osama Hisham from the World Monuments Fund 595 00:37:02,267 --> 00:37:05,067 works to rebuild this magnificent site. 596 00:37:06,167 --> 00:37:08,767 He and his team are removing modern materials 597 00:37:08,767 --> 00:37:11,167 from Babylon's restored buildings 598 00:37:11,167 --> 00:37:13,767 and replacing them with traditional ones. 599 00:37:25,500 --> 00:37:29,100 [narrator] Babylon is no stranger to repairs. 600 00:37:29,167 --> 00:37:31,967 Maintenance happened in all ancient cities. 601 00:37:33,967 --> 00:37:38,067 But what makes Babylon exceptional is its longevity. 602 00:37:39,267 --> 00:37:42,467 Its buildings were rebuilt again and again. 603 00:38:02,167 --> 00:38:06,300 [narrator] The city burst onto the world stage 3,800 years ago, 604 00:38:07,767 --> 00:38:12,500 ruthlessly taking advantage of the declining Sumerian cities. 605 00:38:12,567 --> 00:38:16,867 It became the biggest, most famous metropolis in ancient Iraq, 606 00:38:16,867 --> 00:38:19,277 a title it held for the next thousand years. 607 00:38:19,277 --> 00:38:20,000 a title it held for the next thousand years. 608 00:38:21,100 --> 00:38:27,067 But the Babylonians were aware that they controlled cities far older than their own. 609 00:38:27,067 --> 00:38:31,767 Assyriologist Stephanie Dalley investigates how Babylon 610 00:38:31,767 --> 00:38:36,067 played a critical role in keeping Sumerian culture alive. 611 00:38:36,067 --> 00:38:41,400 The Babylonians inherited writing from the Sumerians and much more. 612 00:38:41,467 --> 00:38:45,367 Babylon comes late into the history of Mesopotamia. 613 00:38:45,367 --> 00:38:49,277 There was a tremendous amount of copying Sumerian literature. 614 00:38:49,277 --> 00:38:50,000 There was a tremendous amount of copying Sumerian literature. 615 00:38:50,267 --> 00:38:53,500 And Sumerian poetry is very different from Babylonian. 616 00:38:53,567 --> 00:38:55,800 It's very imaginative. 617 00:38:55,867 --> 00:38:58,467 It was a major point for them 618 00:38:58,467 --> 00:39:02,067 to copy the poetry of the Sumerians. 619 00:39:04,100 --> 00:39:08,467 [narrator] The Babylonians set up writing schools to teach cuneiform. 620 00:39:08,467 --> 00:39:14,067 Students learned by copying from famous Sumerian stories like the Flood myth. 621 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,277 Well the scribes had to master the art of writing cuneiform for a start. 622 00:39:19,277 --> 00:39:20,000 Well the scribes had to master the art of writing cuneiform for a start. 623 00:39:21,167 --> 00:39:23,567 So they practiced signs and we've got lots 624 00:39:23,567 --> 00:39:27,467 of terribly, badly written signs from their exercises. 625 00:39:27,467 --> 00:39:30,067 But then, they would take a Sumerian poem 626 00:39:30,067 --> 00:39:34,167 or they would take a short story about Gilgamesh. 627 00:39:34,167 --> 00:39:38,367 They would get to know it like we would learn a piece of Shakespeare. 628 00:39:39,500 --> 00:39:42,167 [narrator] The scale of the copying was immense. 629 00:39:43,167 --> 00:39:47,100 But only selected stories survive. 630 00:39:47,100 --> 00:39:49,277 Some people think that all the literature we've got is on school exercises, 631 00:39:49,277 --> 00:39:50,000 Some people think that all the literature we've got is on school exercises, 632 00:39:52,367 --> 00:39:55,567 and we certainly find a lot of them that are not very well written 633 00:39:55,567 --> 00:39:58,467 and got quite a lot of mistakes in them. 634 00:39:58,467 --> 00:40:04,800 One of the things about he Flood story is that we have got more extracts 635 00:40:04,867 --> 00:40:09,600 of Tablet XI than we have of any other bits of the Gilgamesh epic 636 00:40:09,667 --> 00:40:12,267 which is marvelous, but infuriating 637 00:40:12,267 --> 00:40:15,067 because we still got gaps where we haven't got anything. 638 00:40:17,267 --> 00:40:19,277 [narrator] Babylon owed a rich debt to Sumerian culture. 639 00:40:19,277 --> 00:40:20,000 [narrator] Babylon owed a rich debt to Sumerian culture. 640 00:40:21,567 --> 00:40:26,367 And in turn, it brought their tales to a new audience. 641 00:40:26,367 --> 00:40:33,167 In 589 BC, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem 642 00:40:33,167 --> 00:40:36,267 and deported many of its citizens. 643 00:40:36,267 --> 00:40:40,000 Many scholars think the Book of Genesis was written in Babylon 644 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:41,667 by Jewish exiles. 645 00:40:43,267 --> 00:40:46,500 Here they came into contact with Sumerian stories 646 00:40:46,567 --> 00:40:48,667 that were thousands of years old. 647 00:40:50,700 --> 00:40:52,667 But for the Biblical authors, 648 00:40:52,667 --> 00:40:58,067 these stories of gods and monsters took on a new dimension. 649 00:40:58,067 --> 00:41:02,067 They revealed the truth about human existence as they saw it. 650 00:41:03,067 --> 00:41:07,367 As the divine plan of a single God. 651 00:41:07,367 --> 00:41:11,067 The Jewish scribes were trying to reconstruct their history 652 00:41:11,067 --> 00:41:15,800 much like Sumerians had done thousands of years earlier with the Flood. 653 00:41:18,300 --> 00:41:19,277 The Sumerians are our common ancestor. 654 00:41:19,277 --> 00:41:20,000 The Sumerians are our common ancestor. 655 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:25,100 We owe them so much. 656 00:41:25,167 --> 00:41:28,200 [narrator] The tales of the Old Testament remember the legacy 657 00:41:28,267 --> 00:41:33,067 of an ancient and remarkable people: the Sumerians. 658 00:41:33,067 --> 00:41:35,467 They constructed extraordinary wonders 659 00:41:35,567 --> 00:41:37,867 that have survived the test of time, 660 00:41:38,667 --> 00:41:41,767 invented writing and literature 661 00:41:41,767 --> 00:41:45,467 and pioneered a new urban life. 662 00:41:45,467 --> 00:41:49,277 In many ways, the story of Iraq's lost cities is Genesis. 663 00:41:49,277 --> 00:41:50,000 In many ways, the story of Iraq's lost cities is Genesis. 664 00:41:51,467 --> 00:41:53,967 The history of our beginnings. 665 00:41:53,967 --> 00:41:56,667 The creation of the modern world.