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Legacy: The Origins of Civilization
What can the past teach us about the present? Come along as charismatic historian Michael Wood (The Story of India) travels the globe to trace the origins of six great civilizations: Iraq, India, China, Egypt, Central America, and Western Europe. Each journey offers surprising perspectives on questions that matter today—about the environment, the individual, society, and spirituality. SDH subtitles; 6 episodes; approx. 304 min. on 3 DVDs plus 20-page viewer’s guide. For mature audiences. From Athena.
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Disc 1
Episode : Iraq: Cradle of Civilisation
In places like Uruk and Eridu in modern-day Iraq, humans founded the first cities nearly 6,000 years ago. They left us literature, astronomy, and mathematics, as well as lessons in overpopulation and environmental stewardship.
Episode 2: India: Empire of the Spirit
Beginning 5,000 years ago, the “Land of the Seven Rivers” cultivated a tradition of nonviolence, renunciation of the material world, and a focus on humans’ inner life. Today, these ideas survive in tension with the vestiges of Western colonialism.
Disc 2
Episode 3: China: The Mandate of Heaven
With great thinkers such as Confucius and Lao-Tzu, the Chinese conceived a civilization reflecting cosmic harmony, sustained by civic and social virtue, ancient ritual, and reverence for ancestors.
Episode 4: Egypt: The Habit of Civilisation
In the world’s first great nation, the annual flooding of the Nile conferred not only fertility, but also a deep respect for social and cosmic stability, a belief in the resurrection of the dead, and the hope of eternal life.
Disc 3
Episode 5: Central America: The Burden of Time
Independent of great civilizations elsewhere, the Maya and Aztecs developed a violent, fatalistic culture, envisioning a cosmos that required bloody sacrifice for renewal. It placed the sovereignty of nature above all else—even human life.
Episode 6: Europe: The Barbarian West
Now adopted nearly all over the globe, the modern Western ideas of individualism, property, and purposeful history trace their roots to Christianity, Greco-Roman humanism, and Germanic social values. |
- 20-page viewer’s guide includes highlights, questions to consider, avenues for further learning, maps, Celestial Cities, and fun facts
- When Giants Walked the Earth: profiles of great thinkers of the Axial Age
| Packaging: Boxed set
Run Time: 360 minutes
Format: Full screen
Number of discs: 3
Language: English
Subtitles: N/A
Color or B&W: Color
CC: No
SDH: Yes
Region Code: 1
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Rating: N/A | | Oxford-educated historian Michael Wood has written 11 books and made dozens of acclaimed documentaries, including Conquistadors and The Story of India. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the U.K.’s leading organization for scholarly study of the past. |
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