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The Ancient World on Television               August 23-29, 2004
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All times Eastern

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n.b. official descriptions are provided by the respective
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Monday, August 23
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6.00 p.m. |HINT| Machu Picchu: City in the Sky
Originally built by the Incas, this magnificent structure remains a mystery. Was it an observatory? Pleasure retreat? Fortress?
 
6.00 p.m. |DCIVC| Life of a City - Rome
dna
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Tuesday, August 24
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7.00 p.m. |HINT| Mysteries of the Bible, Pt. 2
Continues the investigation into ancient events with specially-shot footage of Holy Land ruins, excavations, and artifacts, and live-action images of biblical sites today.
 
8.00 p.m. |HINT|  Pyramids: Majesty and Mystery 
Standing majestically for centuries, the world's great pyramids have long inspired and mystified scholars. Leading experts and historians explore the engineering genius that created some of the largest structures on the planet. From ancient Egypt to Central America, we visit these technological masterpieces.

8.00 p.m. |HISTC| Mystery of the Black Death
This program paints a grim portrait of life at the height of the bubonic plague epidemic in 1600s Europe. Dr. Steven O’Brien, a geneticist from the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C., uses historical records, family archives, and modern genetics to conduct a case study that uncovers previously unknown elements of the scourge – and its mysterious link to HIV immunity in today’s population.

9.00 p.m. |DCIVC| James, Brother of Jesus
dna

9.00 p.m. |HISTC| Ancient Journeys
Messages from the past are often difficult to decode and until recently much was left to speculation. Today’s archaeologists are armed with forensic tests including DNA analysis, sensitive scanning techniques, advanced chemical analysis and satellite imaging. This three-part series demonstrates how, with the help of scientific breakthroughs, new answers are being found to our oldest questions.

11.00 p.m. |HISTU|  The Trial of Jesus  
Shockingly little is known, historically, about the trial and execution of Jesus. What actions resulted in his death? Who was responsible for his trial and sentencing? How did his ministry pass down through the ages? Why do most biblical scholars insist that the gospel account can't be true? Through literary detective work, historical art imagery, and commentary from respected biblical scholars, we bring First-Century Judea to life--a land of messianic messengers in a time of revolution.
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Wednesday, August 25
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7.00 p.m. |HINT| Powerful Gods of Mt. Olympus 
A fascinating exploration of the myths of the 12 great gods who overlooked classical Greece from atop Mount Olympus. Why did the people of ancient Greece accept them? Was their power political or divine?

8.00 p.m. |HISTU| Tyrants on Trial
How will Saddam Hussein be prosecuted? Who will get the opportunity to decide his fate? Does Saddam have any options? We take a look back in history, from ancient times to the present, at what the world had done with deposed tyrants. Some were executed, some jailed for life, and others exiled. As you will see, the history of deposed dictators has been at times violent, bizarre, and certainly checkered. And we sit down with Saddam's lawyer for a peek into the surprising defense strategy. 
 
9.00 p.m. |HINT| Lost Civilizations: China: Dynasties of Power 
Explore the glory of ancient China's great rulers as we probe the secrets of their giant tombs and visit the Great Wall and the fabled Forbidden City. As we excavate the past of today's Asian giant, we learn that its civilization paralleled and often preceded the West in science, exploration, and art. Sam Waterston narrates this Emmy Award-winning series that sweeps through 7,000 years of history--from Ancient Mesopotamia to modern-day Tibet. 
 
10.00 p.m. |HINT| Time Team: Malton, North Yorkshire 
The intrepid archaeological treasure hunters head for the picturesque village of Malton in North Yorkshire, England, where a swathe of nettle-infested jungle conceals 2,000 years of British history. A Roman fort has already been identified, but our Time Team, headed by host Tony Robinson (Baldrick in "Blackadder") and archaeologist Mick Aston, has been asked to find the area's other secrets--specifically a medieval castle and a Tudor or Jacobean manor house.  
 
10.30 p.m. |DCIVC| Ancient Clues: Murder in the Bog
dna

11.00 p.m. |HISTU| The First Olympics
In Ancient Greece, many city-states staged athletic games, but history will always remember Olympia. Beginning in 776 BC, and for every four years after, battlefields emptied and warriors flocked to the famous arena, where the desire for victory and glory in the name of Zeus left many broken bodies. We visit ruins of the temples and the baths, where victorious athletes, glistening with olive oil and sweat from the Olympic sun, wore their laurel wreaths with pride and honor.
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Thursday, August 26
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7.00 p.m. |HINT| The Republic of Rome 
A sweeping chronicle of one of history's most dynamic empires. Part 1 features the city's fabled founding by Romulus and Remus; overthrow of the Etruscan monarchy; and the republic's formation and ultimate undoing with the rise of Imperial Rome. Host Joe Mantegna introduces Rome's great faces--Pompey, Cicero, Caesar, Antony, and Cleopatra.
 
8.00 p.m. |HINT| The Pyramids and the Sphinx, Pt. 1 
First of a 2-part special exploring the civilization of ancient Egypt. Looks at the burial places of the mummies, the construction of the pyramids during the annual flooding of the Nile, and how the mysterious Sphinx helped bridge the gap between the living and the dead.

8.00 p.m. |HISTU| Vikings
Nordic peoples from the coasts of Scandinavia, these raiders and warriors were also explorers and merchants, whose slender ships carried them from Arabia to the New World--hundreds of years before Columbus set sail. After savage infighting among their own clans spurred development of the longship, the Vikings struck out across the seas, seeking plunder, slaves, and new lands. But in the end, they assimilated into European cultures and became agents of social and political change.
 
9.00 p.m. |HISTU| Goths
Terrorized by the Huns savage raids, the Goths made a desperate bid for safety in the Roman Empire, but were forced into squalid concentration camps along the imperial borders, starved and degraded, their children sold as slaves. But Rome made a big mistake--the Goths kept their weapons and exploded in rioting and looting. After centuries of broken treaties, King Aleric sacked Rome. Ironically, the Goths maintained Roman art and culture in their new Goth kingdoms as the Empire faded away.
 
10.00 p.m. |HISTU|Huns 
The Huns were a mysterious people who fell upon the European continent like the vengeance of God. Some say the Chinese built the Great Wall to keep them out. In the 5th century, the Huns struck a divided and decaying Roman Empire. The Romans tried to deal with them diplomatically, even allowing children of Roman nobility to live as guests (hostages) in Hun camps. One of these, Aetius, would become one of Rome's greatest generals, and it was he who would face one of the Huns' greatest rulers--Atilla.

10.00 p.m. |HINT| Hieroglyphs and King Tutankhamun, Pt. 2
Examines the poetic "sacred carvings" that ancient Egyptians believed could actually come to life, and the "Boy-King" Tutankhamun's tomb with the many objects a pharaoh needed in his journey to the afterlife.
 
11.00 p.m. |HISTU| The Real Pontius Pilate
Posterity can be a heavy burden. In the 19th year of Emperor Tiberius's reign, a local disturbance occurred in Judea--an obscure province of the Roman Empire. But for this incident, Pontius Pilate's name might shine through history in a positive light. Who was this biblical bogeyman? As we strip away the mythology, a vivid portrait emerges of a flesh-and-blood Roman faced with the unenviable task of maintaining order by exercising brutal pragmatics. Pilate's story remains without rival.
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Friday, August 27
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7.00 p.m. |HINT| The Curse of the Borgias
A look at the notorious Renaissance family renowned for cruelty, wealth, and political power. Were the Borgias really as monstrous as many claimed?

7.00 p.m. |DTC| Mystery of the Persian Mummy
Encased in a gilded wooden coffin inside a stone sarcophagus, a Persian princess mummy over 2,600 years old was found. Follow the discoveries that turned this archaeological treasure into a murder hunt.

8.00 p.m. |HINT| Leif Ericson: Voyages of a Viking 
Saga of the Viking thought to be the first European to land in America. The son of the explorer Eric the Red, Leif brought Christianity to Greenland and sailed to a place he called "Vinland", which most scholars believe to be somewhere in modern New England.

8.00 p.m. |DTC| The Cult of Order
Roman culture still weaves influence through western art, architecture, medicine, and urban planning. This enormous empire was a reflection of the multicultural world it encompassed, as excellence gave way to excess and decline.

9.00 p.m. |DTC| The Fall
From the reign of Diocletian to the sack of the Eternal City in 410 A.D., abusive political elite, complacent military, and an eroding cultural identity placed the Roman empire in an inexorable decline.
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Saturday, August 28
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5.00 p.m. |A&E| The Unknown Jesus
A 2-hour investigation that challenges traditional beliefs about Jesus. Was Jesus really a poor carpenter or an aristocrat? Was he a pacifist or a revolutionary determined to overthrow Roman tyranny? Did he really grow up in Nazareth or another place? And was he a real-life martyr or a convenient fiction?
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Sunday, August 29
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5.00 p.m. |DISCU| Colosseum: A Gladiator's Story
In ancient Rome, Verus fights his way out of slavery to train as a gladiator. He is chosen to fight in the inaugural games at an extraordinary amphitheatre. The games of the Colosseum involved killing and torture and they lasted for hundreds of years.

7.00 p.m. |HINT| Time Team: Malton, North Yorkshire 
The intrepid archaeological treasure hunters head for the picturesque village of Malton in North Yorkshire, England, where a swathe of nettle-infested jungle conceals 2,000 years of British history. A Roman fort has already been identified, but our Time Team, headed by host Tony Robinson (Baldrick in "Blackadder") and archaeologist Mick Aston, has been asked to find the area's other secrets--specifically a medieval castle and a Tudor or Jacobean manor house. 
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                        Channel Guide

A&E     The Arts and Entertainment Channel (cable)
DTC     Discovery Times Channel (U.S. Cable)*
DCIVC   Discovery Civilization (Canadian Cable)
DISCC   Discovery Channel (Canadian Cable)
DISCU   Discovery Channel (U.S. Cable)
HINT    History International (U.S. Cable)
HISTU   The History Channel (U.S. Cable)
HISTC   History Television (Canadian Cable)
NGU     National Geographic Channel (U.S. Cable)*
PBS     Public Broadcasting System (U.S. National Schedule)
TLC     The Learning Channel (cable)

*n.b. Canadian versions of these two channels have recently
been made available although the Canadian versions don't seem
to be making their schedules available yet. For what it's worth,
the Canadian version does seem to 'match up' in regards to
ancient programming most of the time.
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Copyright (c) 2004 David Meadows. Feel free to distribute these
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Thanks!
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